Predators' AHL Call-Ups Spark Best Stretch of Season After Deadline Trades

General manager Barry Trotz cleared house to open up spots for his youngsters to perform, and it's working out just as expected, maybe better. The Nashville Predators' sell-off at the March trade deadline has produced an unlikely dividend: the best stretch of hockey the club has played all season, driven in large part by a 22-year-old defenseman from Smithtown, N.Y., who wasn't even on the NHL roster three weeks ago.

The Avalanche acquired Nick Blankenburg, the Golden Knights took Cole Smith, and the Wild claimed Michael McCarron in a flurry of moves that left Nashville short-handed but looking decidedly younger on the blue line. Michael Bunting was also moved to the Dallas Stars for a 2026 third-round pick. With Nashville down a defenseman, a center, and a winger, three call-ups were made following the Blankenburg trade.

The Predators recalled forwards Reid Schaefer and Fedor Svechkov and defenseman Ryan Ufko from Milwaukee (AHL). Of the three, Ufko has made the most immediate and visible impact. The 22-year-old is second among AHL defensemen in points this season with a career-high 44 (11g-33a) through 50 games in 2025-26; his 33 assists are the second-most and his 11 goals are tied for the third-most among blueliners in the league. Ufko additionally leads AHL blueliners in power-play goals with six and represented Milwaukee in the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic.

Those power-play numbers translated directly to an NHL role. Ufko has taken over duties running Nashville's second power play unit, a responsibility that underscores just how quickly he has asserted himself at the top level. Four games into his NHL stint, he had a goal, two assists, and a lot of confidence the Predators desperately needed in the lineup. His first NHL goal saw him swerve around not one but two defenders before going backhand-forehand to score on a skilled goalie.

The 6-foot, 174-pound native of Smithtown, N.Y., had made his NHL debut with the Predators on April 14, 2025 vs. Utah, logging 15:37 of ice time. His size has previously been cited as the lone hesitation: at just 5 feet 10 inches, the Predators have traditionally preferred bigger defensemen. But Ufko has answered that skepticism with production. He anticipates puck movement, limits the dangerousness of opposing plays, and is surprisingly sturdy, winning his share of battles on the walls.

Schaefer, who has played 27 games in Nashville this season as a rookie with six points, returned from Milwaukee where he'd posted 28 points (15G, 13A) in 31 games. Forward Joakim Kemell was also called up to fill the void left by Bunting's departure.

The pipeline from Milwaukee has become Nashville's most productive roster-building tool of the season. Ufko was drafted by Nashville 115th overall in the fourth round of the 2021 NHL Draft out of the Chicago Steel in the USHL. After being drafted, he spent three seasons at UMass-Amherst, earning All-Hockey East honors on the Rookie Team, Second Team, and First Team in that time. The late-bloomer arc is now arriving at the NHL level at precisely the moment Trotz's retooling plan needs it most.