This time last year, Tommy Novak, Luke Evangelista, and Philip Tomasino were in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, preparing themselves for a season of potential with the Nashville Predators’ AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals.
Today, they are in Nashville, Tennessee, ready to take that next step together as they prepare for another season of potential, this time with the Predators.
After the last cut was made on Sunday, with the Preds waiving Denis Gurianov (and assigning him to Milwaukee after he cleared), all three of Tomasino, Novak, and Evangelista made the Preds’ final 23-man roster. Not only that, going into Tuesday’s opener on the road in Tampa, it looks likely they will play on a line together.
“They’ve created, offensively, the most for us all through camp,” head coach Andrew Brunette said after Monday’s practice. “Of course, they played the most games, but they also created, nightly, offensively. They’ve got some work to do a little bit on the other side of the puck, and they are young players, but I’ve really enjoyed watching them create and read off of each other.”
Tomasino joins Novak, Evangelista to start the year
One long, tiring training camp, endless meetings and workouts, and many minutes of preseason competition proved to the coaching staff that Novak plus Evangelista plus Tomasino equals scoring potential for this young, rebuilding team. And the advanced stats bear that out as well, with that line responsible for 80% of the on ice expected goals when together this preseason.
“They are young players, but they are all three high hockey sense players that have some skill,” Brunette added. “So it will be a good test for them [against Tampa].”
Thinking back to last season, Tomasino was the biggest shock to be starting the season in Milwaukee. Perhaps because of his waiver exempt status, or perhaps because he “had a bad camp”, then general manager David Poile and coach John Hynes thought it better for Tomasino to start the season in Milwaukee.
How does Tomasino reflect on the last year knowing that he’s made the team this year?
“I think it’s been a lot of growth, for sure,” Tomasino told me. “I’ve got lot more experience, in terms of when I came back this year versus last year. I think my game has grown a lot. And I’ve said before, a lot of credit to my time in Milwaukee. I think it was huge for me. So obviously this year, I want to take my take my game to that next step, so I’m excited to get going.”
As generous as Tomasino has been to the previous coaching staff and the staff in Milwaukee for helping to grow his game, it seems clear that he’s ecstatic to be where he’s at today.
“I’m really, really excited to be here,” he says with a large smile on his face as our conversation ended.
Part of that could be because of who he’s paired with. Like Brunette, Tomasino knows the guys he’s been working with have made some magic happen in the offensive zone.
“It’s awesome. I mean, we’ve had we’ve had a lot of meetings together. But, I think those two guys are really good players. We’re all kind of different. We all bring a different element to our line. So hopefully we can continue to play well. I think we’d all love to maybe score a few more goals, but I think we complement each other really well.”
The rest of the Preds’ forward group
At practice on Monday, we saw the following forward line rushes:
Forsberg O’Reilly Parssinen
Nyquist Glass Sherwood
Tomasino Novak Evangelista
Trenin Sissons Smith
Unless something dramatic changes, these will probably be the forward lines against Tampa on Tuesday.
Andrew Brunette has emphasized he prefers balance throughout the forward groups, which seems to be the key here. Each line has a phsyical presence, a skilled center/winger hybrid, and an offensive threat. The two forwards on the outside appear to be Sammy Fagemo and Michael McCarron, with each one offering quite different skill sets. Look for Brunette to utilize those two frequently in the first couple weeks as he looks to find chemistry that works at both ends.
— Featured image via Danny Murphy/Icon Sportswire —
