The Nashville Predators have announced that they have recalled defenseman Ryan Ufko from their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals. In addition, the team announced that Ufko will make his NHL debut during the Predators' April 14 contest against the Utah Hockey Club.

Ufko, 21, has been quite solid for the Admirals this season, so it is understandable that he is now getting his first chance on the Predators' roster. In 71 games this campaign with the AHL squad, he has recorded eight goals, 21 assists, 29 points, and a plus-3 rating. This is after he posted six points in his first nine AHL games with the Admirals this past season.

Ufko was selected by the Predators with the 115th overall pick of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. Before beginning his professional career with the Predators organization, he spent three seasons with UMass-Amherst from 2021-22 to 2023-24. In 106 games with the school, the 5-foot-10 defenseman posted 23 goals and 81 points. 

Predators Top Prospect Is Heating Up In AHLNashville Predators prospect Joakim Kemell is considered one of the team's most promising youngsters. The 20-year-old forward is continuing to develop his game at the American Hockey League (AHL) level with the Milwaukee Admirals and is in the middle of a solid season that saw him play in the 2025 AHL All-Star Classic. Predators Sign Tough Guy To Contract ExtensionThe Nashville Predators have announced that they have signed forward Navrin Mutter to a one-year, two-way contract extension for the 2025-26 season. Former Predators Forward Done For The SeasonPittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan has announced that former Nashville Predators forward Tommy Novak will be out for the rest of the season. 

Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan is only the 15th head coach in NHL history to win 400 games with a single franchise. Hall of Famer Scotty Bowman is the only person to achieve this feat with two clubs. 

Meanwhile, Sullivan is on the list with multiple Stanley Cup titles, something not all the coaches ahead of him have on their resumes. 

Winning championships usually adds a layer of protection to a coach's tenure, as proven by the fact that Sullivan is wrapping up his first losing season behind the Penguins bench, eight seasons after winning his last championship.

Pittsburgh Penguins Schedule: Remaining Games & Statistical NotesThe Pittsburgh Penguins are winding down their 2024-25 season and will miss the Stanley Cup playoffs for the third consecutive season, a first in Sidney Crosby's 20-year career. However, there is plenty to play for in the final weeks.

Moreover, the team will not play for the third consecutive campaign in the postseason, a first in Sidney Crosby's 20-year career. 

How many other head coaches have won over 400 games with a single franchise and survived three years without qualifying for the playoffs?

Two, with the list expanding to three when Sullivan joins the list on Thursday night.

Who are these other coaches?

Lindy Ruff was the first coach to achieve this feat during his first term with the Buffalo Sabres, which lasted from 1997 to 2013. During his first four seasons, the Sabres made the playoffs, advancing to the 1998 Stanley Cup Final. 

Congratulations to Mike Sullivan on becoming the 14th head coach in NHL history - and ninth fastest - to win 400 games with a single franchise 🙌

Sullivan is the only American-born head coach to accomplish the feat. pic.twitter.com/pi9vTjKcxR

— Penguins PR (@PenguinsPR) March 9, 2025

However, the club missed the playoffs in 2002, 2003, and 2004 before advancing to back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals in 2006 and 2007. After that, Buffalo missed the playoffs in 2008 and 2009 and again in 2012 and 2013 when the team fired Ruff just 17 games into the 2012-13 season.

The other name on the list is Barry Trotz, who is an exception to the rule but still missed the playoff for five straight seasons before leading the Nashville Predators to appearances in seven of the next ten seasons. 

Trotz was the first coach in Predators history, inheriting an expansion roster in 1999, and didn't have a winning season until his sixth season in 2003-04, the year Nashville qualified for the playoffs for the first time. 

After the lockout, Nashville chased the Stanley Cup in 2006, 2007, and 2008 before missing out on the postseason in 2009. Trotz led them back to the dance in 2010, 2011, and 2012 before missing in 2013 and 2014 and was relieved of his duties that summer.

Penguins' Rakell Is One Point Shy Of Franchise RecordPittsburgh Penguins forward Rickard Rakell, born in Sundbyberg, Sweden, set a new career high with his 35th goal on Sunday against the Boston Bruins. 

Of course, many Hall of Fame-Stanley Cup-winning coaches have missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons. However, the list of those head coaches who have survived three successive missed postseasons is slim. 

Interestingly, Claude Julien almost made the list. When he became head coach of the Boston Bruins in 2007-08, he guided them to the playoffs every season, winning the Stanley Cup in 2011.

He brought the Bruins back to the Final in 2013, but by 2015, Boston was not the same powerhouse. They missed the postseason for three straight seasons in 2015, 2016, and 2017. However, the team fired Julien after 55 games in 2017, and he ended up with the first-place Montreal Canadiens. 

Even though the Bruins missed the playoffs three straight years, that third year was under two different coaches. 

Congrats to Penguins coach Mike Sullivan on his 44th playoff win, the most in franchise history. pic.twitter.com/zalLUXQfYR

— PittsburghHockey.net (@PghHockey) May 10, 2022

Ultimately, this conversation brings us back to Sullivan, who is about to become the third 400-win coach (with one franchise) in NHL history not to guide his team to the playoffs for the third consecutive season.

What, if anything, will this mean for Suulivan's future with the Penguins, who are about to start their third straight offseason earlier than expected?  

The Buffalo Sabres completed the road portion of the 2024-25 regular season schedule with a 7-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday. The Sabres can point to many reasons why their playoff drought is now 14 straight seasons, but their woeful record away from Key Bank Center is near or at the top.

The Sabres ended up with a record of 13-24-4 on the road (the fourth-worst record in the NHL), with only Boston, Nashville, and Chicago having more regulation losses than Buffalo. That was a decline from their .500 record on the road last year (18-18-5) and pretty much negated any success they achieved at home, where they have gone 13-2 in their last 15 games and have climbed to 17th in the NHL with a 22-14-3 record.

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“We lost puck battles, got on the wrong side of the puck, and (were) poor defensively,” Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said after the loss. “When you can match their energy, you have to take care of the puck. You look at a couple goals, we’ve got the puck, and don’t execute, and it turns into a goal for them.”

The club’s defensive play is an obvious issue that contributed to the Sabres issues on the road. In 41 games, they finished 8th in the NHL with 125 goals scored (3.04 goals per game), but they were tied for 30th in goals allowed with 154 (3.76 GAA). This can partly be attributed to starter Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen not matching his performance from the second half last year, but for a club that was supposed to be more focused on being more efficient defensively, Buffalo under Ruff has been unable to clean things up in their own end that is essential to playing a winning brand of hockey.

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