Goaltender Ingram Excited for Future with Predators Organization

At this time last year, Connor Ingram wasn't quite sure where his hockey career was headed. Less than 365 days later, he now has plans through 2023.

The 23-year-old, who Predators General Manager David Poile recently called Nashville's top goaltending prospect, signed a three-year contract with the organization in March on the heels of an All-Star season in the AHL with the Milwaukee Admirals.

Ingram's success with Nashville's top developmental affiliate in 2019-20 was impressive, and he helped to lead the Admirals to the AHL's best record before the league postponed - and later canceled - their season due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Instead of competing in the Calder Cup Playoffs, that turn of events took Ingram back home to Saskatoon for what is sure to be the most unique offseason of his career - but he's found a way to keep busy.

Letti, a 2-month-old Aussiedoodle - half Australian Shepard, half poodle - is now a member of the family, a welcome addition, who is learning the finer points of life by the day.

"She's been good, she's stopped peeing in the house and things like that," Ingram laughed. "She got her first haircut the other day, so she's been a good girl."

The new pup is just one of many changes for Ingram over the last 12 months. Drafted in 2016 by the Tampa Bay Lightning, Ingram has always been considered a top prospect in the goaltending world after a successful junior stint with the Western Hockey League's Kamloops Blazers.

But things changed after two seasons in the Lightning organization, and on June 14 of last year, the Predators acquired Ingram from Tampa Bay in exchange for a seventh-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft.

All Ingram did over the following campaign was post a 21-5-5 record with the Admirals, while representing Milwaukee in the 2020 AHL All-Star Classic. His save percentage (.933) and goals-against average (1.92) both ranked third in the league.

Not Ingram, nor anyone else in the Predators organization, could have hoped for much better, and just under a year after being acquired for a single draft pick, the netminder is feeling a bit different about things.

"At this time last year, I wasn't thinking much about hockey," Ingram said via phone from his home in Saskatchewan. "I was really hoping that something was going to get done, but if it didn't, I don't know where I'd be right now, that's for sure. It's been amazing for Nashville to take a flier on me and just give me a shot. Hopefully, they don't regret it, and hopefully that trade can pay off big time for them."

That deal has had plenty of positives thus far, and Ingram earned himself some stability for the next few years thanks to his abilities and desire to one day play in the NHL.

"It's nice to know you have a job for three more years in our profession," Ingram said of the contract. "It's a comforting feeling, but there's still a lot of work to be done. I've never played a game in the NHL. I've sat on the bench, but that's just kind of the next step, and to have three more years to try and get it done, and hopefully stick. [This] is a good thing for me, for sure. And I didn't want to be anywhere but Nashville, that's for sure."

The Predators feel the same way, and Poile made that known earlier this month. While on a conference call with reporters, Nashville's GM addressed Ingram's future with the organization, and thanks to this past season, the Preds are feeling confident in what the goaltender may be able to do for the club in the years to come.

"Connor clearly is our top [goaltending] prospect, and he's had an outstanding year down in Milwaukee," Poile said in April. "It didn't work out in Tampa Bay for various reasons, I think the least of which is the talent that he has… We're betting on a three-year contract with him that he's certainly a guy that can be ready to play some games, if necessary, as soon as next year. But in the second and third year [of the deal], we're certainly hoping that he'll be the guy that will have a chance to play in Nashville on a regular basis.

"The goal would be probably to have him be a clear No. 1 [in Milwaukee next season]… You'd clearly like to see him have a year where he plays 60 to 65 games in the AHL to really get his development to the place where he can be considered as a player that could participate in NHL games."

Those comments were welcome soundbites to Ingram's ears, and for a player of his capability, that only makes him want to work that much harder to find himself in Nashville at some point over the course of the deal. Plus, with the Predators slated to participate in the Western Conference Qualifying Round of the NHL's Return To Play Plan - and with an unlimited number of goaltenders allowed on the roster - Ingram may find himself jetting off from the Canadian prairies sooner than later.

"It's good to know that those guys have your back, and that's really nice to hear, but there's still a lot of work to be done," Ingram said. "I'm definitely ready for when a phone call comes to try and take it as far as you can. It's a phone call I'm hoping to get sometime in the future, but there's still a lot of work to be done before you can get a shot at it. It's great to hear, but we're not going to give up just because of that."

There will be decisions for the Predators to make in the goaltending department in relatively short order, regardless. Both Pekka Rinne and Juuse Saros will see their contracts expire following the 2020-21 season, and while there has yet to be any indication as to what may happen with Nashville's Finnish duo, goaltending depth - as Poile has stated - is an important aspect of any organization's pipeline.

Ingram provides just that for the Predators, and a year after his career was in question, the future now carries a much more optimistic tone than previously thought. Perhaps he'll be frequenting dog parks in Music City soon enough.

"You want to stay as high as you can and play as close to the NHL as you can, and Milwaukee's been great," Ingram said. "There's nothing to complain about in Milwaukee. It's the city, it's the fans and everybody's been awesome to me. And when you're in Nashville, there aren't many cities people want to go to more than Nashville. Just to be in a situation to potentially be there and one day call it home is an exciting prospect."