Two games into his second season behind the Admirals' bench, head coach Lane Lambert is still sorting a few things out.

His second team is vastly different than the one he led to 95 points (44-29-4-3) a year ago -- a team that fell to Chicago, 4-2, in the American Hockey League West Division Semifinals.

As is often the case with minor league teams, the Admirals bring back just a handful of players that were with the team a year ago. Lambert, while still trying to learn some names, is also trying to figure out where each of his players -- old and new -- will best fit on the roster this season.

The nature of the American Hockey League dictates that your best player is always just one phone call away from being taken away from you. But while it hurts the team for a moment, it also opens up a spot for another player to make a name for himself.

"That's the way it is. That's life in the AHL. Every other team goes through the same thing," Lambert says. "When you lose a player to Nashville, it opens up opportunities to others at the same time."

That was the case last season for players like Andreas Thuresson and Mark Santorelli. When call-ups started taking their toll on Lambert's top-line players, those two saw their playing time -- and their performance -- increase.

Cal O'Reilly, too, benefited from his teammates success. Over the course of the season, he evolved into a much more complete player and also established himself as a leader on and off the ice.

His 79 points (16 goals, 63 assists) led the team and was the fourth-best mark in the AHL. Now in his third season as a pro, O'Reilly is in a position to be the next player called up to help the Predators in a pinch as well as being a player his teammates look to for leadership.

"We don't have as much skill as we did in the past but we have a lot of young guys that can step up," O'Reilly says. "I think we have a pretty good mix here.

"We're a bit tougher up front and that's going to help us down the line, especially come playoff time."

The biggest loss from a year ago could be Pekka Rinne, who is now the full-time backup in Nashville after three sterling seasons in the pipes for Milwaukee.

His replacement, though, is no slouch. Drew MacIntyre earned an All-Star berth last season while playing for the Manitoba Moose. He went 25-18-2 with a .921 goals-against-average and a 2.32 save percentage. He also appeared in a pair of NHL games -- with Manitoba's parent-club, Vancouver.

MacIntyre hasn't had much trouble settling in since singing as a free agent in July.

"It's always an adjustment period. I feel pretty comfortable," MacIntrye says. "It's a great group of guys. The organization, from day that I signed, has been good to my whole family. That made it a lot easier."

He'll have big shoes to fill. Rinne tied a team record with an AHL-best 36 victories a year ago while also leading the league in minutes and games-played. He was named to his second All-Star team, as well.

"We're a different team this year, but we've got some different departments to our game," MacIntyre says. "I feel very confident in our team. I think I can do a good job here."

Backing up MacIntyre will be a physical, and formidable, group of defensemen.

Five Admirals picked up at least 100 penalty minutes last season, including newcomers Josh Gratton and Triston Grant, who spent 196 and 181 minutes in the box, respectively. Kelsey Wilson (179) is back from last season, as is Nolan Yonkman, who earned 103 minutes of penalty time in 2007-'08.

"He's a big guy and a physical player," Lambert says of Yonkman. "He can be a hard guy to play against."

Yonkman was named the team's captain by Lambert, but will be out a few weeks while he recovers from a minor knee injury. Lambert likes Yonkman's experience and leadership qualities, two big factors in the decision to put the "C" on Yonkman's sweater.

"He leads by example a lot," Lambert says. "He's certainly vocal. He's got some experience. It's something he needs to learn, too, as he goes along."

With two games under the belt, Lambert sees a work-in-progress for this year's team.

"We're really trying to find chemistry with guys and lines. It's been a bit of a struggle, to be honest with you, at times to find it. I think O'Reilly and Santorelli ... I see some chemistry there. We've got areas that we're looking at, but we've got a ways to go."