RDS reporter Renaud P. Lavoie was the first to report the news and The Tennessean’s Josh Cooper has confirmed he will not be in the lineup tonight.

The Boston University graduate played with fellow Preds forward Colin Wilson when they won the 2009 National Championship. He was a point-per-game player during his senior season.

According to capgeek.com, the 26-year old winger has a cap hit of just $725,000, making him an affordable option for the Predators.

The curious part is this: who becomes the odd-man out? The fourth line boasts talented players like Matt Halischuk (10 goals) and Craig Smith (26 points) as well as prototypical Predator Jerred Smithson and/or the occasional toughness of Brian McGrattan. Is he a third line guy? The combination of Jordin Tootoo, Nick Spaling and Gabriel Bourque has been Nashville’s best line at times this season. One has to wonder where, exactly, Yip will fit in.

The official press release is below where you’ll notice that the Preds also took Smithson off the IR.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (January 19, 2012) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club claimed forward Brandon Yip on waivers from the Colorado Avalanche and activated forward Jerred Smithson from injured reserve.

Yip, 26 (4/25/85), has 41 points (23g-18a) in 113 career NHL contests, all with Colorado, since the 2009-10 campaign. The Vancouver, B.C., native has been limited to 10 games in 2011-12 – going pointless – due to arm (missed 18 games from Oct. 8-Nov. 15) and groin (missed four games from Dec. 13-19) injuries. The 6-1, 195-pound right wing amassed 108 points (45g-63a) in 139 games with Boston University from 2005-09, helping the Terriers win the 2009 NCAA National Championship on a team that also included current Predator Colin Wilson.

Colorado’s seventh selection, 239th overall (eighth round), in the 2004 Entry Draft, Yip is on a one-way contract worth $750,000.

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PHOTO CREDIT: Bridget Samuels // Flickr (used with permission)

In front of his friends and family in his hometown, the Nashville Predators rookie slammed the puck over the goal line for his first ever tally as a professional. It was the go-ahead goal at the time but, unfortunately, it didnt hold up as the Predators lost their sixth game of the season (and sixth in a row) by the score of 3-2 to the Boston Bruins.

Since Saturday, the Predators have looked like a completely different team than they did in the three games before. And not just because of the close final scores either. Sure both games finished with the final score of 3-2 in favor of their opponents, but the overall intensity and resiliency has been present, unlike the previous three contests.

And they haven’t been without some adversity too. Not only did they have to regain confidence after being blasted 6-1, 6-0 and 3-1 in consecutive games, but Barry Trotzs club found themselves without some key players since the road trip began. Defenseman Dan Hamhuis has been out since Saturday with a concussion and, on Wednesday night, they skated without captain Jason Arnott who’s dealing with an upper-body injury.

Arnott is slated to be out for at least the entire road trip.

But the young guys picked up the slack. Patric Hornqvist extended his team lead in points (7) by registering an assist, rookie Wilson scored his first goal, recent call-up Cody Franson earned his first NHL point and Cal OReilly created some good chances while skating on the top line with veterans Steve Sullivan and JP Dumont.

Wilson’s goal wasn’t the only first for the Preds as Jerred Smithson became the first forward not playing on the top line (sans Martin Erat’s own goal against Chicago of course) to score for Nashville. Recent free agent signee Dave Scatchard, who hasn’t played in an NHL game since January 27, 2007, donned a Predators sweater for the first time on Wednesday. And, in a personal triumph, defenseman Kevin Klein was not on the ice for a goal against his team for the first time since last Wednesday.

The Predators wont get a day off between games as they’ll skate against the Senators in Ottawa tomorrow night.

Puck drops at 6:30pm Central. The game will be seen on FSN-TN.

GAME NOTES:
* Tough guy Wade Belak got less than 2:00 of ice time in what was his 500th career NHL game.
* David Legwand played his best game of the young season so far. He was all over the ice, earned an assist on the first Preds goal and even dove in front of a Zdeno Chara slapper to register a blocked shot. The only area he seemed to struggle in was the face-off dot, clicking at only 33%.
* Nashville was able to avoid the penalty box for the first 42 minutes of action, but then took two infractions back-to-back. Boston, however, couldn’t convert on the power play either time.
* Sullivan finished the game with a minus-2 rating despite showing good chemistry with his line mates and leading his team in shots (4).
* Dan Ellis, in probably his most average outing of the season, allowed three goals on 27 shots.

The former Hobey Baker Award finalist for college hockey’s best player skated out for the pre-game skate amidst a throng of fans and a roar of cheers.

Not since Peter Forbserg was brought in at the trade deadline back in 2006 has one player generated so much

Rookie Colin Wilson was seen smiling from ear to ear during the pre-game skate.

“promise.” Since being drafted seventh overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, Wilson has been the face of the future for the Nashville Predators. Then, if it were even possible, that excitement only grew when – in one of the greatest finishes you’ll ever see – Wilson and his teammates at BU won the NCAA National Championship last April.

Well, this isn’t Boston anymore. It’s Nashville. And it’s the big leagues. And Wilson’s present and playing tonight.

And he couldn’t be happier.

Wilson was seen by all fans in attendance for the pre-game skate grining ear to ear. Even while passing and shooting. He truly is enjoying this moment.

Hopefully he can be a reason for the Pred fans to enjoy his moment as well.

He’ll start the game on a line with Ryan Jones and Joel Ward.

Just a quick reminder, Nashville Predators 2008 number 1 draft pick — and the lead candidate for the Hobey Baker Award — Colin Wilson can be seen on Saturday afternoon when his Boston University Terriers face off against the number 4-seeded Ohio State University. Puck drops in Manchester, New Hampshire at 4:00pm Central which conflicts with the new start time of the Predators/Kings game of 5:00pm.

Set those TiVo’s and FauxVo’s (DVR = fake-TiVo, thus the term FauxVo) for ESPN2 at 4:00pm so, once you get home from the Preds game, you can get a glimpse of Wilson before he’s invited to the big club come playoff time.

Just a quick reminder, Nashville Predators 2008 number 1 draft pick — and the lead candidate for the Hobey Baker Award — Colin Wilson can be seen on Saturday afternoon when his Boston University Terriers face off against the number 4-seeded Ohio State University. Puck drops in Manchester, New Hampshire at 4:00pm Central which conflicts with the new start time of the Predators/Kings game of 5:00pm.

Set those TiVo’s and FauxVo’s (DVR = fake-TiVo, thus the term FauxVo) for ESPN2 at 4:00pm so, once you get home from the Preds game, you can get a glimpse of Wilson before he’s invited to the big club come playoff time.