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Nashville Predators Player Tracker: February

Posted on by Bryan Bastin

Updated: 3:00 pm, February 16th

This NHL season is one unlike any other—with the COVID rules and the shortened season, player movement is at an all-time high. With the addition of the taxi squad, it can be difficult to keep up with player movement, so this will serve as a single place to find all player transactions. All information is courtesy of CapFriendly.com.

Current Nashville Predators Roster (as of 3:00 PM, Feb. 16, 2021)
Current Cap Space:  $2,912,190

Predators Player Tracker – February

Forwards (11) Defensemen (7) Goaltenders (2) Injured Reserve (5) Taxi Squad (5/6)
Matt Duchene Roman Josi Pekka Rinne F Brad Richardson G Kasimir Kaskisuo
Filip Forsberg Ryan Ellis Juuse Saros D Luca Sbisa F Michael McCarron
Viktor Arvidsson Ben Harpur F Ryan Johansen F Eeli Tolvanen*
Mikael Granlund Mark Borowiecki D Mattias Ekholm D Alexandre Carrier
Colton Sissons Matthew Benning F Mathieu Olivier* F Sean Malone
Luke Kunin Dante Fabbro*
Rocco Grimaldi Jarred Tinordi
Erik Haula
Nick Cousins
Yakov Trenin
Calle Järnkrok

Tuesday, February 16th

D Ben Harpur to Active Roster

F Eeli Tolvanen to Taxi Squad

F Michael McCarron to Taxi Squad

Monday, February 15th

D Frédéric Allard to AHL (Chicago) from EC VSV

D Ben Harpur to Taxi Squad

F Eeli Tolvanen to Active Roster

F Michael McCarron to Active Roster

Sunday, February 14th

F Eeli Tolvanen to Taxi Squad

D Ben Harpur to Active Roster

Saturday, February 13th

F Eeli Tolvanen to Active Roster

D Ben Harpur to Taxi Squad

Friday, February 12th

F Eeli Tolvanen to Taxi Squad

Thursday, February 11th

D Mattias Ekholm to Injured Reserve

F Mathieu Olivier to Injured Reserve

D Ben Harpur to Active Roster

F Eeli Tolvanen to Active Roster

Wednesday, February 10th

D Alexandre Carrier to Taxi Squad

F Sean Malone and F Michael McCarron to Taxi Squad

F Anthony Richard to AHL (Chicago)

Tuesday, February 9th

F Sean Malone to Active Roster

F Eeli Tolvanen to Taxi Squad

F Anthony Richard to Taxi Squad

Monday, February 8th

F Ryan Johansen to Injured Reserve

While many of us speculated that Johansen’s absence in the latter half of last week’s game against Florida was a coaching decision, Coach Hynes confirmed that Johansen was day-to-day with an injury.  It looks now like it’s official, as Ryan Johansen officially moves to the injured reserve.  There are likely more moves incoming as the team prepares to play Tampa – expect to see the usual Tolvanen and/or Olivier moves from the taxi squad.  It will be curious to see where the rest of the lineup falls – Erik Haula was playing with Viktor Arvidsson in Sunday’s practice, so we’ll see if he can step up his game after the disappointed start to the season.

F Eeli Tolvanen, F Mathieu Olivier and F Michael McCarron to Active Roster

Tolvanen would play in that night’s 4-1 loss to Tampa Bay, then Olivier and McCarron would join Sean Malone as taxi squad players seeing ice time in the next day’s 6-1 loss to Tampa.

Saturday, February 6th

F Sean Malone to Taxi Squad

Our own Eric Dunay covered Malone’s signing in a breakdown back in July.  While he looked to be a signing purely to replace Milwaukee’s center-depth with the departures of Frederic Gaudreau, David Carr and Colin Blackwell, as well as the promotion of Yakov Trenin, he brings some upside to Nashville’s bottom six.  Malone is a disciplined player in his own end, being able to see plays developing, and as is Nashville’s M.O., is able to move the puck into the neutral zone.  Last season, Malone was also a key member of the Rochester American’s penalty kill – and the Predators could use all the help they can get in that department.

F Eeli Tolvanen and F Matthieu Olivier to the Taxi Squad

You all know the drill.  Taxi squad chess is mostly about managing the daily cap hit.  When it comes to actually playing and practicing hockey, this makes zero difference for the two forwards who are playing well enough to earn time on the ice.

Friday, February 5th

F Mathieu Olivier to Active Roster

What else is there to say at this point?  I feel like I’m watching Wimbledon with him bouncing back and forth every day.  He looks to get some time tonight with Johansen possibly missing time to an injury and the subpar play of Rocco Grimaldi.

Thursday, February 4th

F Calle Järnkrok to Active Roster from Injured Reserve

Järnkrok returns to the lineup for the first time since being placed on IR on January 22nd.  Expect him to play tonight against the Florida Panthers.

F Eeli Tolvanen to Active Roster

You see?  Moving these players up and down from the taxi squad serves only to manage the daily salary cap hit.  Tolvanen is expected to play on the third line this evening with Colton Sissons and Yakov Trenin.

Tuesday, February 2nd

F Mathieu Olivier to Taxi Squad

The daily Olivier carousel continues to spin.  Don’t be surprised to see him back up prior to the next game.

F Eeli Tolvanen to Taxi Squad

Remember, both Olivier and Tolvanen are both waiver-exempt—meaning they can move up and down to the taxi squad at will with no real difference. These two players will be able to continue to practice and travel as before.

Monday, February 1st

F Mathieu Olivier to NHL Roster

I’m still trying to figure out why Olivier seemingly moves up and down the roster, despite seeing regular game time. But the important thing to know is that he was up to join the Predators in Monday’s 5-2 loss to Tampa Bay.

F Eeli Tolvanen to NHL Roster

The long wait is (temporarily) over, as fan-favorite Eeli Tolvanen was finally called up to the active roster. He responded with a goal in Monday’s 5-2 loss to Tampa Bay. We’ll have to wait and see if he remains up with the NHL team for the games later this week.

Resources

CapFriendly – Nashville Predators: The single best resource for all player transactions, cap hits and much more.  Follow the Twitter feed as well at @CF_Transactions

Breaking Down The Taxi Squad Ahead of the 2021 NHL Season: Our very own Sarah Hager wrote a very informative piece on the rules of the taxi squad prior to the start of the season.  If you have questions, here’s the place to start!

Talking Points