Nashville Predators assign Mark Dekanich to AHL

by Dirk Hoag on Sep 30, 2010 4:18 PM EDT

In an apparent victory for Anders Lindback in the competition for the backup job behind Pekka Rinne, the Nashville Predators have assigned Mark Dekanich to the Milwaukee Admirals:

Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has assigned goalie Mark Dekanich to the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League. The reduction puts Nashville's Training Camp roster at 26 players - 16 forwards, eight defensemen and two goaltenders. All NHL teams must set their Opening Day player rosters (23-player maximum) by Wednesday, Oct. 6 at 2 p.m. CT.

While at least 3 more players must be cut (barring an injury in the coming days), I wouldn't be surprised to see 4 get sent down as the Preds typically carry 21 or 22 players on the active roster. We may have to wait a few more days for those final cuts - last season, for example, the Preds set their roster just 3 days before the opener in Dallas.

The next question is what happens to Jeremy Smith, who was sent back to Milwaukee last week. Do the Admirals carry 3 goalies, since Chet Pickard is likely to get the bulk of the starts, or does Smith go back to Cincinnati of the ECHL?

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The Twin Towers it is!

woo!

by DonBorvio on Sep 30, 2010 4:18 PM EDT reply actions

just watching them play in the preseason,

i felt more at ease with Lindy in net than Dex.

by HartnellsMop on Sep 30, 2010 4:24 PM EDT reply actions

Same here.

by Chris Burton on Sep 30, 2010 6:51 PM EDT up reply actions

wow

i thought before camp that he would be in the ahl to at least start the season just to get him used to the game in NA.

"It's gonna be fun on the bun."

by flyalder on Sep 30, 2010 5:07 PM EDT reply actions

Thing is, though, that the SEL is more competitive than the AHL and Lindback’s been there for a while. Same reason guys like Hornqvist and Nicklas Backstrom are ready for the NHL immediately when imported.

by Chris Burton on Sep 30, 2010 6:52 PM EDT up reply actions

Sorry for Dex, but it was the right choice

Lindback was a vacuum the times I saw him play. Very few rebounds and an active glove, just like Pekka. To me the only area where he is lacking is puck handling. There’s a lot more of it in NA and a lot less time to think about it behind the net in the NHL vs Europe or the AHL. But you can already see the improvements, probably attributable to being able to work with Mitch Korn. He’ll only get better as he practices more and more with the team and sees occasional action.

by BradHerman on Sep 30, 2010 5:23 PM EDT reply actions

Lindback was a vacuum the times I saw him play. Very few rebounds and an active glove, just like Pekka.

wha??

by Sam Page on Sep 30, 2010 6:37 PM EDT up reply actions

Lindback was the only guy I saw play this preseason (other than Pekka of course), but I thought he played very well. Seems to have excellent puck tracking skills.

However, I thought rebound control was one of his weaker points. To be fair though, he did a good job of correcting for his inability to really control the bounces.

EASports' NHL 11 doesn't suck; in fact, it's really damn good! Wait, what!?
Go Predators!!!

by Poiju on Sep 30, 2010 6:48 PM EDT up reply actions

Agreed

Main weakness for Lindback was rebound control in the exhibition game we saw. In practice he makes the first saves and generally kicks rebounds out past or completely away from the danger zone(s), but at game speed it appeared to be an issue although it didn’t cost him.

He either corrected that flaw last night or has made enough of a stride there to overcome it in Trotz and Korn’s minds.

I’m not surprised it’s Lindback, but also don’t expect him to be here all year. He’ll get his feet wet here learning at the NHL level with daily instruction from Coach Korn, but will eventually be sent back to Milwaukee to get game experience and Dex will be back to backup Pekks at that time.

Predators Hockey: Live it, Love it...
Follow me on Twitter: @SLakePreds

by Seth Lake on Sep 30, 2010 6:56 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

His glove hand was nowhere near as bad as I had heard. Several times he outright stoned guys with it.

by Chris Burton on Sep 30, 2010 6:53 PM EDT up reply actions

It seems to me most of the videos featuring the goalies included Coach Korn working the crap out of Lindback’s glove hand. Both @phragmunkee and I have had several discussions though about being pretty happy with both Dex and Lindback. No real bad choice IMO.

EASports' NHL 11 doesn't suck; in fact, it's really damn good! Wait, what!?
Go Predators!!!

by Poiju on Sep 30, 2010 8:21 PM EDT up reply actions

I just don’t remember a lot of dangling rebounds when he was in net. There weren’t a lot of second chances and scrambles.

by BradHerman on Oct 1, 2010 8:37 AM EDT up reply actions

After seeing Lindback, I am completely comfortable with him as the backup, but my question is what happens if Peks goes down for an extended period of time?

Does Lindback become the #1 or does Poile go out and get a vet? Lindback will be fine as a #2 but know I would be scared with him having to be the #1.

Thoughts? Hopefully Peks stays healthy but it has to be a concern with all the driving to the net that occurs now.

by wrandsw on Sep 30, 2010 9:49 PM EDT reply actions

If its a very serious injury, I’d guess that Poile acquires a veteran.

by Chris Burton on Sep 30, 2010 11:26 PM EDT up reply actions

If Pekka were to go down...

If Pekka was to go down for a month or more, Poile would definitely be in the market for a veteran backup. There is no way he’d risk the season, but anything shorter than that and I’d have to assume we’d give our young guns a chance first…

Predators Hockey: Live it, Love it...
Follow me on Twitter: @SLakePreds

by Seth Lake on Oct 1, 2010 12:25 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions