Below is a preview of all Predator prospects, broken down by level of play: AHL, Juniors, College, and Europe. 

AHL

The AHL Milwaukee Admirals faced several changes this off-season and once again have many questions entering the 2003 season.

For the second consecutive year, the Admirals have a new man behind the bench with Claude Noel taking over for newly-appointed Predators assistant coach Peter Horachek.  Noel, 47, is returning to the Admirals after spending time in Milwaukee as a player and as an assistant coach.  Last year Noel coached in the ECHL with the Toledo Storm.

The Admirals also had their division realigned with the addition the expansion Toronto Roadrunners, farm club of the Edmonton Oilers.

Finally, players will also be a lot different this season in Milwaukee.  Returning is reigning AHL rookie of the year last season Darren Haydar, who scored 75 points in 75 games last year.  Others returning include Jonas Andersson and Greg Classen.  Scottie Upshall, who played with Milwaukee at the end of last season, will also start the season with the Admirals.

Rookie forwards Timofei Shishkanov, Brandon Segal, Denis Plantov and rookie defenseman Steven Spencer will all join the Admirals for their first year in the American Hockey League.  Defenseman Ray Schultz (Bridgeport), right winger Mike Farrell (Portland) and left winger Mathieu Darche (Syracuse) are AHL veterans who will be playing in Milwaukee this season.

Brian Finley is slated to begin the season as the starting goalie for the Admirals.  Jan Lasak has been the Milwaukee goaltender for the past couple of seasons, but is now serving the Predators as a backup to Tomas Vokoun. 

Finley, 22, is looking to play injury-free for the first time since being drafted in the first round by Nashville in 1999.  The young goaltender played 22 games with Milwaukee last season posting a 7-11-2 record and a goals against average of 2.93.

Backing up Finley is long time NHL and AHL veteran Wade Flaherty.  Flaherty, picked up by the Predators at the 2003 NHL trade deadline, played with the San Antonio Rampage last season. 

The Admirals could actually improve upon last season and go further in the playoffs.  The team should have a formidable offense with Haydar and rookie wingers Segal, Upshall and Shishkanov.  Defense should also be solid with AHL veterans Skultz and Curtis Murphy.  The main ingredient to Milwaukee success will come out of the net.  This is the year for Finley to show everyone why he was a top ten pick.

Finley will begin his quest when the Milwaukee Admirals open the 2003-2004 season at home on Friday, Oct. 10 against the Toronto Roadrunners. 

JUNIORS

When an 18-or-19-year-old player is drafted into an NHL organization, the majority return to the team they were drafted from.  This is the case for Nashville prospects Paul Brown, Shea Weber, Richard Stehlik and Kevin Klein. All four 2003 picks will be playing with their respective junior teams this year. 

Defenseman Kevin Klein will be playing his third season for Toronto St. Michael’s of the Ontario Hockey League.  Klein, 18, scored 44 points in 67 games last season.  He was also an OHL Eastern All-Star.  Klein was drafted in the second round by the Predators this year.

Defenseman Shea Weber, 19, will enter his second season as a member of the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League.  The 6’3” bruising blueliner racked up 167 penalty minutes.  Weber was drafted in the second round by Nashville. 

Defenseman Richard Shehlik will play this season with Lewiston of the QMJHL.  Last season Stehlik, 19, played with QMJHL’s Sherbrooke.  In 43 games last season, the 6’4” Stehlik scored 24 points and posted 105 PIMs.  Stehlik was drafted in the third round in the 2003 draft.

Forward Paul Brown will enter his third consecutive season with WHL’s Kamloops Blazers.  The 19-year-old winger scored 56 points in 67 games last year and racked up an astounding 229 PIMs.  The 6’1”, 184-pounder was a teammate of Scottie Upshall last year and was drafted in the fourth round by the Predators.

Three other Nashville prospects will be playing in the Canadian junior leagues this year, as well.  Goaltender Matt Davis will join fellow prospect Stehlik on Lewiston of the QMJHL.  Davis, 19, played the last three years with Moncton of the QMJHL.  Last season, Davis posted a 13-8-4 record and a 3.23 GAA in 32 games.

Patrick Jarrett, 19, will play his third season with the Owen Sound of the OHL.  Last season, the 5’11” center posted 55 points in 63 games.  Jarrett was drafted in the fifth round of the 2002 draft by the Predators.

Defenseman Josh Morrow, 20, will play in his second stint with the Kamloops this year.  Morrow has also played with WHL team Medicine Hat and Tri-City.  Last season, Morrow posted 98 penalty minutes in 40 games.  The 6’1”, 200-pounder was drafted in the seventh round in 2002.

