By Jason Karnosky
The 2026-27 season marks a new direction for the Admirals, and their NHL affiliate, Nashville.
For the first time in Predators history, Nashville’s general manager position won’t be held by either David Poile or Barry Trotz. Both franchise legends date back to the team’s inception nearly 30 years ago.
That role now belongs to Chris MacFarland, who succeeded Trotz after he stepped down last season. MacFarland comes to the Music City after guiding Colorado to the NHL’s best record while serving as the Avalanche’s general manager.
“Having Chris here with the Predators organization is awesome,” said Admirals forward Chase Bradley, who was acquired by MacFarland this summer. “He communicates well, and he gives you good feedback. I can’t say enough good things about having him here.”
While MacFarland heads a new regime in Nashville, most of Milwaukee’s front office personnel remain. This includes general manager Scott Nichol and head coach Karl Taylor, who helped the Admirals reach back-to-back AHL Western Conference Finals in 2023 and 2024.
Nichol enters his ninth season as Milwaukee’s general manager, as does Taylor.
“It’s great to be back in Milwaukee,” Taylor said. “I thought things went well in Nashville during training camp, but now we are here and it’s our team.”
Taylor will be guiding an Admirals squad with several players returning from last year. Milwaukee will be looking to build on a 2025-26 season where they finished with a 32-33-4-3 record and made the Calder Cup playoffs as the Central Division’s fifth seed.
“It’s a fun time of year,” said Admirals captain Kevin Gravel, who is returning for his fifth season in Milwaukee. “Our guys got their feet back underneath them during training camp, and now we are ready to get our season going.”
Jake Lucchini returns after leading Milwaukee in scoring a year ago. The 31-year-old remains one of the AHL’s top players and has posted 50 or more points in three of the past five seasons.
Power play specialist Joakim Kemell will start 2026-27 in Milwaukee, after splitting time with the Admirals and Predators over the past two seasons. Nashville’s brass is still hoping for a breakout from their talented 22-year-old, who was the 17th player selected in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.
Forward Oasiz Wiesblatt will be back in Milwaukee after an outstanding rookie campaign. Milwaukee’s spark plug brought energy to the Admirals last year, posting 13 goals, 31 points, and 124 penalty minutes.
Oasiz is joined in Milwaukee by his older brother Ozzy Wiesblatt. The 24-year-old, who was a 2020 first-round draft choice of the San Jose Sharks, played in 40 games for Nashville last year.
David Edstrom and Cole O’Hara are two other second-year forwards who return after strong rookie campaigns. Edstrom was one of his team’s top two-way players in 2025-26, while O’Hara led Milwaukee with 19 goals.
Kyle Marino is also back in Milwaukee after posting two seasons of over 150 minutes in penalties while wearing an Admirals sweater.
Other Admirals veterans include Bradley and John Farinacci, who comes to Milwaukee after playing two seasons for the Providence Bruins. The 25-year-old scored his first NHL goal last year in his lone game up with the Boston Bruins.
In 2025-26 the Admirals featured nine rookies in prominent roles. This year Milwaukee will again dress several first-year forwards up front, including Brady Martin, Aiden Fink, Vitali Pinchuk, Felix Nilsson, Hiroki Gojsic, and Ben Strinden.
Martin and Fink played briefly with the Predators organization last spring and each showed promise with their respective teams.
Nashville selected Martin fifth overall in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. Less than a year after he was drafted, the 19-year-old dressed for three games with the Predators, collecting his first NHL point.
Fink played in six games with the Admirals last spring and racked up 10 points.
Pinchuk will be a 24-year-old AHL rookie this year. The Belarusian is making the transition to the North American game after posting a 31-goal and 66-point campaign playing for the KHL’s Minsk Dynamo.
“There’s been some good improvement from our rookies so far, but the AHL games are coming,” Taylor said. “In our league our young players will be going up against older players, so that’s going to be a new challenge for all of our rookies.”
Bradley came over to the Predators organization in a summer trade from Colorado that included forward Jack Drury. After a slow season offensively with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles, the 24-year-old is eager to show his talents in another organization.
“It’s a good opportunity to be here and I’ve heard nothing but good things about playing in Milwaukee and Nashville,” Bradley said. “The culture they have here is something to brag about. It’s really a tight-knit group.”
Another veteran presence joining the team is center Tyson Jost, who was assigned to Milwaukee this week. The 28-year-old has 564 games of NHL experience on his resume and played in 69 contests for Nashville last year.
Gravel returns to patrol the Admirals blue line, along with fellow defensemen Tanner Molendyk and Andrew Gibson.
“Going into this year I’m feeling confident in what I’m doing on the ice,” Gibson said. “I was one of nine rookies in Milwaukee last year, and a lot of those guys are back with us this year, and now they know what to expect. We are really gelling well as a team.”
After dressing for 71 games last year, Gibson hopes to play all 72 this season plus some extra contests next spring.
“September is the longest month of the year for everyone, because we are all ready to get into the games,” Gibson said. “Hopefully we can get things going this year and make a deep run in the playoffs.”
Milwaukee’s other new 2026-27 rear guards include Daniel Nieminen, Viggo Gustafsson, Hunter Skinner, and Will Gilson.
In goal, veteran Matthew Murray is back for his sixth professional season after going 22-22-2 with a 2.83 goals against average and a .904 save percentage last year. Most nights he’ll be joined in Milwaukee’s crease by either Isak Posch or T.J. Semptimphelter.
While Milwaukee has a lot of new skaters in 2026-27, the Admirals still expect to win.
Taylor guides an organization with an impressive track record. The Admirals have never missed out on the postseason with Taylor behind their bench.
“Everyone came into camp in good shape, looking good, and playing well,” Gravel said. “Now it’s time to start the season, so you want to ramp it up and be ready to go.”
The puck drops on the Admirals 24th AHL campaign Saturday night in Rockford. Milwaukee then returns home to host Grand Rapids one week later.
