Predators make several recalls from AHL as players, coaches enter COVID protocol

The Nashville Predators are pushing forward and expected to take the ice against the Colorado Avalanche Thursday night despite having several players and coaches enter the COVID protocol Wednesday. To ice a full roster, they’ve recalled Cody Glass, Rocco Grimaldi, Mathieu Olivier and Cole Smith from the Milwaukee Admirals. The Admirals will also be loaning head coach Karl Taylor and assistant Scott Ford, who will be behind the Nashville bench Thursday night.

Wednesday, Mikael Granlund, Ryan Johansen, Matt Luff, Michael McCarron, Philip Tomasino and Ben Harpur were all ruled out. The Predators will have to make do without them, inserting several minor-league players into the lineup.

Still, the four they have recalled do have quite a bit of NHL experience. Glass, the sixth-overall pick from 2017, has played 68 games to this point in his career and still has plenty of potential. He was sent to the minor leagues to get his confidence back up and play in more offensive situations–something that has paid off with 19 points in 21 AHL games.

Grimaldi, meanwhile, has been a regular for the Predators in each of the last few seasons, playing more than 200 games in his NHL career. The 5-foot-6 forward has scored eight goals in 14 games with Milwaukee and can obviously handle himself at the NHL level. Olivier and Smith have much less experience, but are certainly capable of filling in. They even might find themselves getting a little extra ice time given the absences upfront.