Each Day until September 15th TPS will take a look at one team from the East and one team from the West and spotlight a few rookies to watch for this season. Today in the West it’s the Nashville Predators.Nashville used 9 different rookies last year in varying roles and watched guys like Colin Wilson and Cody Franson take nice steps forward in their sophomore seasons. This year 2 guys still considered rookies as they've played less then 26 games should also take their games to the next level.
Jonathan Blum is a terrific young player. He's smart as they come on the ice, can skate the puck up ice if he wants to, but usually makes the smart pass to start the play and can run a power play with precision dishing out of the puck. 2010 Hobey Baker winner Blake Geoffrion saw action in 20 games scoring 6 times including a hat trick against Buffalo in March.
There will be a lot of fans hoping Ryan Ellis can make the jump to the NHL next season. Ellis has been hyped for years by the national media in Canada for his excellent offensive instincts. His skating has been questioned and his size is an issue, but he does win a lot, and does terrific things with the puck in the offensive zone. He is just coming out of junior though and the Preds may want to let him develop for a year in the AHL.
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