For these seven prospects, development will be most vital in the junior leagues.  All seven prospects are in good hands trying to follow players like Jordin Tootoo, Scottie Upshall and David Legwand up to the pros and eventually to the Nashville Predators roster.

COLLEGE

Ryan Suter headlines the Nashville prospects competing in the college ranks this year.  Three centers and one goaltender join Suter as the five prospects representing the Predators in college hockey.

Suter was the seventh player taken in the 2003 draft in Nashville last June.  Suter, who is known largely because his father uncle both played in the NHL, is enrolled at the University of Wisconsin of the WCHA.  The 6’1”, 183-pounder skated in 47 games with the U.S. under-18 national team last year scoring 27 points and racking up 114 PIM.  Suter is the youngest of all Nashville prospects playing in college.

The oldest prospect playing in college for Nashville is 23-year-old center Matt Koalska.  Koalska, who plays for the University of Minnesota in also in the WCHA, is playing his fourth and final year of college hockey.  Last season, the 6’1”, 190-pounder scored 40 points in 41 games.  Koalska was a fifth round pick in the 2000 draft.

Joining Koalska and Suter in the WCHA is center Matt Hendricks.  The 22-year-old will also be playing his fourth and final season as a member of the St. Cloud State team.  Last season Hendricks scored 35 points in 37 games including a team high 18 goals.  Hendricks was also a fifth round pick in the 2000 draft.

Moving out of the WCHA, Nashville prospect Kaleb Betts will be playing his first season with the Nebraska-Omaha team of the CCHA.  Betts was red-shirted last year.  The 20-year-old was an eighth round pick in the 2002 draft. 

Last but not least, goaltender Mike McKenna will be playing with St. Lawrence of the ECAC.  The 6’3” goalie played in only 15 games last year, posting one win and a 3.69 goals against average.  McKenna, 20, was a sixth round pick in the 2002 draft.

All eyes will be on Suter this year as the Predators will be patiently watching the development of Suter into the physical, two-way defensemen he was drafted to be.  But keep an eye on the other four college prospects as they also progress in hopes of being a Nashville Predator. 

EUROPEANS

Forwards Andrei Mukhachev, Oliver Setzinger and Sergei Soin highlight the European prospects in the Nashville Predators system. 

Mukhachev and Soin were both acquired this offseason; Mukhachev was a seventh round pick in the 2003 draft and Soin from Colorado in a trade involving defenseman Tomas Slovak. 

Mukhachev has already signed a contract with the Predators.  The 23-year-old will play again this year in Russia.  He is expected to be in training camp next season.

Soin, 21, is also playing this season in Russia.  Nashville unsuccessfully tried to sign Soin this summer.  The former second round pick was considered a top prospect in the Colorado Avalanche system.

Setzinger, Nashville’s first Austrian born player, was a third round pick in the 2001 draft.  The 6’0”, 200-pounder scored 21 points in 56 games last season for the Pelicans in Finland.  Setzinger looked good at rookie camp over the summer and the Predators are expected to offer the center a contract once the labor issues are settled. 

One position that is figured out in Europe is at goaltender.  Three goalies were injected into the system when the Predators drafted Rustam Sidikov, Teemu Lassila and Miroslav Hanuljak in the 2003 draft. 

The 20-year-old Lassila is considered to have the most potential out of the three goalies.  The 6’0”, 202-pounder posted a 12-6-1 record, along with a dazzling 1.92 goals against average last year with TPS Turku in Finland.  Lassila was drafted in the fourth round.

Sidkov, also a fourth rounder, will clearly need to fill out a bit to be an NHL type goalie.  The Russian goaltender is 6’1”, 158 pounds.  Last season Sidkov, 18, played in 15 games last year posting a 2.20 GAA. 

Hanuljak, a seventh round selection, was a project pick at best.  The Czech netminder played well last season with Litvinov Junior team, with a 10-8-2 record and a 3.22 GAA. 

Another player to keep an eye on is 2003 second round pick Konstantin Glazachev.  Glazachev was the fifth rated European skater available in the 2003 draft.  He slipped to the second round and the Predators gladly selected the 18-year-old.  Glazachev has all the attributes to be a successful forward in the NHL: good hands, good shot, quick feet, creativity with the puck and good hockey sense. 

Like most young forwards, however, Glazachev will need to work on his defensive game to be effective in years to come.  The 6’0”, 186-pounder will again suit up for Yaroslavl in Russia after scoring seven points in 13 games last year.

Other European skaters worth following: the 6’4”, 196-pound defenseman Anton Lavrentiev, German defenseman Alexander Sulzer and the fast-falling Swedish prospect Daniel Widing.