With five teams ranked in the USCHO’s preseason top 25, including three in the top 10, will 2026-27 be the year a Big Ten team breaks through and wins a national title? Let’s take a team-by-team look (ordered by their preseason Big Ten poll ranking) with the season beginning in earnest this weekend.
Michigan: Loaded for Bear
The preseason Big Ten favorite and No. 2 ranked team in the country may have lost Hobey Baker Hat Trick Finalist TJ Hughes, but Michigan’s roster is still loaded. The Wolverines return last year’s Big Ten and NCAA assists leader Michael Hage (39) along with the conference’s leading goal scorer, Will Horcoff (25). Add to that the likes of Jayden Perron, Nick Moldenhauer and captain Garret Schifsky and there’s no reason to expect a dip in an offense that produced a Big Ten-leading 181 goals last year. Perron and Hage tallied seven points each in the Wolverines’ opening weekend sweep of Bowling Green.
But what makes Michigan even scarier? The talent to match on the back end. Michigan brings in arguably the two best freshman defensemen in the country: the widely-projected top pick in the 2027 NHL Draft, Landon DuPont, and Nashville Predators’ first-round pick Cam Reid. Backstopping things for the Wolverines is Jack Ivankovic, who returns after a strong freshman year where he finished second in the country with 25 wins, led the Big Ten with five shutouts, and finished second to Mike Richter Award winner Trey Augustine in just about every other Big Ten category.
Michigan State: Back-to-Back-to-Back… to-Back?
Like its rivals in Ann Arbor, Michigan State is loaded with talent and looking to four-peat as Big Ten Champions. The Spartans roster features the second-most NHL draft selections of any NCAA roster (17), including nine first-round selections – the most of any team in the country. Despite bidding farewell to key players like Big Ten goals leader Porter Martone and Charlie Stramel, head coach Adam Nightingale and his staff added NHL first-round picks like Ethan Belchetz and Jack Hextall to join the highest returning scorer, Ryker Lee (15-15-30), at forward. Chase Reid (seventh overall pick) and Tommy Belyl (31st overall selection) also join the Spartans on the blue line to give the squad talent everywhere.
The big question for preseason third-ranked Michigan State is how well they can fill the pads of two-time Big Ten Goaltender of the Year Trey Augustine. Joshua Ravensbergen will get the chance to answer. The San Jose Sharks’ first-round draft pick comes to East Lansing from the WHL where he led the league in wins and save percentage en route to winning WHL Goaltender of the Year honors.
Wisconsin: The Encore
In head coach Mike Hastings’ third year with Wisconsin, he led his squad to an improbable national championship game appearance after being selected to finish fifth in the Big Ten last preseason. With 15 players returning this year including leading scorer Gavin Morrissey (career-high 27 assists and 36 points), there’s reason to believe the preseason No. 6 Badgers are in prime position to run it back. Penn State transfer JJ Wiebusch looks to add to the offensive production after registering nearly a point a game in his Nittany Lion career. On the blue line, Logan Hensler has returned from injury to join Preseason First Team All-Big Ten honoree Luke Osburn (six goals and 21 points last year) on a deep blue line for the Badgers. Goalie Daniel Hauser is back after a solid freshman year (2.49 goals against average, .900 save percentage) and he’ll be joined between the pipes by sophomore Alexis Cournoyer, who was named ECAC Ken Dryden Goaltender of the Year last season at Cornell.
Minnesota: The Larson Era
After a subpar 2025-26 campaign, Minnesota turned to St. Cloud State head man Brett Larson to return the Golden Gophers to prominence in the Big Ten, which includes a league-leading seven conference titles. Larson spent eight years with St. Cloud State, where he led the team to four NCAA Tournament appearances, including the program’s first-ever national championship game appearance in 2021. The preseason No. 14 Gophers were swept opening weekend, but they’ll have plenty of opportunity to make noise this year with 28 of their 34 schedules games coming against teams ranked or receiving votes in preseason polls.
Larson will lean on returning top scorer and Preseason First Team All-Big Ten member Brodie Ziemer (23 goals, 36 points), as well as transfer defenseman Evan Murr (10-20-30), who earned the CCHA Defenseman of the Year award last season. Another player to keep an eye on is Wyatt Cullen. The 10th overall pick of the Predators in the 2026 NHL Draft, Cullen stood out in the 2026 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship where he led Team USA with nine points. Preseason Second Team honoree Luca Di Pasquo is back in goal after leading the conference with an average of 30 saves per game last season.
Ohio State: Ready to Exceed Expectations Again
Few coaches get more out of their teams than Ohio State head coach Steve Rolik. The Buckeyes have beaten their coaches’ preseason poll projection in four of the past five years, highlighted by the 2024-25 season when they finished third after being picked to finish last in the Big Ten. The 2026-27 Ohio State squad returns three of last year’s top four point getters and its top three goal scorers (Jake Karabela, Max Montes, and Félix Caron). Karabela was last season’s breakout star, introducing himself to fans in Columbus with 15 goals and 22 assists to average a point a game during his freshman campaign. The Buckeyes will also look for a bounce-back season from goaltender Kristoff Eberly. The Wisconsin senior posted a 3.36 goals against average and .885 save percentage last season after sporting a 2.28 GAA and .915 save percentage the previous year.
Notre Dame: Experience-Laden Irish Look to Take Next Step
Now in his second season as head coach, Brock Sheahan looks to return Notre Dame to the heights he experienced as a student-athlete in the late 2000s. Up front, the Fighting Irish return last year’s leading scorer Evan Werner (17-17-34) and captain Danny Nelson (13-16-29). Danny and his older brother Henry (13 points last year) are joined this season by their younger brother, Sammy. Sammy is projected to be a first-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft and spent the last two seasons with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program.
They’ll be bolstered by the championship experience of Denver transfer Hagen Burrows, who tallied six goals and 10 assists during the Pioneers’ championship season. Every team seeks reliability on the blue line and that’s what Notre Dame has in senior Paul Fischer. The defenseman has played in 103 games in his collegiate career and his 50 career assists rank fifth among active Division I defensemen. Behind Fischer in goal is junior Nicholas Kempf, who returns as the starting netminder. Kempf also appeared in three games for Team USA at the 2026 World Junior Championship, registering a 2.57 GAA.
Penn State: Flying Under the Radar Again?
The noise around the preseason No. 17 ranked Penn State hockey program is decidedly quieter going into the 2026-27 season with No. 1 draft pick Gavin McKenna off to the NHL and the likes of Aiden Fink and Matt DiMarsico gone too. But perhaps that’s how head coach Guy Gadowsky would prefer it. After all, two seasons ago when the Nittany Lions made their run to their first-ever Frozen Four, they had been picked to finish sixth in the Big Ten.
While the Penn State program has lost some of that core from the last two seasons, there’s still plenty of talent around. Dane Dowiak (27 career goals and 49 career points) and Reese Laubach (37 goals and 80 points in his career) return as captains to lead the squad and set the tone on offense. Preseason Second Team All-Big Ten selection Jackson Smith will man the blue line and look to contribute even more to the offense after scoring 11 goals last year (first among Big Ten defensemen), including a nation-leading seven goals on the power play. Gadowsky can also take comfort in having Josh Fleming back in goal. The Montreal native went 10-7-2 last season while posting a single-season program record .924 save percentage.
Check out the full schedule here and visit bigten.org/hockey all season for the latest information.
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