With Penn State men’s hockey opening the regular season three weeks from today against UConn, the Nittany Lions have finalized the 2026-27 roster and Big Ten schedule.
Roster
Penn State will have 25 players on the 2026-27 roster, just one short of the 26-man NCAA maximum. Ten players have been selected in the NHL Draft, a new program record previously set with last year’s eight NHL Draft picks. Dane Dowiak and Reese Laubach were named co-captains earlier this week. The roster breaks down like this:
Forwards
(14): Dane Dowiak, Reese Laubach, Keaton Peters, Luke Misa, Shea Van Olm, Andrew Kuzma, Kaden Pitre, Justin Poirer, Justin Larose, Marco Mignosa, Lev Katzin, Braedon Ford, Kale Dach, Shea Busch
Defensemen (8): Jackson Smith, Mac Gadowsky, Casey Aman, Nolan Collins, Caeden Herrington, Nick Fascia, Ethan Weber, Charlie Michaud
Goaltenders (3): Josh Fleming, Ryder Fetterolf, Crew Petty
Schedule
The non-conference schedule was fully released earlier in the summer. Weekends for each Big Ten series were also selected, but exact dates were not released until today:
All conference series are on Friday and Saturday with two exceptions. The home series against Wisconsin (January 21 & 22) and Michigan (March 4 & 5) are on Thursday and Friday. Penn State’s conference slate is heavily front-loaded with road series against Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin before Thanksgiving. It will certainly not be an easy start for a team that is replacing nearly its entire top six. On the bright side, the toughest games down the stretch are all at home, including series against Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan State, and Michigan in the last six weeks of the regular season.
The full schedule can be found here. TV designations and game times for conference games will be announced at a later date. Penn State opens the regular season on October 9 against UConn in the Ice Breaker Tournament. Puck drop is at 7pm.
