What Team’s the Best of the East in College Hockey at Start of 2026-27? Puck Drop

The East in college hockey has had two national champions since 2015, and just six teams in the title game over the same time period. It hasn’t just been a rough decade (2020 was canceled due to Covid-19), but 2025-26 was especially rough for the region.

You may remember last season that Eastern programs were a rarity near the top of the polls — and Penn State didn’t count because the Big Ten is considered a Western conference in college hockey. It was such down year for both Hockey East and the ECAC that for the final National Percentage Index rankings, used to determine the fields for the NCAA Tournaments, Dartmouth was highest at No. 6, followed by Providence at No. 7 and Quinnipiac 10th.

Only the Bobcats managed to get a win and advance in the 16-team brackets, beating Providence 5-2. They were then promptly dispatched by North Dakota in the second round, 5-0, leading to an All-Western Frozen Four in Las Vegas of UND, Michigan, Wisconsin and eventual national champion Denver.

Overall, the seven Easten schools combined to finish 1-7, and minus Quinnipiac the other six combined to score just five goals.

Going back to the polls, there wasn’t much to brag about. Coming off its appearance in the national championship, Boston University was preseason No. 2, but only went downward until the Terriers fell to unranked and out of contention. Otherwise, Providence and Quinnipiac both reached No. 5 for a couple of weeks.

Do who’s poised to carry the torch this season? On Wednesday, both conferences announced the results of their preseason coaches’ polls:

Hockey East 2026-27 Preseason Coaches' Poll

Rank, Team (First Place), Points
1. Providence (8), 106
2. Massachusetts (1) , 98
3. Boston University (2), 87
4. Boston College, 86
5. UConn, 73
6. Merrimack, 68
7. Maine, 57
8. Northeastern, 52
9. New Hampshire, 35
10. UMass Lowell, 31
11. Vermont, 22

2026-27 ECAC Hockey Preseason Poll

Rank, Team (First place), Points
1. Quinnipiac (10), 120
2. Dartmouth (2), 110
3. Cornell, 102
4. Clarkson, 86
5. Harvard, 73
6. Union, 70
7. Princeton, 60
8. RPI, 56
9. Colgate, 45
10. St. Lawrence, 29
11. Brown, 28
12. Yale, 13

The guess here is that when the preseason national polls are revealed in the near future, the top four will be some of combination between reigning national champion Denver, Michigan, Michigan State and North Dakota, followed immediately followed by the top tier of Eastern challengers including Quinnipiac, Providence and Boston College (along with the likes of Minnesota Duluth and Wisconsin).

The rankings should also see a second Eastern tier in the middle including Dartmouth, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Cornell, and then a third tier featuring teams that no one knows really what to expect from like always-dangerous Boston University — which landed two first-place votes and finished third in the Hockey East Preseason Coaches' Poll — and Merrimack, with Maine on the rankings bubble.

The all have the potential to exceed the preseason expectation, which bodes well for an Eastern bounce-back this season.

Although the Friars, Minutemen and Eagles are all poised to challenge for the Hockey East crown, the Bobcats get the initial label of Best of the East here due to Ethan Wyttenbach, who as a freshman led the nation in points (59 on 25 goals and 34 assists) and points per game (1.53), and has to be on the shortlist of leading Hobey Baker contenders.

However, consider it a tentative tag. After all, BU had it a year ago and the Terriers went on to a 17-17-2 season and tied for sixth in Hockey East with the now-homeless Huskies, Northeastern.

More telling in the big picture is that while the primary top national contenders are from the West, and with good reason, the top 20 should be evenly split, resulting in a much-more balanced season geographically.

Other preseason polls and awards announced Wednesday:

2026-27 Coaches' Preseason All-ECAC Team

F: Hayden Stavroff (Dartmouth)*
F: Ethan Wyttenbach (Quinnipiac)*
F: Hank Cleaves (Dartmouth)
D: Tyler Dunbar (Union)
D: Elliott Groenewold (Quinnipiac)
G: Emmett Croteau (Dartmouth)
*Unanimous

2026-27 NCHC Preseason Media Poll

Rank, Team (First Place) Points
1. Denver (14), 304
2. North Dakota (12), 302
3. Minnesota Duluth (7), 273
4. Western Michigan, 237
5. Miami, 175
6. Colorado College, 159
7. St. Thomas, 121
8. St. Cloud State, 102
9. Arizona State, 73
10. Omaha, 69

