Before the Nashville Predators departed their practice facility on Wednesday head coach Andrew Brunette addressed the play of his younger skaters but one familiar face wasn’t on the ice.
Forward Juuso Pärssinen was assigned to Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League on Tuesday night after scoring 12 points in 44 contests. He’d not worn an Admirals jersey since Nov. 9, 2022, before being called up to Nashville and not going back the rest of last season.
“I’m failing him a little bit, it’s hard to get him going up here,” Brunette said. “We know he’s a much better player than he’s showing us right now. He probably hates it but it’s best for his game right now.”
Brunette believed that part of Pärssinen being assigned to the AHL was partly due to his confidence. Through an 82-game season, it’s difficult to maintain consistency at the highest level, and at this point, the smartest thing to do was to try and help boost the Finnish skater’s confidence.
“In our league and where we are right now it’s hard to get confidence at this time of the year, just seems to not be on it quite enough,” Brunette said. “We have a couple of young kids in the same boat, so it’s not punishment it’s the growth of a player.”
Andrew Brunette behind the bench in Dallas on Jan. 12, 2024.
Brunette takes ownership in developing Pärssinen and is disappointed to see it shake out the way it has, however, he’s waivers exempt and that’s the benefit for a 22-year-old forward who’s played 89 games in his NHL career.
“I believe I try to get the best of my guys and in my opinion, the best is to play down there and play 20-plus minutes a night, play on the powerplay, have the puck, and we’ll get a better version of him when he gets back,” Brunette stated.
The plan is to have Pärssinen be a player that can drive plays down the ice but to this point in the Predators season, he’s just not been up to par with the standard that’s expected of him.
Pärssinen was scratched three times this season before Nashville’s coaching staff opted to send him to Milwaukee. He started the campaign on the top forward line before being shuffled around after Oct. 24 this season.
“Sometimes we forget how young he is,” defenseman Alex Carrier said. “It’s always harder when you’re younger with ups and downs. Just being consistent is the hardest part but it sends a message that it could be anybody. Stay on your toes and keep working and he’ll be back here no problem.”
Then in the last 10 games Nashville’s top forward has scored a combined 27 points. The rest of Nashville’s 11 forwards who have dressed since then combine for 28 points, a less-than-ideal rhythm if the Predators want to maintain a consistent level of offense.
“I haven’t seen his best version after talking to people in the organization,” Brunette said of Pärssinen. “I believe there’s more there and we’ll find ways to get more out of him.”
After Wednesday’s time on the ice in a high-intensity practice forward Luke Evangelista said he was shocked when he heard the news that his teammate was going back to Milwaukee.
“I was really surprised when I heard the news,” Evangelista said. “Pärssinen is a hell of a player. I have full confidence and faith that he’s going to get back up here even this season. I love being in the room with him, I love being on the ice with him.”
Evangelista hopes Pärssinen goes down to Milwaukee and starts to tear it up with a team that has five active skaters with over 20 points this season in the AHL.
Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter/X: @KieserNick
Photos courtesy of Nashville Predators
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