The Chicago Wolves announced Wednesday that the National Hockey League’s Nashville Predators have assigned 13 players to the team for the upcoming 2020-21 season.
The Wolves, who agreed to a one-year partnership with Nashville because the Milwaukee Admirals, their longtime AHL affiliate, opted out of this season, have added forwards Patrick Harper, Tanner Jeannot, Michael McCarron, Sean Malone, Tommy Novak, Rem Pitlick, Anthony Richard, Philip Tomasino and Josh Wilkins, defensemen Jeremy Davies, Ben Harpur and Tyler Lewington, and goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo.
This marks the start of Kaskisuo’s second stint with the Wolves. Less than a month into the 2017-18 season, the Toronto Maple Leafs loaned Kaskisuo to Chicago and he produced a 13-13-0 record with a 2.38 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage to help the Wolves win the Central Division crown.
Harper, Kaskisuo, Lewington, McCarron, Malone, Pitlick and Richard all boast NHL experience while Davies, Harpur, Jeannot, McCarron, Novak, Pitlick, Richard and Wilkins each played for the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals last season.
The 19-year-old Tomasino, Nashville’s first-round selection in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, and McCarron become the third and fourth first-round picks to be assigned to the Wolves in the last two days. On Tuesday, the Carolina Hurricanes sent forward Seth Jarvis (13th overall in the 2020 draft) and Ryan Suzuki (28th overall in the 2019 draft) to Chicago.
These 13 players bring the Wolves’ preseason roster to 30 as the team starts to prepare for the 2020-21 season slated to begin Friday, Feb. 5.
The Wolves will play all of this season’s home games at the Chicago Wolves training facility at Triphahn Ice Arena in Hoffman Estates. Fans will not be permitted to attend as the team follows strict COVID-19 safety protocols with guidance from the Illinois Department of Public Health.