The college hockey season provides postseason action over the next two weeks as the road to the Frozen Four. The upcoming tournament takes 16 willing teams and narrows them down to four regional winners to advance to the Frozen Four in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 9 and April 11. This year’s tournament is missing some notable names, such as Boston University and Boston College, but it still features plenty of NHL-caliber talent skating on frozen floors across the country.  Here are some players from each region to keep your eyes on as you watch the chaos unfold on the ESPN family of networks over the next handful of weeks. 

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The Albany (NY) Regional is all about scoring. Michigan, Minnesota Duluth, Penn State, and Bentley each feature players inside the top 35 scorers this season. It should be an entertaining regional, but time will tell whether the forwards can consistently beat the goalies when the pressure is on. 

#1 Michigan features a talented scoring duo of T.J. Hughes and Michael Hage. Both forwards have recorded 50+-point campaigns entering college hockey’s version of March Madness. The Wolverines lost in the Big Ten semifinals, so expect a sense of urgency for Michigan when the puck meets the ice for their opening contest against Bentley. 

#2 Minnesota Duluth (UMD) will look to dominate the group behind the scoring trio of Max Plante, Zam Plante, and Jayson Shaugabay. All three forwards have recorded 40+-point seasons and place inside the top 25 in points per game scoring in the NCAA. All three players remain unsigned by their current NHL clubs: Max with Detroit, Zam with Pittsburgh, and Shaugabay with Tampa Bay. It wouldn’t be a shock to see several entry-level contracts handed out after a stellar season for these three Bulldogs. 

#3 Penn State brings Aiden Fink and Matt DiMarsico back to the postseason party, looking for a repeat trip to the Frozen Four after a stunning run put the program on the map last season. Gavin McKenna, the presumptive #1 selection in the 2026 NHL Draft, brings an eight-game point streak into the postseason and has looked more comfortable in the second half of the NCAA season. The Nittany Lions will be looking for revenge for their 5-2 loss to Michigan in the Big Ten semifinal. First, Penn State will need to get past UMD on March 27. 

#4 Bentley claimed the Atlantic Hockey Championship with a 7-3 beatdown of St. Thomas in the final. The Falcons feature a point-per-game scorer in Jake Black, a senior forward who has scored 19 goals and totaled 41 points during the 2025-26 season. Bentley has been a scrappy team all season long with a 23-11-5 record, including an unblemished overtime record (4-0-5). Still, the Massachusetts-based university faced an uphill battle against the top seed in this year’s fixture. 

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The Worcester (MA) Regional looks to be a goalie showcase with all four teams featuring elite play from netminders this season.  Michigan State, Dartmouth, and UCONN all bring top 20 goalies to the postseason party. There is some top-level scoring available in this bracket, but expect the goalies to steal the show if their play matches their regular-season performances. 

#1 Michigan State is led by Porter Martone, the fourth-best scoring forward in the country at 1.42 points per game following a 47-point campaign for the Spartans in 2025-26. Martone was notably left off the list of 2026 Hobey Baker Finalists due to the performance of his goalie, Trey Augustine. The 21-year-old goalie posted a 23-8-1 record, a 2.09 goals against average (GAA), and a .929 save percentage (SV). Augustine possesses the pedigree to lead Michigan State to a national championship. 

#2 Dartmouth College features a similar potent forward-goalie duo in Hayden Stavroff and Emmett Croteau.  Stavroff placed fifth in the NCAA after a 29-goal, 48-point season that helped the Big Green to a 23-7-4 record. Croteau has backstopped Dartmouth to 15 wins behind a 1.88 GAA and a .924 SV%. The 22-year-old goalie will make sure that the Big Green are a difficult team to beat in the Worcester Regional. 

#3 Wisconsin has been inconsistent most of the season, with a hot start (14-2-2) followed by a forgettable stretch (2-7) before a furious finish (6-2). The Badgers were humiliated by a non-tournament-bound Ohio State squad in a 7-1 loss in the Big Ten tournament. Can Daniel Hauser flush that contest and rebound against a tough Dartmouth squad?  

#4 Connectcut (UConn) reached the Hockey East final to grab one of the last at-large bids into the 2026 tournament. The Huskies have gotten excellent workhorse goalie Tyler Muszelik all season. The 21-year-old finished with a 19-10-5 record, a 2.21 GAA, and a .927 SV%.  He will have the chance to lead UConn to its first Frozen Four appearance, starting with an upset of Michigan State in the first game of the day on March 26. 

