On Friday, March 29, the Nashville Predators announced the signing of defender Ryan Ufko to a three-year, entry-level contract that will begin in the 2024-25 season.

Ufko, who was drafted 115th overall by Nashville in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, recently finished his junior season for the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Minutemen as they were eliminated from the 2024 NCAA ice hockey tournament.

Standing just under 6’0″, the blueliner has been one of the best in college hockey over the past three seasons. He began his NCAA career scoring five goals and 31 points in 37 games for the Minutemen before notching another eight goals and 24 points in 2022-23. That season, he also finished third on Team USA at the U20 World Junior Championship.

This year, Ufko improved his game to new heights. He captained the Minutemen, scored double-digit goals (10), was third on the team in scoring (26), and tied a program single-season record with six game-winning goals. He picked up one Hockey East Defender of the Week award, one Hockey East Player of the Week award, the Hockey East Len Ceglarski Sportsmanship Award, and was named a Hockey East First-Team All-Star. Ufko was also named one of three finalists for the Hockey East Player of the Year Award, and his head coach Greg Carvel noted he was the best player the program has had since Cale Makar.

Playing an average of 26 minutes each night, Ufko was a foundational piece for UMass in all situations; he quarterbacked their power play, worked on their penalty kill, and in one contest earlier this month, drew up a play for his team during a timeout and then perfectly executed it to score the overtime-winner.

Ufko, who projects to be a top-four defender in the NHL, is eligible to join the Milwaukee Admirals on an amateur tryout (ATO) for the remainder of the 2023-24 season.