Predators prospects Ryker Lee and Jack Ivankovic dominate their NCAA quarterfinal matchups, advancing one step closer to the national championship title.
A pair of Nashville Predators prospects is still in the hunt for an NCAA Division I National Title after winning their regional quarterfinal games.
Michigan State's Ryker Lee (2025, 26th overall) and Michigan's Jack Ivankovic (2025, 58th overall) advance to the regional championship round on Saturday and Sunday.
Lee had a highlight reel goal in the Spartans' 2-1 win over Connecticut on Thursday, cutting into the slot, pulling the puck toward his right skate and beating the goalie up high to tie the game for Michigan State.
The Spartans will face Wisconsin on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. CST in the Worcester Regional championship game.
In his first college season, Lee has 29 points in 34 games, scoring 15 goals and adding 14 assists. A 6-foot, 1-inch forward from Wilmette, Illinois, was drafted out of the Madison Capitols in the USHL last summer.
Lee also competed in the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championships with the United States, recording three points (two goals and one assist) in five games.
Ivakovic made 24 saves on 25 shots in Michigan's 5-1 win over Bentley to advance to the Albany Regional Championship on Sunday. He was 27 seconds away from a shutout before Bentley scored.
Michigan will face Minnesota-Duluth on Sunday at 4 p.m. CST.
In his first season after making the move from the OHL to the NCAA, Ivakovic has had a superb freshman season. He owns a 2.14 goals against average and a .923 save percentage over 32 games, posting a 23-7-1 record.
Michigan goaltender Jack Ivankovic (72) makes a save against against Michigan State during the first period of Duel in the D at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Saturday, February 7, 2026.His win percentage of .758 is the fourth highest in NCAA Division I this season. Ivankovic also played for Canada at the IIHF World Junior Championships, posting a 2-1-0 record with a .918 save percentage and a goals-against of 2.33.
Ivankovic was drafted out of the Brampton Steelheads last summer in the second round, the lone goalie selection by the Predators in the 2025 draft class.
Aiden Fink, who was drafted 218th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft by the Predators, was a part of a Penn State squad that fell to Minnesota-Duluth, 3-1, in the Albany Region semifinals. Fink left the game in the final seconds after sustaining an injury.