Preds Practice Ponderings: January 1

The Nashville Predators rang in the New Year with a practice on Sunday afternoon, but they did so without one of their top players.
It was announced Sunday that defenseman P.K. Subban, who has missed the past seven games with an upper-body injury, was placed on Injured Reserve and will be re-evaluated in two to three weeks. The update means Subban will not be able to play Tuesday against his former team, the Montreal Canadiens, who come to town for the first and only time this season.
Although the Preds would prefer to have No. 76 in the lineup, they've been making adjustments in his absence for the past two weeks, and Head Coach Peter Laviolette has confidence that his group can continue to handle the void left by Subban on the backend.

"It's tough when you take people out of the lineup," Laviolette said. "Ryan Ellis was out for a little bit and now P.K. is out, but guys step up and you have to move on. Every team in the League goes through it, and you deal with injuries. I think you've just got to keep moving forward, which our team has done."
Subban is expected to address the media on Tuesday morning prior to that night's meeting with the Canadiens.
The Predators were once again joined by defenseman Anthony Bitetto (Injured Reserve; upper-body) on the ice during Sunday's practice. Bitetto has been skating with the team as of late as he continues to recover from a broken hand suffered at the end of November.
Prior to Sunday's session, the Preds assigned defenseman Adam Pardy to Milwaukee of the AHL.