Predators Reduce Roster to 25

John Glennon is reporting at Inside Predators that the Predators have made several roster moves to get to the opening day maximum of 23.

The biggest surprise cut of the bunch is Alexander Sulzer who signed a one-way NHL contract last season before being injured in his second game. While not playing "separating himself" in the preseason, it was the general opinion that he would be the sixth D-man on the team.

Others reassigned to Milwaukee included Peter Olvecky, Nolan Yonkman, Triston Grant, and Cal O’Reilly. O'Reilly will have until 11 a.m. Wednesday to clear waivers before reporting to the Pred's AHL affiliate.

Joel Ward will open the season on Injured Reserve for his groin injury and Colin Wilson will remain in Nashville to rehabilitate is groin also but will not count against the Pred's roster.

Surprisingly, Teemu Laakso and Cody Franson remain in camp as the sixth and seventh defenseman.

Here's a look at the players who remain in Nashville.

# CENTERS
19 Jason Arnott
9 Marcel Goc
24 Ben Guite
11 David Legwand
16 Cal O'Reilly
53 Mike Santorelli
25 Jerred Smithson
33 Colin Wilson (non-roster)

# LEFT WINGS
28 Ryan Jones
26 Steve Sullivan

# RIGHT WINGS
3 Wade Belak
71 J.P. Dumont
10 Martin Erat
27 Patric Hornqvist
22 Jordin Tootoo
29 Joel Ward (injured reserve)

# DEFENSEMEN
32 Cody Franson
2 Dan Hamhuis
8 Kevin Klein
4 Teemu Laakso
20 Ryan Suter
6 Shea Weber
Francis Bouillon

# GOALTENDER
39 Dan Ellis
35 Pekka Rinne

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass


Addendum: The official Predators release follows. O'Reilly's status is not clear and was reported by John Glennon to be awaiting clearing waivers until 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

From the Predators...

NASHVILLE PREDATORS ASSIGN FOUR MORE TO MILWAUKEE
-Roster now at 25-

Nashville, Tenn. (September 29, 2009) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has reduced the club’s roster to 25 players, assigning forwards Triston Grant and Peter Olvecky and defensemen Alexander Sulzer and Nolan Yonkman to the Milwaukee Admirals (AHL).

Nashville’s roster now consists of 16 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders. Teams must be at or below the 23-man active roster limit by Oct. 1 at 2 p.m. CT. The Predators open the 2009-10 regular season two days later on Thursday, Oct. 3 at Dallas (7 p.m., FOX Sports Tennessee (HD) and 104.5 The Zone).

Players by position currently on the roster are as follows:

FORWARDS (16): Jason Arnott, Wade Belak, J.P. Dumont, Martin Erat, Marcel Goc, Ben Guite, Patric Hornqvist, Ryan Jones, David Legwand, Cal O'Reilly, Mike Santorelli, Jerred Smithson, Steve Sullivan, Jordin Tootoo, Joel Ward, Colin Wilson.

DEFENSEMEN (7): Francis Bouillon*, Cody Franson, Dan Hamhuis, Kevin Klein, Teemu Laakso, Ryan Suter, Shea Weber.

GOALTENDER (2): Dan Ellis, Pekka Rinne.

* - Denotes in camp on a Professional Tryout Agreement (PTO)

Coming off a winning preseason campaign, the Predators kick off the home portion of the 2009-10 campaign on Oct. 8 when they host the Colorado Avalanche at 7 p.m. at the Sommet Center. Tickets to this game, and all other regular season contests are now on sale and can be purchased by logging onto nashvillepredators.com. Tickets are also available by calling (615) 770-PUCK and at all Ticketmaster locations.

Predator's Roster Shakedown

Rainy (arc like) Weekends being what they are, caused me to sleep for an extended period this morning so today's update will be brief.

I'm headed over to the 303:30 studios in a few minutes to participate in a Predator Blogger Roundtable with the other Pred guys and girls that will be up later today.

After that, it will be time to get ready for tonight's last Predator pre-season game against the Carolina Hurricanes. It will be gut check time for a few youngsters that are trying to make final impressions on the Pred staff as to who will stay with the team.

For those keeping score on the roster, after yesterday's reduction, there are thirty players left in camp of which 22 or 23 will remain with the team for opening night.

I took a look at the remaining players and see 18 that are virtual locks at this point which would include Arnott, Goc, Legwand, Smithson, Jones, Sullivan, Belak, Dumont, Erat, Hornqvist, Tootoo, Ward, Hamhuis, Klein, Weber, Suter, Rinne and Ellis.

That leaves 12 players looking for four or five slots. Two more players that are close to being a lock are lock are Mike Santorelli for his improved play during the preseason and Alexander Sulzer primarily for his one way contract status as well as decent play in the preseason.

The Goalies are obviously set as there are only two left on the roster.

Francis Bouillon is in a class by himself as much of whether he makes the team revolves around his health and whether he is able to play at full speed to start the season. If not, he could start on injured reserve or receive a release.

So with that in mind, the three defensemen left in camp with a chance at one or two slots depending on Bouillon's fate are Laasko, Franson and Yonkman. Trotz has said that he may only carry six D-men so it will be critical to watch and see if these three play in this weekend's games and how they play.

So on the offensive side of the puck, from the above calculations I have 13 slots filled which leaves the possibility of one or two open positions.

Triston Grant is a special situation. He remains in camp primarily because Wade Belak may not be able to go in this weekend's games and the Preds will need somewhat of a pugilistic presence heading back into Columbus Sunday afternoon. He will be on the plane to Milwaukee early Monday.

That leaves Guite, Olvecky, Wilson, O'Reilly, and Spalling to choose from. Guite and Olvecky may have the inside track as there may not be enough ice time for the three youngsters to keep them around. Trotz has said that that may be the deciding factor of keeping an older player instead of a young guy in the final cut.

Again keep an eye on what happens this weekend. O'Reilly started slow in camp and has come on in the last week. A strong couple of games this weekend could put him in the mix again.

All this being said, additional injuries, a trade or a waiver pick-up could change the mix considerably. So for those of you scoring at home, this is the best guess as it stands today. Thoughts and flames on my analysis are welcomed.

More Later...

Buddy Oakes for PredsOnTheGlass