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Nashville Predators Make Three Roster Moves

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According to Nashville Predators’ reporter Nick Kieser, the team will look different tonight against the Buffalo Sabres. Kieser shared that the Predators have activated forward Luke Evangelista from the injured reserve, reassigned defenseman Kevin Gravel, and recalled goaltender Matt Murray from their AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals.

The talented middle-six forward Evangelista returns after missing nearly a month with a lower-body injury. He’s been on the team’s injured reserve since January 7th when he left the game against the Winnipeg Jets after only five shifts.

His offensive production is a bit depressed compared to last year and the injury will make it even more difficult to replicate last season’s totals. Evangelista has scored four goals and 14 points in 39 games for Nashville this season after scoring 16 goals and 39 points over 80 games last year.

Still, nothing indicates he’s lost his potential from last season and the Predators are hopeful for a fruitful rebound. The team is 5-3-0 since Evangelista exited the lineup and they’ll need his help building toward a more respectable record.

Gravel will look to continue a solid season with the Admirals. Although he’s never been known for his point production, the longtime AHL defenseman is only eight points away from matching his career-high set with the AHL’s Ontario Reign in the 2015-16 season.

Aside from his three-goal, 12-point performance with the Admirals, the Kingsford, MI native has played in three games for the Predators this year. It’s his first NHL action since the 2022-23 season where he’s already matched his point total in 20 fewer games.

Murray will replace Juuse Saros tonight, who seems to be dealing with an illness or ailment. This season, Murray has performed well with the Admirals, posting a record of 13 wins, 7 losses, and 6 overtime losses in 23 games, along with a .927 save percentage and a 2.31 goals-against average. Netminder Justus Annunen is expected to start tonight, although Murray could step in if there is an injury or the score becomes lopsided.

Predators Reassign Kieffer Bellows, Recall Kevin Gravel

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The Predators reassigned left-winger Kieffer Bellows to AHL Milwaukee on Tuesday and used his roster spot to summon defenseman Kevin Gravel from the minors, per a team announcement. Their active roster remains at 22 players, with the open spot expected to be filled by winger Luke Evangelista coming off injured reserve in the next few days.

Bellows, 26, did not suit up for Nashville in their seven games since recalling him on Jan. 11. He suited up in four straight NHL seasons from 2019-20 to 2022-23 but has been out of the league for over a year and a half. The former first-round pick ranked as one of the organization’s top prospects for a few years but never adjusted well to the pro game.

Over his seven-year pro career, he’s seen far more AHL action than NHL action, playing in 220 minor-league games compared to 95 NHL contests. He’s produced at a decent 0.60 points-per-game rate in the AHL, where he has 76 goals and 55 assists, but that’s dropped to 0.29 across his NHL promotions.

Bellows has had a rocky past few years in particular. Nashville is his fourth organization since the beginning of the 2022-23 campaign, during which he headed from the Isles to the Flyers on waivers. He did not land an NHL contract for 2023-24 after being non-tendered by Philly, settling for a minor-league pact with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, but landed a two-way deal with the Preds for 2024-25 after breaking out for 27 goals and 49 points in 52 games.

The Minnesota native has continued to produce well while on assignment to Milwaukee. He leads the team with 12 goals through 31 games and ranks fifth with 22 points. However, he’ll have to wait until his next recall to get another crack at NHL minutes.

With Evangelista’s return imminent, his chances at playing time were set to get even slimmer in the coming days. The 22-year-old right winger has missed the last seven games with a lower-body injury but has been spotted in practice recently without a no-contact designation, suggesting he’ll come off IR before the 4 Nations Face-Off next month.

Meanwhile, Gravel replaces Spencer Stastney, who the team sent to Milwaukee over the weekend, as the Preds’ extra defenseman. Nashville has recalled the 32-year-old lefty twice already this season, resulting in a trio of appearances during which he has an assist and a plus-two rating. The 6’4″, 205-lb Michigan native has averaged 18:19 per game – the most of his NHL stints since debuting in the 2015-16 season – and controlled 45.9% of shot attempts at even strength.

While a stay-at-home defender first and foremost, Gravel’s 12 points in 35 AHL games also leads Milwaukee defensemen in scoring this season. He has another year left on the two-way extension he signed in January of last year and won’t be a UFA until 2026.

Stastney Assigned To AHL

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  • Nashville has assigned defenseman Spencer Stastney to AHL Milwaukee, per the AHL’s transactions log. He suited up in seven games for the Predators over the last three weeks while on recall but didn’t register a point.  The 25-year-old has three points in 10 games with the Admirals after missing nearly two months while on personal leave.  Nashville now has just six healthy blueliners on their active roster so it’s possible that Stastney could be back up relatively quickly.

