Predators sign Admirals center Jake Lucchini to one-year, two-way NHL deal

Nashville Predators General Manager Barry Trotz announced that the team has signed forward Jake Lucchini to a one-year, two-way contract worth $850,000 at the NHL level for the 2026-27 season. The team posted the signing in its news feed and the Predators’ social copy read, "Put it in ink ✍️ We've signed forward Jake Lucchini to a one-year, two-way contract beginning in the 2026-27 season."

Lucchini is a 30-year-old center from Trail, British Columbia, listed at 6-foot, 180 pounds with a May 9, 1995 birthdate. Undrafted out of Michigan Tech, he signed his first pro deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2019 and has worked through Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Laval Rocket and Belleville before stints with Iowa and Milwaukee. The Predators release notes Lucchini made his NHL debut for Ottawa on Dec. 14, 2022 and scored his first NHL goal on Jan. 1, 2023 against the Buffalo Sabres.

Performance this season with the Milwaukee Admirals is the clear rationale for the new deal. Lucchini has appeared in 48 games, producing 13 goals, 25 assists and 38 points while collecting 17 penalty minutes. The Predators release states he ranks second in assists and second in points for Milwaukee and is tied for third in goals. Last season he posted a career-high 21 goals and finished with 45 points in 70 games for the Admirals.

At the pro level Lucchini brings heavy AHL production and depth NHL experience. His career AHL totals stand at 385 games and 243 points with a 104 goals and 139 assists split. His NHL ledger shows 54 career appearances and six points, including 11 games with Ottawa, 40 NHL games and five points with Minnesota in 2023-24, and a three-game stint with Nashville in 2024-25 during which he averaged 11:29 of ice time and finished plus-minus minus two.

Contract history explains the financial framing of the move. Lucchini signed a two-year, $1.55 million contract with Nashville in July 2024, which equates to $775,000 per season; DailyFaceOff described that prior deal as a one-way contract paying the league minimum and called the new $850,000 NHL-level figure "a little bit of a pay bump" for Lucchini. One feed of the Admirals and Predators material reproduced the announcement with a typographical error reading "one-year, two-year contract"; that line appears to be a transcription mistake in that feed.

This signing lands amid a Predators news cycle that has also highlighted roster matters tied to the Olympic break, including headlines naming Roman Josi, Filip Forsberg, Juuse Saros, Marcus Foligno and others for international play. The immediate organizational impact is depth down the middle: The Hockey News framed Lucchini as "a Milwaukee Admirals top center" who will remain in the Predators system for at least one more season, and the signing could presage increased NHL opportunity for a 30-year-old veteran who has repeatedly translated AHL productivity into situational NHL play.