Where does Penn State hockey fit in the NIL/Transfer Portal era?

Penn State hockey has experienced success and disappointment in the decade-plus since moving up to the NCAA Division 1 level. The Nittany Lions won the Big Ten tournament championship in 2017, the Big Ten Regular season title in 2020, and qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2017, 2018, and 2023. Yet a new era of college hockey with NIL and the transfer portal puts the future of the program in question.

Which teams/conferences hold the power?

The future of NCAA Division One Ice Hockey like many college sports is in a point of transition. The introduction of NIL and the transfer portal has upended the sport and shifted all the power to a few elite teams. The Big Ten is the only power conference team to sponsor men’s ice hockey, so it sort of stands alone in that regard. However, there are 3 conferences out of the 6 total that are seemingly pulling away.

The Big Ten, Hockey East, and NCHC have a clear resource advantage over the Atlantic Hockey, ECAC, and CCHA. The Big Ten probably has the most resources as it is home to 3 of the 7 blue bloods in the sport with Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin having rich histories. The Hockey East is home to two blue bloods in Boston University and Boston College. While the NCHC has both North Dakota and Denver. Those 7 programs have combined for 152 frozen four appearances and 48 national championships.

That doesn’t take into account the big-name programs that each of the three conferences boasts. In the Big Ten Michigan State, Notre Dame, Penn State, and Ohio State round out the 7-team conference. The Hockey East has 11 schools and features well-known programs such as Maine, Providence, UMass, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Vermont. All are flagship programs within their states and recognizable on a national level outside the sport of hockey.

The NCHC doesn’t have as many recognizable names as the Big Ten or Hockey East but has plenty of well-known brand names. The likes of solid hockey programs St. Cloud State, Colorado College, Minnesota-Duluth, Omaha, Western Michigan, and Miami make it a deep conference. They also are adding national brand Arizona State, a move that will almost certainly strengthen their position in the sport.

Who is falling behind?

While the ECAC, CCHA, and Atlantic Hockey are all falling behind when looking at the broader picture, it is the first two where fans should be worried. The Atlantic Hockey was always a conference that consisted of the bottom teams of the sport and typically only got one team in the NCAA tournament and that team was usually the last spot.

The ECAC and newly formed CCHA have teams with historic success but may be in danger. The ECAC is a 12-team conference that features 6 Ivy League schools. The Ivy League teams are not a part of the growing NIL race and don’t offer scholarships to their players. The other schools such as Quinnipiac, Colgate, Clarkson, Union, St. Lawrence, and Rensselaer are trying to keep up with Division One schools in the Power Three conferences that have a clear resource advantage. Quinnipiac has had some recent success and won the National Championship in 2023, but as a whole, the conference is struggling to keep up.

The CCHA is in a more difficult spot than even the ECAC. The conference previously existed from 1971 to 2013 before the addition of Penn State to D1 hockey created the Big Ten and broke up the conference. It currently consists of 9 teams, all of which are Division 2 in every other sport except for hockey. Even 3-year member St. Thomas who had made the move up from Division III is planning on leaving the conference to head to the NCHC as their program continues to grow.

NIL and Transfer Portal separate the sport

The introduction of NIL and the transfer portal has radically separated what once was a competitive sport. College hockey always had this perception that any team could win in a single elimination format and it resulted in small schools that were division 2 or three in everything but hockey winning national titles.

That era appears to be ending and the Big Ten, Hockey East, and NCHC with their powerful state school teams are gaining a massive edge. During the 2024 NCAA Tournament, this became more evident as each of the three leagues took 4 spots, accounting for 75% of possible bids.

The smaller conferences can’t keep up with the NIL money of the big leagues and or retain players in the transfer portal. Even longtime Minnesota State head coach Mike Hastings made the jump from the Mavericks to the Wisconsin Badgers in 2024 and immediately turned around the program thanks to the boost in resources. It wasn’t that he wasn’t having success at Minnesota State, he had a 299-109-25 record and had made the Frozen Four twice, including a runner-up finish in 2022.

Where does Penn State hockey fit into the madness?

Mandatory Credit: Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports

That brings us to where Penn State fits into the ever-changing landscape. While the Nittany Lions have a clear advantage being in one of the three power conference teams, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are in a comfortable spot. Penn State is still a new program and because of that only has enough flash to find itself ahead of the middle and bottom of the pack of the NCHC and Hockey East teams.

In the Big Ten itself, Guy Gadowsky and Penn State seem to be at a severe disadvantage. Having 3 blue bloods in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin all starting to figure out their NIL situations is not a good sign. Add in the fact that Notre Dame and Michigan State seemed to have things on the right track, and it is setting up for Penn State and Ohio State to be the odd teams out moving forward.

While the Nittany Lions made the regional final just two years ago in 2023, so much has changed in that short time. NIL has ramped up even more, Michigan State has renovated and improved its facility, and both the Spartans and Badgers have figured out their coaching situation and gone from bottom dwellers in the Big Ten to the top of the league.

Penn State at risk of falling behind

Just as much as the Nittany Lions have an advantage over much of the sport, that won’t matter if the team can’t get enough wins in conference to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Penn State essentially needs to make sure that it finishes in the top 4 of the conference if it hopes to make the NCAA Tournament in the future. That would mean knocking out at least two of Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan State, and or Notre Dame.

While hockey is unpredictable at times, typically the results of a 24-game conference schedule mean that the standings sort themselves out. A talent gap almost always means that even if you can steal a game from No. 1 Minnesota at home, there will always be water finding its level and you still can end up at the bottom of the league.

How does Penn State hockey return to the top of the Big Ten

The first way to level the playing field is by ramping up the NIL budget. Most fans already have concerns about the lack of support for the Penn State football NIL situation and hockey is no different. The obvious way to improve is to go to Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula and see what he would be willing to donate. This isn’t a fix-all result but it is certainly a start.

The second way is for Guy Gadowsky to start recruiting more top-end talent and utilizing the transfer portal. While Penn State hockey has had its fair share of talented players over the years such as Evan Barrett, Brandon Biro, and Alex Limodges just to name a few, they haven’t gotten a bonafide NHL 1^st round pick like plenty of their conference counterparts. That is something that needs to change if the Nittany Lions hope to compete within the Big Ten and eventually for Frozen Four and national championships.

Not everything is doom and gloom with the program. The team has some of the best fan support in the country and just finished a season with a 15-18-3 record and still had a 110.7% attendance at Pegula Ice Arena. The upside is there and the flash of Pegula and excellent facilities can only help Penn State break through to the next level. This upcoming season will be a massive opportunity to set the tone moving forward that Penn State hockey is here to say, another missed tournament and there may be some other questions headlining next offseason.

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