Wilsby Excited for First NHL Recall as Preds Look for Continued Consistency on Road Trip

Adam Wilsby was all smiles after Wednesday’s practice in Edmonton - and understandably so.

Nashville recalled the 24-year-old defenseman from Milwaukee (AHL) ahead of Wednesday’s session, the first time Wilsby has gotten that call. There was no confirmation on whether or not the Swede will make his NHL debut when the Preds face the Oilers tomorrow night at Rogers Place, but no matter - for today, the thrill of being up with the Predators for the first time was enough.

“Yeah, it’s a dream come true, and I'm just trying to enjoy every moment here and take my chance,” Wilsby, who wears No. 83, said. “It's a good possibility for me, so I’m just trying to do the right thing every day here… Just playing my game, play simple and hard and use my skating - that’s my biggest strength. So, use that, and that will probably fit in pretty well in the system here. And obviously, just enjoy every moment. You only get one first game, so [whenever that comes], just enjoy it.”

Wilsby had skated in 10 of Milwaukee’s games this season prior to today, recording a goal, two assists, a +4 rating and eight penalty minutes in those outings. Last season, he posted a career-high 21 points (8g-13a) in 61 games in his second full campaign with the Admirals, and that goal total was tied for the team lead on the blueline.

After playing more of a two-way game in his native Sweden, Wilsby says he’s improved on the defensive side of the puck since joining the Admirals. Additionally, adapting his game on the North American sized rink - smaller than the European rink - has been a focus, and he’s adjusted well.

“Since I came to Milwaukee, I've been more reliable defensively,” Wilsby said. “I feel like my game is more [of an] all-around [game] now. And I feel pretty strong in the D-zone, but also I feel like I can make plays in the O-zone.

“In Milwaukee, I had to find my role and get playing time mostly, so I had to build my game more defensively there, and I feel like that helped me. I feel like I'm pretty solid defensively now, and also I feel pretty skilled with the puck, so I’m just trying to use all my strengths.”

Preds defenseman Marc Del Gaizo, as well as forward Zach L’Heureux - both Admirals themselves earlier this season - can attest to Wilsby’s improvement as of late, and they’re looking forward to seeing what he can do if and when the time comes.

“Like every pro, you gain more experience, you get more confident in yourself, and that's something that I thought ‘Willy’ really took a step with last year was his confidence in himself,” Del Gaizo said of Wilsby. “He’s turning into the player that he wants to be, and he's just an awesome kid, too - a good friend of mine.”

“He's such a good player, such a good two-way defenseman,” L’Heureux said of Wilsby. “I’ve seen his game improve, and just the way he's able to really round himself up to a true pro, and obviously get this opportunity now, it's all credit to him. He deserves it all the way. And just as a teammate and a guy, we lived in the same building last year and this year again at the beginning of the year, so I definitely got to know him a little more, and his family. He’s so grateful for it, I'm sure, and obviously just really excited for him.”

No matter who is in the Nashville lineup as this five-game road trip continues, the goal remains to find more consistency in the overall effort. Despite a 3-2 overtime loss in Colorado on Monday to start the trip, the Preds say that’s the case, and they’ll look to build on it Thursday in Edmonton.

“We’ve definitely found a little bit of consistency in our game,” Preds forward Michael McCarron said. "We’ve had two pretty good games in a row the way we want to play. Obviously we didn't win the game Monday, so there’s still some things we can get better at… But we’re finally starting to understand our system, everybody's playing the way we're supposed to play, and it's fun to be a part of it. We're having way more fun playing as a group, just starting to understand why we do the things we do, and we're seeing results because of that. So, it's great. We had a great day of practice today, and just continuing to get better here as a group.”

“It’s been better here lately,” Preds forward Gustav Nyquist said of the team’s overall game. “The last few games, there’s some building in the right direction. There’s still plenty of room for improvement, but we're taking some steps in the right direction. We just got to keep going here.”