{"id":680785,"date":"2026-10-07T08:18:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T08:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/680785\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T08:18:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T08:18:15","slug":"penn-state-mens-hockey-focusing-on-four-line-production-as-2026-27-season-approaches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/680785\/","title":{"rendered":"Penn State Men’s Hockey Focusing On Four-Line Production As 2026-27 Season Approaches"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Penn State men\u2019s hockey opens its season on the road against UConn, the Nittany Lions will have more NHL draft picks than any other team in program history.<\/p>\n

Ten of the team\u2019s 25 players have been selected by NHL teams, beating out last year\u2019s record of eight. With a more talented top-down roster, Penn State should be a much more balanced team.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe might get back to a little bit more high-tempo, everybody deeper than last year. There were two very high-octane lines that we used a lot,\u201d head coach Guy Gadowsky said. \u201cYou\u2019re going to see scoring by committee.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Nittany Lions relied heavily on scoring from their top-six last season, highlighted by Gavin McKenna and Matt DiMarsico, both of whom are no longer on the team.<\/p>\n

Relying on all four lines allows for more flexibility and gives the team a consistent identity no matter who\u2019s on the ice.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe play to score, and we\u2019re very creative,\u201d Gadowsky said. \u201cThat\u2019s what we want. I think that\u2019s what the fans that come to Pegula Ice Arena every weekend expect to see, and I think it\u2019s not only winning hockey; it\u2019s great development hockey, and I think it\u2019s a blast.\u201d<\/p>\n

With so much\u00a0roster turnover this season, players need to adopt Penn State\u2019s culture quickly. Team captains Dane Dowiak and Reese Laubach<\/a> will have their hands full keeping the rest of the team in line.<\/p>\n

Both Dowiak and Laubach were leaders last season, with Dowiak returning as a captain and Laubach being an alternate in 2025. Gadowsky aims to get this team on the same page quickly by surrounding new talent with guys who have already been exposed to and know the culture in Hockey Valley.<\/p>\n

Penn State hockey\u2019s identity on the ice is built on speed and high energy, but off the ice, in game preparation and roster construction, it\u2019s fueled by data. <\/p>\n

Director of analytics and operations Derek Avery joined the staff this offseason to improve the team\u2019s use of analytics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the eye test is everything. I think if you\u2019re going to maximize your evaluation, you really do need both [eye test and analytics],\u201d Gadowsky said. \u201cIt\u2019s never just what [Andrew Sturtz] likes or [Vince Pedrie] likes or what [Juliano Pagliero] likes. It\u2019s based around analytics, so we\u2019re all on the same page.\u201d<\/p>\n

A more analytical approach lets Gadowsky and his staff find players who fit the team\u2019s high-paced scheme while mixing in top CHL talent.<\/p>\n

UConn presents the first challenge to the new-look Penn State in its season opener. <\/p>\n

Coming off an opening-round exit in the NCAA Tournament, the Huskies have lofty goals for themselves this season.<\/p>\n

\u201c[UConn] has high expectations, just like us. So it\u2019s a very exciting way to start the year,\u201d Gadowsky said.<\/p>\n

\t\t<\/p>\n

Brian is a sophomore from State College, PA, majoring in journalism and minoring in sports studies. He serves as an associate editor and is on the wrestling and hockey beats. You can offer him a job or send hate mail at [email\u00a0protected]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Penn State men\u2019s hockey opens its season on the road against UConn, the Nittany Lions will have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":680786,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[377],"tags":[2144,13621,60769,766,18530,2145,73278,5,18407,21228,4834,2146,9669,2147,2149,4765,2150,2151,16066,31255],"class_list":["post-680785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hockey","tag-big-ten","tag-big-ten-hockey","tag-big-ten-mens-hockey","tag-gavin-mckenna","tag-guy-gadowksy","tag-guy-gadowsky","tag-guy-gadowsky-penn-state","tag-hockey","tag-hockey-valley","tag-matt-dimarsico","tag-mens-hockey","tag-onward-state","tag-pegula-ice-arena","tag-penn-state","tag-penn-state-hockey","tag-penn-state-mens-hockey","tag-psu","tag-psu-hockey","tag-uconn","tag-uconn-hockey"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/117398648206112789","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=680785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/680786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=680785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=680785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=680785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}