The Checklist for Ryan Ellis

Ryan Ellis will be as critical to the Predators success as the guys in this picture. (Photo: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images North America) When Ryan Ellis was drafted, the times were a bit different. In 2009, the Predators missed the playoffs, and saw their best season a few years earlier come at the hands of smaller, skilled players who passed well. In 2010, Nashville was ousted from the playoffs by a Blackhawks team that drafted well, drafted big, and drafted earlier. Since then, Nashville has drafted bigger players as a way of saying “never again” (which this lesson, some would argue, should’ve been learned at the hands of the Sharks and their demolition of the Predators in consecutive seasons). But in 2009, the brass felt that the talents of Ryan Ellis were too good to pass up. Given the departure of one Ryan Suter, Predator fans hope their front office’s stellar draft record is proven again. Last season, Ellis was called up from Milwaukee about halfway through the year, due in la...