Penn State is set to begin its 15th season in NCAA hockey tomorrow night when the Lions take on UConn at the Ice Breaker Tournament in Storrs, Connecticut. Just over six months ago, a highly-anticipated season came to a rather unassuming end with a 3-1 loss to Minnesota-Duluth in the NCAA Tournament.
In the following weeks and months, the roster changed dramatically. Matt DiMarsico, Aiden Fink, and Charlie Cerrato all signed professional contracts in the spring, JJ Wiebusch transferred to Wisconsin,
and star winger Gavin McKenna was drafted first overall in the 2026 NHL Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs. The blue line also experienced heavy turnover with Jarod Crespo and Carter Schade graduating and Cade Christenson transferring to Providence. To top it off, goaltender Kevin Reidler signed a professional contract.
Penn State must replace 64% of its total points and 60% of its total goals from last season. Maine transfer Justin Poirier (18 goals in 2025-26) should slot in on the top line alongside returning leading goal scorer Reese Laubach (12), but the Nittany Lions will most likely be counting on Shea Van Olm, Luke Misa, and Dane Dowiak to increase their production. The bottom six is almost completely new as well, though Penn State does get Keaton Peters and Andrew Kuzma back after they missed all of the 2025-26 season.
Defense has always been a bit of an adventure for Penn State hockey, though Jackson Smith appears to be the best defenseman in the Big Ten and certainly one of the best in the NCAA. His decision to stay one more season in college was a huge break for a defense that lost two veteran players in Carter Schade and Jarod Crespo. He cannot do everything for the blue line, but Mac Gadowsky, Nolan Collins, and Casey Aman all return looking to build off of last season.
The line between success and failure in hockey frequently comes down to goaltending, and Josh Fleming returns for his second season after a strong freshman performance. Last season’s OHL Goaltender of the Year Ryder Fetterolf will back him up, giving the Nittany Lions two solid options in net.
The Nittany Lions will play 36 total regular season games this season instead of the normal 34 due to playing in the Ice Breaker Tournament. Penn State will face two teams ranked in the USCHO Preseason Poll in the non-conference slate- UConn (No. 16) and Quinnipiac (No. 6). The 24-game Big Ten slate gets underway on October 30 when Penn State travels to Minnesota. This schedule looks tougher than last year with a rapidly improving Big Ten and the two marquee non-conference games.
Season Prediction
Hockey is a volatile sport, and seasons where the team is returning under half of its production can be hard to predict. There are too many questions the team has to answer before we know how good they can be. Will Justin Poirier be able to replicate his production in the Big Ten? Will Josh Fleming avoid the sophomore slump? How much better can the defense be? Most importantly, can the team avoid the rash of injuries that decimated the forward depth last year?
Penn State has 10 NHL Draft picks on the roster. There is enough talent to be in NCAA Tournament contention, but that might be the ceiling. The gap between Penn State and the upper tier of the conference (Michigan, Michigan State, and Wisconsin) feels larger than it did a year ago, and Minnesota, Ohio State, and Notre Dame all stand a good chance of improving this season. Penn State should be a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament, but I think they fall just short of getting a bid this year.