2026-27 AHA Preseason Media Poll

Preseason Poll (First Pace), Points
1. Sacred Heart (3), 59
2. Bentley (5), 58
3. RIT (1), 51
4. Holy Cross, 42
5. Air Force, 34
6. Robert Morris, 27
7. Army West Point, 25
T8. Canisius, 14
T8. Niagara, 14

2026-27 Preseason All-AHA team

Sacred Heart junior Ajeet Gundarah goaltender was named the preseason player of the year. He had a .933 save percentage and 1.93 goals-against average in conference play in 2025-26,

Preseason All-Conference Team
F: Jack Ivey, Jr., Army West Point
F: Kellan Hjartarson, Sr., Bentley
F: Walter Zacher, Sr., Canisius
D: Nolan Cunningham, Sr., Air Force
D: Dominic Elliott, Jr, Robert Morris
G: Ajeet Gundarah, Jr., Sacred Heart

Women's Hockey East 2026-27 Preseason Coaches' Poll

Rank, Team (First Place), Points
1. Northeastern (8), 89
2. UConn (2), 83
3. Boston College, 64
T4. Boston University, 60
T4. Holy Cross, 60
6. Vermont, 54
7. New Hampshire, 42
8. Maine, 33
9. Providence, 31
10. Merrimack, 24

Some stills 📸 https://t.co/TKc2kl3dwU pic.twitter.com/BQLFC1E0vU
— Quinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey (@QU_MIH) September 16, 2026

Puck Drop: Thursday, September 17, 2026

Bemidji State announced that head coach Tom Serratore will retire after the 2026-27 season and replaced by longtime assistant Travis Winter will take over in 227-28. Serratore, who led the Beavers to the Frozen Four in 2009, has a career record if 416-397-108.

The New Jersey Devils hired Jessica Campbell (Cornell), the first woman assistant coach in NHL history, as manager of player development.

As expected, goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (Lowell) did not report to training camp and was suspended by the Winnipeg Jets. Meanwhile, the Detroit Red Wings announced that center Dylan Larkin (Michigan) is with the team but will not skate with the team due to an upper-body injury sustained during off-ice training earlier this week. Both players had requested to be traded. ... Vancouver goaltender Thatcher Demko (Michigan) will miss the start of training camp as he's is still recovering from January hip surgery.

Countdown to the 2026-27 Season

Men … 15 days. Women … 1 days.

This Date in Hockey History

September 17, 1903: Hall of Fame left wing Bun Cook was born Kingston, Ontario.

September 17, 1963: Michigan Tech right wing Chirs Cichocki was born in Detroit.

September 17, 1963: RPI defenseman Michael Dark was born in Sarnia, Ontario.

September 17, 1967: The expansion Minnesota North Stars played their first NHL preseason game, 3-1 over the Oakland Seals in Port Huron, Mich.

September 17, 1970: The Buffalo Sabres played in their first preseason game, a 4-4 tie with the New York Rangers at Peterborough, Ontario.

September 17, 1978: Michigan State center Shawn Horcoff was born in Trail, British Columbia.

September 17, 1979: The Miracle on Ice team skated to a 3-3 tie against the Norwegian National Team. Afterward, Herb Brooks ran the famous “Again” practice, making the players do the exhausting “Herbies” drill over and over. In the rematch the next night Team USA won 9-0.

September 17, 1985: Alex Ovechkin was born in Moscow.

September 17, 1985: UMD left wing Mason Raymond was born in Cochrane, Alberta.

September 17, 1986: Former Princeton forward Randy Wood signed with the New York Islanders after going undrafted. He played 12 years in the NHL and suited up three times with Team USA.

September 17, 1997: Auston Matthews, a product of the USA Hockey National Team Development Program who has played for the U.S. numerous times, was born in San Ramon, Calif. The family moved to Scottsdale, Ariz., when he was an infant.

September 17, 1998: Massachusetts defenseman Mario Ferraro was born in Toronto.

September 17, 2002: Michigan State forward Karsen Dorwart was born in Sherwood, Oregon.

Hockey Quote of the Day

“I don’t know if I want to give everyone what they want. [The Tkachuk brothers with Sam Bennett up the middle.] Those three would be in jail before the puck drop.”
Paul Maurice

We'll Leave You With This ...

Bringing a new look to the lineup this year 🪡⚫️🔴 pic.twitter.com/l7RfAuQfsi
— Ohio State Men's Hockey (@OhioStateMHKY) September 16, 2026

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