Predators Activate Cole Smith Off IR

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The Nashville Predators have activated centerman Cole Smith off of injured reserve, per Nick Kieser of Nashville’s 102.5 The Game. Smith has missed the team’s last 11 games with a lower-body injury suffered in the team’s December 21st game against Los Angeles. He appeared to be laboring through pain but managed to play through the final seconds of regulation time in that matchup – before not skating for the team’s eventual overtime win. Smith was placed on injured reserve three days later, with a prognosis of four to six weeks. He returns right on time with this activation – exactly one month later.

Like many of his teammates, Smith has been ice-cold this season. He appeared in all 34 of Nashville’s games prior to his injury, routinely serving as the team’s third-line center. But a routine role hasn’t meant routine production – with Smith posting just five points, 20 penalty minutes, and a -9 on the year. That includes no scoring, and just one fighting major, through his last eight games. Smith won out a third-line role last season with responsible and often consistent hockey. He played in 80 games and posted 23 points – the third-most of any Predators forward to average below 14 minutes of ice time. Smith was also the most utilized forward on Nashville’s penalty kill during the 2023-24 campaign, recording 168 minutes of shorthanded ice time. He’s returned to that high-trust role this season and should once again stand as one of the team’s go-to defensive forwards now that he’s back from injury.

Predators’ Mark Jankowski Out Week-To-Week

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Predators forward Mark Jankowski is out week-to-week with the upper-body injury he sustained in Saturday’s win over the Wild, head coach Andrew Brunette told reporters Monday (including the team’s Brooks Bratten). He did not return to the game after fighting Minnesota forward Ryan Hartman in the first period.

He hasn’t landed on injured reserve, largely because Nashville is operating with an open roster spot. But he could in the coming days to make room for the activation of winger Cole Smith, who Brunette said has been upgraded to day-to-day after missing nearly a month with a lower-body injury.

It’s a tough loss for Nashville, where the 30-year-old Jankowski has been one of the team’s best defensive forwards in 2024-25. His 55.5% shot attempt share at even strength is fourth on the team among qualified forwards, as is his 2.2 GA/60.

A frequent penalty killer, Jankowski has averaged 12:44 per game – his most in three years – and has won half of his 210 draws. His offensive production of eight points in 37 games is down from last year’s 15 in 32, but the 2012 first-round pick of the Flames has still done well to re-establish himself as an NHL regular after a few years of bouncing between the big leagues and the AHL.

That performance last year after a mid-season call-up from AHL Milwaukee earned Jankowski a two-year, $1.6MM extension, so he’s got another year left under contract with Nashville past this season. He’s now on his fourth NHL organization after stops with Calgary, Pittsburgh and Buffalo.

The Preds will likely give Kieffer Bellows his first NHL game since April 2023 when they face the Sharks tomorrow. He’s the only extra forward on the roster after being recalled on Jan. 11.

Admirals Claim Chase De Leo Off AHL Waivers

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  • Nashville’s farm team in Milwaukee has claimed winger Chase De Leo off waivers from Charlotte, the AHL announced. Waivers are extremely rare in the minors but if a player plays overseas and then signs as a free agent as De Leo did (with stints in the KHL and Switzerland), he has to go through waivers before playing.  De Leo has 349 points in 494 career AHL games, giving the Predators a quality veteran for the Admirals with this claim.

Predators Place Luke Evangelista On IR, Activate Adam Wilsby

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The Predators have made a pair of roster moves heading into tonight’s game against Minnesota.  Nick Kieser of 102.5 The Game relays (Twitter link) that Nashville has placed winger Luke Evangelista on injured reserve.  Taking his place on the roster is defenseman Adam Wilsby who has been activated off IR.  Nashville’s active roster currently stands at 22 players.

Evangelista’s placement on IR was only a matter of time.  He has already missed more than a week due to a lower-body injury and at the time of diagnosis, he was expected to miss a month.  The 22-year-old had a promising showing last season in his first full NHL campaign, tallying 16 goals and 23 assists in 80 games, leading to some higher expectations for 2024-25.  However, things haven’t gone as well for Evangelista this season as he had just four goals and ten assists in 39 games before being sidelined.

As for Wilsby, he missed close to three weeks due to an upper-body injury.  The 24-year-old has split the season between Nashville and AHL Milwaukee.  Wilsby has 15 appearances under his belt with Nashville in his first taste of NHL action, collecting a goal and three assists while logging 18:43 of ice time.  Meanwhile, with the Admirals, he has five points in 13 games.  With his activation giving the Preds seven healthy blueliners, it’s fair to say that Wilsby won’t be returning to the minors right away though that could change when Jeremy Lauzon is cleared to return from his lower-body injury.

Jeff Kealty To Serve As GM For USA At 2025 Men's Worlds

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  • USA Hockey announced on Friday that Jeff Kealty will serve as GM for their entry into the men’s World Championship in May. He’s in his 24th season with the Predators and his seventh as their assistant GM and Scouting Director.  While he’s not an NHL GM, he’ll be working with several of them to help assemble the roster as he’ll be assisted by the U.S. Men’s National Team Advisory Group consisting of John Vanbiesbrouck and no fewer than ten active NHL general managers.