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The Loveland (CO) Regional features a mixed bag: the defending National Champions from Western Michigan, powerhouse Denver, stingy Cornell, and scrappy Minnesota State. The winner of this Regional will be battle-tested and headed into the Frozen Four in early April. 

#1 Western Michigan’s Grant Slukynsky leads the Broncos with 40-points in 37 games, a mark that places 26th in the NCAA scoring race this season. Western Michigan will need goalie Joshua Fleming to be solid in the opener against Minnesota State, as he will stand across from one of the best goalies in the NCAA this season. There will be little room for mistakes for Fleming on March 27. 

#2 Denver has been on a roll behind the sensational play from freshman Johnny Hicks. The 20-year-old entered the net in January 2026 following an injury to Quentin Miller and proceeded to post an 11-0-1 record in 12 starts. He enters the NCAA Tournament with an incredible 1.14 GAA and a .955 SV% in a limited sample size. Still, sometimes a hot goalie is all that you need to make a memorable run to championship glory. 

#3 Cornell’s two-pronged attack of Ryan Walsh and Jonathan Castagna will try to end that Pioneers’ run before it ever gets started in the Regional semifinal. Both players have averaged slightly more than a point per game this season (1.03 ppg to be specific), while the Big Red’s defense has allowed less than two goals per game in 2025-26. This #2-#3 matchup on March 27 could provide one of the best matchups of the entire tournament. 

#4 Minnesota State will have its hands full with Western Michigan, but the Mavericks are backstopped by the second-best goalie in the country, Alexander Tracy. The 24-year-old has started nearly every game for Minnesota State in 2025-26 with a 21-10-7 record, a 1.80 GAA, and a .927% SV percentage. If Tracy can put together another magical performance, it could be enough for Minnesota State to pull an upset. 

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The Sioux Falls (ND) Regional is one that should be dubbed the “upset alert” section of this year’s bracket.  North Dakota presents a tough defense that will make it difficult for the three other competitors in their grouping. Providence, Quinnipiac, and Merrimack can all begin a magical run to the Frozen Four with two wins in North Dakota next week. 

#1 North Dakota will garner the eyes of NHL scouts as long as they are in this single-elimination bracket, thanks to Keaton Verhoeff.  The 17-year-old right-shot defender is expected to be selected high in the top of the 2026 NHL Draft following a 20-point campaign for the Fighting Hawks. Goaltender Jan Spunar has been excellent for North Dakota with an 18-4-1 record, a 2.06 GAA, and a .909 SV% in 24 games in 2025-26. 

#2 Providence was rolling with a 14-2 record over their final 16 games before an overtime loss to Merrimack in the conference quarterfinals squashed dreams of a Hockey East championship. Jack Parsons was a big part of that late-season surge for the Friars after finishing with a 2.06 GAA, the eighth-best in the country. Providence doesn’t feature a high-end scoring threat. If the offense gets hot at the right time, it could lead to a big party for the Rhode Island-based college. 

#3 Quinnipiac’s Ethan Wyttenbach led the country in scoring with 58 points in 37 games. The 19-year-old has been a consistent threat all season and looms as a massive impact player in a knockout-style competition. Goaltender Dylan Silverstein is ranked fourth with a 1.92 GAA over 16 NCAA games.  If the Bobcats can get past Providence, they stand a real chance at making their fourth appearance in the Frozen Four. 

#4 Merrimack won the Hockey East title behind a 49-save performance from goaltender Max Lundgren. The 23-year-old goalie finished the season with a 21-15-2 record, a 2.56 GAA, and a .920 SV% in 38 appearances for the Warriors. Trevor Hoskin led Merrimack in scoring with 35 points in 33 games. He will be an important part of Merrimack’s blueprints to pulling an upset over North Dakota on March 26.

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The best part of the college hockey season drops the puck next week in various locations across the country. Those four winners receive a trip to Sin City to compete in a two-day, winner-take-all scrap for the National Championship. The entire tournament is scheduled to be shown on the ESPN family of networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and ESPN+) with eight games split over two days. It’s one of the best days of the year for the loving hockey souls across the country.  This year’s tournament is shaping up to be one of the most interesting scraps to date, with a higher level of competition across the NCAA in 2025-26. 

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