The Wisconsin Badgers men’s hockey team nearly capped off a Cinderella run last season, marching their way into the national championship and falling just short in a 2-1 loss to the Denver Pioneers.
Despite the result just a few months ago, the 2025-26 season served as a rallying cry for Badger hockey fans mired in struggle and mediocrity for much of the last 16 years. It also answered a lot of lingering questions about whether Mike Hastings has what it takes to bring excellence back to men’s hockey in Madison.
But a few months is an eternity when it comes to the offseason and all its moving parts. The 2026-27 Wisconsin Badgers enter the season ranked No. 6 in the USCHO preseason polls, behind Big Ten opponents Michigan (No. 2) and Michigan State (No. 3). If they are to build on last year’s run to the title game, they will have to do so with an entirely new core group following some high-profile departures over the summer.
For starters, Wisconsin loses the senior leadership of captain Ben Dexheimer, who scored the golden goal against Michigan State that sent the Badgers to the Frozen Four. Christian Fitzgerald, who led the team in goals for most of the season, also exhausted his eligibility, along with Simon Tassy, Jack Horbach, and Aiden Dubinsky.
Quinn Finley, who passed Fitzgerald near the end of the year to claim the team lead in goals, unsurprisingly made the leap to professional hockey after his junior season. The New York Islanders draft pick could have easily left after his sophomore year, instead opting to play one more season with the Badgers.
The more surprising departure is that of last year’s freshman sensation Blake Montgomery. The Ottawa prospect heated up in November and looked to be the most prolific scorer of a forward-heavy freshman class, though the pace faded and Montgomery only scored once over the final four months of the season. It seemed as though he was a good candidate to return for his sophomore season with an increased role before making the jump, but Montgomery opted for the professional route ahead of schedule.
Despite the openings on the roster and only returning one double-digit goal scorer from last season (junior Ryan Botterill), Wisconsin does bring back plenty of potential from the aforementioned class last year. The sophomore forwards—led by Vasily Zelenov, Grady Deering, Finn Brink, Oliver Tulk, and Bruno Idžan—received plenty of ice time last year and are now poised to take on larger roles.
In addition to the familiar young faces, Mike Hastings made a significant splash in the transfer portal by bringing in J.J. Wiebusch from Penn State. The junior forward is a Verona native who slipped out of the state initially, posting back-to-back 30+ point seasons with the Nittany Lions. Wiebusch figures to be an impact player on the top line out of the gate, helping offset the production lost by Finley and Fitzgerald.
The Badgers also return last season’s top point producer and one of the conference’s best centers in junior Gavin Morrissey. A capable scorer in his own right, Morrissey’s claim to fame in Madison is his elite ability to set up a play and find the hot hand. His 27 assists last year paced the Badgers after leading the way with 23 helpers in his freshman season. He ended each of the last two campaigns with nine goals, looking to break into double digits in his third year.
Morrissey is one of three players named captain for the 2026-27 season, joined by senior defenders Zach Schulz and Joe Palodichuk, who will be integral leaders on a blue line loaded with NHL talent.
Aside from Schulz and Palodichuk, the defense will be anchored by junior Logan Hensler a first-round pick by the Ottawa Senators, and sophomore Luke Osburn, a fourth-round pick by the Buffalo Sabres. Hensler is a high-level prospect who was trying to find his footing last year before a leg injury cut his season short. All reports indicate he should be good to go for the season opener following an offseason that included three leg surgeries to repair a ruptured ankle tendon and a torn ACL.
Osburn is one of the more interesting prospects on the team, a two-way defender who really began making a splash late in the season. Mike Hastings calls his style of play “fearless,” and he’s a tool the Wisconsin coaching staff is ready to deploy in any situation. Osburn was the catalyst behind the come-from-behind win against Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament, scoring a goal to bring the Badgers within one in the final five minutes. He was also on the ice for the game-tying and game-winning goals.
Junior Jack Phelan and sophomore Dylan Compton, a transfer from Northeastern, will provide extra depth to a defensive group that is looking like one of the more talented cores in the Big Ten.
Sophomore goaltender Daniel Hauser returns as the projected starter, especially after some really strong performances down the stretch. Hauser had to withstand a sharp learning curve in his first season of Big Ten hockey, which is to be expected in a conference that is not short on future NHL contributors. He got his confidence back in February and it was all systems go for the talented newcomer, who nearly recorded a Frozen Four shutout against North Dakota and did everything he could to keep Denver to only two goals in the championship game.
With the departure of Eli Pulver to the transfer portal and Anton Castro not returning to Wisconsin, Mike Hastings added a talented goaltender from Cornell in Alexis Cournoyer. In his freshman season with Cornell, Cournoyer was named ECAC Goaltender of the Year, compiling 18 wins and a 2.05 goals against average to pair nicely with a .915 save percentage. It’s possible that Hastings deploys both goaltenders to avoid the war of attrition that caught up with Hauser in the middle of last season, especially now that it looks like Wisconsin will roster a very capable one-two punch in goal.
Along with the familiar faces returning and the transfers coming in, Hastings has also continued to recruit elite offensive talent to Madison. It remains to be seen where they will pencil in on the opening day roster, but much like last year’s freshman class, there is a level of depth that should help ensure continuity for years to come. Some of the new additions include:
- Brent Solomon, a fourth-round pick of the Detroit Red wings with high upside, mostly recently posting 53 points with the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede.
- Zach Wooten, a gritty forward who was an assistant captain with the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers, scoring over a point per game.
- Gavin Uhlenkamp, a crafty forward known for his speed who recently posted 40 points in the USHL between the Madison Capitols and the Fargo Force.
- Lukas Zajic, a physical forward who cut his teeth in the United States National Team Development Program.
- Eetu Orpana, a Finnish import with dynamic playmaking ability, falling an assist shy of 30 while putting up 44 points last year with Dubuque’s USHL team.
- Chase Jette, a high-energy forward who was notching over a point per game before an injury-shortened USHL season with the Waterloo Black Hawks and Green Bay Gamblers.
The Badgers also made some high-profile additions to the coaching staff for the 2026-27 season. Hastings brought in former captain and 2006 NCAA champion Andy Brandt as an assistant coach. Brandt’s teammate, fellow national champion and U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer Joel Pavelski returns to Madison as the Director of Player Development. And lastly, former Toronto Maple Leafs and Seattle Kraken goaltending coach Steve Briere joins the staff as the Director of Goaltending Development.
The coaching additions signal a commitment from Mike Hastings to instill a strong developmental foundation in Madison. He is not shy about using the portal when needed, but he’s relied heavily on recruiting and developing after his first couple of years, which were heavy on transfers to fill out a depleted roster. And while Hastings is not a “Wisconsin” guy himself, his coaching staff is clearly leaning on the history and tradition of Badger legends as he continues to develop and refine hockey culture in Madison.
All in all, a busy-yet-productive offseason for Wisconsin men’s hockey. Now that all the pieces are in place, it’s time to lace up the skates and drop the puck on a new season. The Badgers will officially begin the new campaign on Friday, October 2, with Robert Morris coming to town for a two-game series.
