ALBANY, N.Y. — Penn State outspent every team in Division I hockey this season.
Its prize: One season with Gavin McKenna, the consensus No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, who brought more eyes and more cash to the program.
Penn State fans lauded the move. Many believed it signaled a willingness to go “all in” on winning a national championship.
But after Friday’s 3-1 loss to Minnesota Duluth, the Nittany Lions’ spending spree yielded a mere first-round exit — two rounds worse than last year’s Frozen Four run.
Before the NCAA Tournament, Guy Gadowsky said the pressure surrounding the program was real — a learning experience for a team not used to that much national attention. But he downplayed the need for the Nittany Lions to match, if not improve upon, last year’s Frozen Four appearance.
His stance remained unchanged following Penn State’s first-round exit.
“There’s eyes on us now. There’s new expectations. A lot of things happened that put eyes on us. And it was a learning experience,” Gadowsky said. “Would I go back and do some things a little differently? Sure, but it was our first time as a program through this. I’m just so proud of the guys for grinding through all of that. And for them to make it here, I know we didn’t get back to the Frozen Four, but to make the tournament is a heck of an accomplishment.”
The Nittany Lions reportedly spent “in the ballpark” of $700,000 to land McKenna, outbidding Big Ten rival Michigan State. It was an NIL figure never seen before in college hockey, and a statement to fellow contenders that Penn State was all in on winning a national title.
They also added defenseman Jackson Smith, who was selected No. 14 overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. Add Smith and McKenna to a veteran roster, and Penn State had a team picked by many to finish atop the Big Ten standings and make a deep postseason run.
And it wasn’t just outsiders who placed high expectations on Penn State.
Gadowsky said in September that the goal was to return to the Frozen Four. He mentioned later in the season that the final thing left on the program’s checklist was a national championship, which the Nittany Lions eyed after a seven-game winning streak in January.
But amid a plethora of injuries and under an immense spotlight from September through March, Penn State’s season fell short of its ultimate goal.
“We came up a little bit short,” Reese Laubach said. “It hurts. None of us are going to forget this feeling right now in the locker room, hugging guys, crying like that. There’s a lot of motivation to work through the summer and beginning of the year to get back to that point and go even farther. I have no doubt in my mind with the group we got coming back, we will be back.”
Laubach is correct. While McKenna is a near lock to turn pro, and Charlie Cerrato and Aiden Fink could follow by signing entry-level contracts, next year’s roster is poised to retain several key members.
Smith told The Daily Collegian he will return for his sophomore season. Laubach all but said he’ll be back as well. Add in captain Dane Dowiak and goaltender Josh Fleming, who stopped 36 of the 38 shots he faced against Minnesota Duluth, and the Nittany Lions could be dangerous once more.
Gadowsky called this season a “transformational year,” one that taught both he and the program several lessons they hope to carry into next season.
“Ever since we got to the Frozen Four, it has been a whirlwind of attention, eyeballs, expectations, all of it,” Gadowsky said. “I learned a lot this year. This year, it was tough to stay away (from outside noise) … I think the players did a great job because it could have gone south a number of times, and it didn’t. They held it together, and they grinded it out, and they got (to the postseason) because of that.”
The Nittany Lions understood the lofty expectations placed on them. And they never shied away from placing similar ones on themselves, even after making their third NCAA Tournament in four years.
Before Friday’s contest, Jarod Crespo said the goal was to win a national championship. The senior defenseman said the team’s regular-season success would mean “nothing” if it couldn’t achieve that goal.
And while Friday’s loss ended those title hopes, Fink believes Penn State lived up to the preseason hype.
“The three years I’ve been here, all you expect is a national championship, and when you lose, it sucks,” Fink said. “The three years that we’ve lost, especially last year and this year, we had high expectations, but I still thought we lived up to them. And I think (the team) is going to come back, and this program is going to be unbelievable.”
Dowiak backed Fink’s sentiment of championship-or-bust expectations in Happy Valley. And while the group he captained fell short of its goal, he left his junior campaign proud of the fight and perseverance his teammates showed amid a tumultuous, adversity-filled season.
“We had a lot of high expectations this year and a lot of pressure,” Dowiak said. “Just really proud of the boys for battling through a lot of adversity. It sucks not winning in the end, but Penn State nation knows that every single night, we put our best foot forward and gave it everything we had.”
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