Predators Expecting Increase In Trade Talks, Interest In Ryan O’Reilly

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The Nashville Predators entered the 2024-25 season with, on paper, one of the best rosters in the NHL. They won the sweepstakes for Tampa Bay Lightning legend Steven Stamkos in his first trip to unrestricted free agency, and bolstered him with impact players in Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei. But Nashville now sits with a dismal 13-22-7 record halfway through the season. They rank as a bottom-three team in the NHL, and have responded to the disappointing year by kicking off a fire sale of trades and roster moves. The Predators have already made five trades this season, shipping off Philip Tomasino, Scott Wedgewood, Alexandre Carrier, and Juuso Parssinen; while also losing Dante Fabbro to Columbus via a waiver claim.

Despite all of that change, it seems Nashville’s novice general manager Barry Trotz is preparing for even more action. He told Nick Kieser of Nashville’s 102.5 The Game that the team is expecting an uptick in trade conversations now that the league’s winter meetings are winding down. Trotz went on to mention former Selke Trophy and Conn Smythe Trophy winner Ryan O’Reilly specifically, sharing that he’s expecting plenty of teams to be interested in the depth forward. Trotz didn’t rule out a trade but emphasized that the team will talk with O’Reilly before making any sort of move.

O’Reilly is no stranger to Trade Deadline swaps, joining the Toronto Maple Leafs via a Deadline move in 2023. He scored 20 points in 24 total games with the Leafs before signing with Nashville in the following summer. He’s seen an uptick in his production in two years with the Preds, netting 26 goals and 69 points in 82 games last year and on pace for 53 points this season. Both marks sit in line with O’Reilly’s scoring during his prime years with the St. Louis Blues. Now 33, the shutdown forward’s overall impact is starting to dwindle – though his 55-percent faceoff win rate and 37 still rank second among Predators forwards, behind only Colton Sissons (56.2 faceoff percent, 44 hits).

With the trade deadline the point of conversation, Trotz also emphasized to Kieser that the team’s big blow up has already occurred. He said that, “this trade deadline is going to look a little different.” That comment likely references the four trades Nashville made ahead of last year’s Deadline, used to acquire Anthony Beauvillier, Jeremy Hanzel, Jason Zucker, and Wade Allison. Hanzel is the only one of the four still in the Predators organization.

If the Predators acquire anyone, Trotz says they’ll be looking for players with term on their contract, in an effort to build around their emerging young players rather than replacing them in the lineup. Both Zachary L’Heureux and Fedor Svechkov have been notable pieces of the Predators’ lineup at some point this season. L’Heureux has scored nine points in 34 games – officially marking his rookie season – while Svechkov has four points in 13 games and was returned to the AHL. Svechkov is joined by other top prospects Joakim Kemell and Reid Schaefer in the minor leagues. Kemell has scored 18 points in 30 AHL games, while Scahefer – who has been out of the lineup since early December with an upper-body injury – has 14 points in 19 games. Both players could also be candidates for NHL ice time sooner rather than later, especially if the Predators continue to move out veteran pieces.

The Predators will be in a bind at the Deadline, no matter if they choose to buy or sell. The team has five picks in the top two rounds of the 2025 NHL Draft, plenty of ammunition to bring in a potential difference-maker, though that’s a hard sell for a team so far away from playoff contention. Nashville seems more likely to trim some lineup weight by moving players like Thomas Novak and Michael McCarron. Both players have offered stout depth behind Nashville’s presumed stars, though neither has reached 10 points this season despite playing 33 and 34 games respectively. A more hopeful team could see the duo’s slumping scoring as a chance to buy low on two potentially impactful depth forwards ahead of their own playoff push.

Predators Recall Kieffer Bellows

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The Predators have added some extra depth up front heading into their game against Washington.  The team announced that they have recalled winger Kieffer Bellows from AHL Milwaukee.  Nashville had two open roster spots so no corresponding moves needed to be made.

The 26-year-old spent last season on a minor-league deal with Toronto.  He was quite productive with the Marlies, tallying 27 goals and 22 assists in 52 games in his first extended AHL stint since the 2018-19 campaign.  That helped him earn some NHL interest last summer as he signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Preds on the third day of free agency, a deal that pays $775K in the NHL and $225K in the minors.

Bellows cleared waivers at the start of training camp and has been with the Admirals all season.  He hasn’t been quite as productive as last season but still has 12 goals and 10 assists in 31 outings, good for second on the team in scoring; their top scorer, Vinnie Hinostroza, was brought up in late December.

Bellows has 95 career NHL appearances under his belt.  Most of those came with the Islanders but his most recent stint at the top level came with Philadelphia who claimed him off waivers in 2022-23 (before non-tendering him that summer).  Between the two teams, Bellows has 14 goals and 14 assists along with 199 hits while averaging 11 minutes a night of playing time.

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