As Nashville Predators head coach Barry Trotz hinted earlier this week on the radio, the team has apparently dispatched forward Filip Forsberg to the Milwaukee Admirals, and called up Taylor Beck to take his place. Forsberg is no longer listed on the Preds’ Active Roster at the NHL’s media website, while Beck is now there.
While the coach cited a desire to see Forsberg get more minutes and build up some confidence, it’s a bit of a shame because he’s done well with the limited opportunity he’s been given at the NHL level (just 5:07 of ice time at Los Angeles Saturday, and 6:42 last night). He’s currently 3rd on the team in the amount of shots on goal being produced per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time, and his general puck possession stats are very solid.
If anything, I’d like to see Forsberg get more ice time with the Preds, but if that’s just not going to happen, perhaps more work in Milwaukee for (what I hope is) a short while isn’t going to hurt.
In the meantime, Taylor Beck may get the chance to get his first NHL action of the season when the Preds play tomorrow night at Winnipeg. He impressed Nashville fans with 3 goals and 4 assists in 16 games last spring. In 8 games so far for Milwaukee, Beck has 3 goals and 2 assists to go with 20 shots.
UPDATE: For those curious about the method behind the madness, the following came across shortly after this article was posted:
.@taybeckone9 will join the @PredsNHL in WPG, & Filip Forsberg will join @mkeadmirals in Texas to gain valuable minutes in a 3-in-3 weekend.
— KWilsonPreds (@KWilsonPreds) November 7, 2013