Ellis finds his groove in Nashville
Puck-moving defenceman has clearance to take off, like in days with Spitfires
The Nashville Predators were named after the sabre-toothed tiger bones discovered underneath their future arena in 1971. The creature had been extinct for at least 10,000 years.
It took 20 years, ages in hockey terms, for the franchise to finally reach the Western Conference final, and the spotlight has unearthed some of the team’s best-kept secrets. Swedish speedster Viktor Arvidsson, P.K. Subban running mate Mattias Ekholm and Ryan Ellis, the highly decorated former first-round pick who’s averaging more 24 minutes per-game in the playoffs, have emerged on the big stage.
“I don’t think there’s near the press coverage that other teams may have, which I guess results in hidden gems so to say,” said Ellis, who sports a brown beard likely longer than all others this spring.
In the case of Ellis, it’s more of a re-emergence.
The Hamilton native was a pointproducing machine on the Windsor Spitfires squad that ripped apart the Ontario Hockey League with backto-back Memorial Cup wins in 2009 and ’10. He had 89 points in 57 games in his draft year, besting the next closest defenders — Subban, who played for Belleville, and future Washington Capital John Carlson, who was with London — by13 points.
The Preds grabbed him with the 11th overall pick in 2009, but over his first three seasons in the NHL, Ellis scratched out only a supporting role on a loaded Nashville defence.
Opportunity eventually opened up. Ryan Suter left for Minnesota via free agency; Shea Weber was dealt for Subban and Seth Jones was traded to Columbus for Ryan Johansen — a move made because Ellis and Ekholm were deemed ready to assume greater roles, general manager David Poile said at the time.
Ellis, who had career highs with 16 goals, 38 points and an average of almost 24 minutes during the regular season, credits his emergence to the Peter Laviolette-led coaching staff, which replaced Barry Trotz in 2014. Laviolette’s up-tempo style has found a fit with Ellis — a slick puckmover and transporter — “but the biggest thing, I think, is just the trust that the coaches have given me and the opportunity as well.”
“I’d never really received that until they got here,” said Ellis, who’s signed for two more seasons at a mild $2.5-million (U.S.) cap hit. “My game kind of took off from that belief in them and the chance they gave me.”
Because he was such a prolific point-producer before he came to the NHL, Ellis believes he had to shed the perception that he was a weak defensive player.
Ellis also credits Phil Housley, the Hall of Fame defenceman who serves as an assistant coach, for helping him and the Preds defence reach “a whole new level.”
“I know he’s remembered as one of the best skaters from defence — his puck sense, his puck-moving ability and his offensive instincts are really one of the best in the game to ever play from a defensive position,” Ellis said of Housley. “The opportunity to learn from someone like that, you really can’t replace the value he brings to players and their game.”
Ekholm, a 26-year-old Swede originally plucked from a tier-2 Swedish league with 102nd overall pick in that same 2009 draft as Ellis, has been effectively combating top lines alongside Subban in the post-season.
Arvidsson was the oldest player picked at the 2014 draft, chosen 112th overall out of the Swedish Hockey League. The 24-year-old tied for the team lead with a career-high 31 goals and 61 points in the regular season.
“Really, our team as a whole and all the players on it have been continuously getting better and better every year,” Ellis said.