Nashville Predators send 17 players to Milwaukee

Following  last night's 4-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets, the Nashville Predators dispatched 17 players to their AHL affiliate in Milwaukee, as the Admirals are set to open camp on Monday.

There weren't really any surprises in this round of cuts, but the spotlight will certainly focus on those young players who are sticking around, and looking for their shot at an NHL job, like Gabriel Bourque, Craig Smith, Chris Mueller, and of course the defensemen who are vying for the 5/6/7 jobs.

After the jump, the Preds' press release... 

Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced tonight that the club has assigned forwards Taylor Beck, Ryan Flynn, Jani Lajunen, Michael Latta, Juuso Puustinen, Josh Shalla, Robert Slaney; defensemen Taylor Aronson, Victor Bartley and Charles-Olivier Roussel and goaltenders Atte Engren and Chet Pickard to Milwaukee. Forwards Brodie Dupont and Ben Ryan were placed on the non-roster injured list.

The Predators also released forwards Joel Champagne and Mark Van Guilder; and defensemen Jeff Foss, Scott Ford and Scott Valentine from Professional or Amateur Tryout Agreements (ATOs/PTOs), with all five expected to attend the opening of Milwaukee's training camp on Monday.

The transactions leave Nashville's Training Camp roster at 33 players - 19 forwards, 11 defensemen and three goaltenders. Players by position currently participating in camp are as follows:

FORWARDS (19): Niclas Bergfors, Gabriel Bourque, Martin Erat, Mike Fisher, Blake Geoffrion, Matt Halischuk, Patric Hornqvist, Sergei Kostitsyn, David Legwand, Chris Mueller, Cal O'Reilly, Craig Smith, Jerred Smithson, Nick Spaling, Zack Stortini, Ryan Thang, Jordin Tootoo, Colin Wilson and Kyle Wilson

DEFENSEMEN (11): Teemu Laakso, Jonathon Blum, Francis Bouillon, Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Ellis, Jack Hillen, Roman Josi, Kevin Klein, Tyler Sloan, Ryan Suter, Shea Weber

GOALTENDERS (3): Anders Lindback, Pekka Rinne and Jeremy Smith.

The Predators hit the ice for their second of three home preseason contests on Wednesday night when the Washington Capitals come to town (7 p.m. CT, 102.5 FM The Game). The club's annual PredsFest game will be the preseason finale on Oct. 1 vs. Carolina. Tickets all preseason games are still available.