By Jason Karnosky
During coach Karl Taylor’s era, the Admirals have been a staple in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Twice Taylor-guided squads reached the AHL’s frozen four. Arguably the bench boss’s best team, the 2019-20 Admirals missed a championship run due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Milwaukee’s brass knew 2025-26 would be a different season, as the Admirals rolled out with a much younger squad. There were some tough moments along the way, but Milwaukee is still alive with a chance to play for the franchise’s second Calder Cup title.
“It doesn’t matter what league you are in, it is always a privilege to be in the playoffs,” said general manager Scott Nichol, whose team reached the AHL postseason for the 20th time. “Everyone kind of counted us out (after our long losing streak), but we never quit.”
While Milwaukee (32-33-4-3) wanted to finish among the division’s top teams, by virtue of finishing fifth in the Central Division, they’ll start the postseason facing a three-game, play-in series against Manitoba.
Starting on Wednesday night, Milwaukee will face a Moose squad that they beat four times during the stretch run, including a 7-0 drubbing in Winnipeg on April 8. That short series winner will move on to face Grand Rapids in the Central Division semifinals.
“We’ve had good games against all of the playoff teams from our division,” Admirals defenseman Jordan Oesterle said. “We’ve earned some wins, had some overtime losses, and played in lots of tight games against our rivals. We’re confident that we can come out of the play-in round and we aren’t scared for the next series either.”
Things looked bleak in the early going, especially after the Admirals lost nine consecutive games before New Year’s. But as the calendar flipped to 2026, Milwaukee found a rhythm and started winning games in bunches.
“You never want to lose nine games in a row, but it came at the right point in the season for us,” Oesterle said. “You’d much rather go through that kind of adversity in December, when you can still make up the losses.”
Many nights the Admirals iced a lineup card with nine rookies, with several playing prominent roles. Sixteen different first-year AHL players dressed for Milwaukee, with 41 players in total dawning an Admirals sweater in 2025-26.
“We had nine rookies that played on a nightly basis for us,” Nichol said. “Guys like Oasiz Wiesblatt, Austin Roost, David Edstrom, and Joey Willis, they were all a big part of our squad, and they played a lot of big minutes.”
With so much inexperience on the ice, the Admirals relied on their leadership core to carry them through. Veterans like Oesterle, power forward Isaac Ratcliffe, captain Kevin Gravel, and leading scorer Jake Lucchini all delivered clutch performances.
“I credit our leadership with our turnaround this year,” Nichol said. “Guys like Lucchini, Gravel, and Kyle Marino, really made the difference. They’ve built a culture here by going far in the playoffs over the past few years. They were also welcoming to the rookies and they really helped them with the learning curve.”
When the games mattered most, Oesterle got on an unbelievable hot streak, racking up nine goals and 24 points in a 21-game span. The standout, two-way defender finished with 46 points, trailing only Lucchini’s 50 points as far as the Admirals team lead.
“Without Jordan we wouldn’t be in the playoffs, in fact we wouldn’t even be close,” Admirals coach Karl Taylor said. “He’s been huge for us, and he had an incredible run through March.”
Oesterle relished the stability the Admirals provided him this season and feels confident in his squad going into the playoffs, even though they finished with the fewest points of any AHL playoff team.
“We kind of matured throughout the season with a lot of rookies playing in meaningful minutes for us,” Oesterle said. “We’ve seen the teams in our division a lot and we know how they tick. We’re confident because of how well we’ve played against those teams.”
Entering the season nursing an injury, Ratcliffe was a bit of an afterthought for Milwaukee. But playing more minutes late in the year, the 27-year-old made his presence felt.
“How can we not talk about Isaac Ratcliffe, and what he’s meant to us,” said Taylor of the 2017 Philadelphia second-round selection. “He started the season recovering from injury and playing on our fourth or fifth line. Down the stretch he was contributing on our first line.”
Gravel was his usual steady self, and his continued strong play earned another call up to Nashville late in the season. Meanwhile, Lucchini continued to quietly produce, and at the end of the season led Milwaukee with 50 points.
Those older players helped guide the Admirals’ young lineup.
“We’ve had 16 rookies play for us this year, which definitely isn’t the usual for us here in Milwaukee,” Taylor said. “We’ve had rookies on our first power play, penalty kill, and they’ve been playing in every situation. We’ve had good leadership in the room to help guide those young players. I credit our group with shepherding the young guys, teaching them, and accelerating their growth.”
Nichol is thankful for Milwaukee’s coaching staff, who once again worked wonders with the challenging hand they were dealt.
“You have to give our coaching staff a lot of credit, because we’ve had some guys come in during the year and they were integrated into big roles,” Nichol said. “Even some of the college kids late in the season like Aiden Fink, they’ve come in and produced for us.”
Ryan Ufko was another of Milwaukee’s standout players throughout the season. With his stellar play, Nashville’s 2021 fourth-round selection earned a berth in the AHL All-Star Classic and was recently named a Second-Team All-Star for the season.
Ufko, Joakim Kemell, Reid Schaefer, and Zach L’Heureux were all Admirals players that joined Nashville for the stretch run, helping the Predators nearly reach the playoffs. All four skaters, all now with NHL experience, will be back with the Admirals to bolster the squad’s postseason prospects.
Back in Milwaukee rookie forward Cole O’Hara really came into his own, especially after the organization’s trade deadline departures. O’Hara finished as his team’s leader in goals with 19 and was often the straw that stirred his team’s drink offensively.
“Cole’s been a bit under the radar, but if you watch our games, he has the puck on his stick a ton,” Nichol said. “Since the trade deadline he’s been our go-to guy up front. He’s been scoring big goals, making plays, and coming through the neutral zone with speed. We really appreciate him.”
One of the games where O’Hara controlled play was the 2026 AHL Outdoor Classic in Hastings, Minnesota. Playing in record cold conditions, O’Hara had an assist as Milwaukee defeated Iowa 3-2 in overtime. That game was one of the turning points in Milwaukee’s season and helped give the Admirals some breathing room in the Central Division.
“We knew where we were at in the standings, and we knew we had to win some games,” Oesterle said. “With some big wins late in the season, we were finally able to separate ourselves from the bottom two teams in the division (Rockford and Iowa).”
Like Oesterle and Gravel, O’Hara also earned the chance to play in Nashville late in the season. His first NHL game was the Predators last of 2025-26. While Nashville lost 5-4 to Anaheim on April 16, the Predators 2022 fourth-round pick earned an assist on a goal by future Hall of Fame forward Steven Stamkos.
“Cole’s really become a difference maker for us,” Oesterle said. “He’s done a heck of a job and really grown as a player. We are all really happy that he got that chance to play in Nashville.”
Now that Milwaukee is in the postseason, a golden opportunity awaits. The Admirals posted stretch run wins over all four of their potential Central Division playoff opponents, including Grand Rapids, which finished with the best record in the Western Conference.
The Admirals know they could surprise and make another deep run this spring.
“There are a lot of guys in our locker room that have helped guide us through what we’ve been battling during the past six weeks,” Taylor said. “We’ll have players coming back that we’ll have to integrate into the room again, and hopefully that melds well. That is always a challenge to figure out, but hopefully we can find our way and go on a playoff run.”
