Reaction to Nashville Predators Inking Connor Ingram to New Deal

We may not have Nashville Predators games, but we do have some roster news to announce as Connor Ingram gets a new three-year contract.

This news was announced earlier today by Nashville Predators GM David Poile, and Ingram absolutely earned it in his first season in the Nashville Predators’ minor league system:

Ingram came over from the Tampa Bay Lightning last offseason in a trade. The two sides just couldn’t see eye to eye, and a change of scenery was obviously needed for Ingram.

That change of scenery was with the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL, and Ingram flourished this past season. He racked up a save percentage of .933 and had his goals against average below two goals per game.

Ingram also was named a 2020 AHL All-Star, and played very well in that event. He amassed 21 wins in the regular season and put up two shutouts as well.

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This trade that the Predators made back in June of last summer is looking like a good one. They gave up just a 2021 7th-round pick to Tampa Bay to acquire Ingram. Now they might have their future backup to Saros.

Keeping that goaltender arsenal locked and loaded has always been a strong point for Poile, and it looks like we have a good backup plan in place for when Rinne hangs it up.

Ingram’s future with Nashville

This young netminder has a bright future as he continues to pile up the experience in the AHL. His career numbers in the AHL are very impressive, and he’ll eventually deserve his shot at the NHL level when Pekka Rinne retires, or if an unfortunate injury occurs.

I can’t see a scenario of Rinne losing his roster spot to Ingram next season. It’s Juuse Saros‘ starting role going into next season, and Rinne should be the backup in the last year of his current contract.

However, things will get interesting after that. Ingram is about to turn 23-years-old and should get one more full season with Milwaukee to build up valuable playing experience and development.

Ingram is definitely a high candidate to be the future backup to Saros going beyond next season. But if Rinne’s play continues to decline, they’ll have a tough decision to make during the course of next season. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that.

This is turning out to be a great comeback story of sorts for Ingram. Tampa Bay gave up on him essentially, and the Predators took him in because they knew the talent he has and that the potential is there.

For what it’s worth, Ingram is also a great follow on Twitter:

We can only hope that Ingram puts to shame that 68 overall rating in NHL20. Low potential? He now has some bulletin board material going into 2020-21.

All sarcasm aside, I’m thrilled for Ingram to see this deal announced and fairly confident that he has a promising future with the Nashville Predators organization.

Maybe one more full season in Milwaukee for Ingram makes the most sense, but this is something worth following closely as the sun is starting to set on a spectacular career for Rinne.