The Milwaukee Admirals will remain the Nashville Predators’ American Hockey League affiliate through at least the 2028-29 season.
Predators General Manager Barry Trotz announced the multi-year extension Monday. The two teams have been affiliated since Nashville’s first season, 1998-99. That is the third-longest active affiliation in the AHL.
A Long Pipeline
According to the Predators, 215 players have appeared in at least one game for both teams. Twelve have done so this season: forwards Kieffer Bellows, Vinnie Hinostroza, Joakim Kemell, Zachary L’Heureux, Jake Lucchini, Fedor Svechkov and Ozzy Wiesblatt, and defensemen Nick Blankenburg, Marc Del Gaizo, Kevin Gravel, Spencer Stastney and Adam Wilsby.
Several current Predators stars came up through Milwaukee. Captain Roman Josi played 74 games for the Admirals from 2010 to 2012. Goaltender Juuse Saros made the AHL All-Rookie Team in 2015-16. Filip Forsberg, the franchise’s career goals leader, played his first full North American season in Milwaukee in 2013-14.
Coaches have moved up, too. Nine of Milwaukee’s head or assistant coaches have reached the NHL, including Predators assistant Todd Richards, who held the same job with the Admirals from 2002 to 2006.
“We are proud of our longstanding relationship with Milwaukee – one of the longest affiliations in our sport – and this commitment to the future will create an even stronger bond between our two franchises and fanbases,” Trotz said.
“Since I bought the team in 2005, the road to Nashville has truly gone through Milwaukee, and we are proud of all the Admirals Alums who have found success with the Predators,” Admirals owner and CEO Harris Turer said.
This Season
Under head coach Karl Taylor, the Admirals were 32-20-5-6, good for 75 points, through 63 games. They clinched a Calder Cup Playoffs berth on Sunday.
Last season Milwaukee reached the AHL’s Western Conference Final for the second straight year, a first for the franchise. The Admirals have made the playoffs in 23 of the 26 AHL seasons in which playoffs were held.
Team History
The Admirals started in 1970 as an amateur club called the Milwaukee Wings and took the Admirals name after their first season. They joined the semipro United States Hockey League in 1973 and the International Hockey League in 1977. When the IHL folded in 2001, Milwaukee moved to the AHL.
The Admirals won the Calder Cup in 2004 and reached the finals again in 2006. They won the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy for the best regular-season record in 2019-20, a season cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. Milwaukee was one of three teams that opted out of the 2020-21 AHL season.
In 2016 the team signed a 10-year lease to move from the BMO Harris Bradley Center to the UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena, the former MECCA, where the Admirals had played from the mid-1970s through 1986-87.
Predators’ Press Release
| About the Admirals | Details |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1970, as Milwaukee Wings; renamed Admirals in 1971 |
| League History | USHL (1973-1977), IHL (1977-2001), AHL (2001-present) |
| Affiliation with Predators | Since 1998-99, third-longest active streak in AHL |
| Calder Cup Wins | 1 (2004) |
| Calder Cup Finals Appearances | 2 (2004, 2006) |
| Playoff Qualifications (AHL) | 23 out of 26 seasons |
| Recent Performance (2024-25) | 32-20-5-6 (75 points), clinched Calder Cup Playoffs |
| Arena Move | University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Panther Arena, 2016, 10-year contract |
| Regular Season Championships | 2 (2019-20, and another season) |
| Historical Milestone | Luke Prokop, first openly gay AHL player, debuted 2023 |
| Players Appeared for Both Teams | 215 total, 12 in 2024-25 season |
| Coaches to NHL | 9 head/assistant coaches, including Todd Richards (2002-06) |
