Over the last two seasons, head coach Greg Carvel’s teams have played the chasing game in the Hockey East standings down the stretch. In 2024-25, it still managed to secure an NCAA tournament bid due to its high ranking, and last season Massachusetts won six of its last seven games en route to finishing No. 2 in the Hockey East to earn a bye in the conference tournament.

After winning handedly over a homeless Northeastern, all the Minutemen had to do to make the championship game to easily secure an NCAA tournament spot was defeat unranked Merrimack.

Instead, the Warriors held the Minutemen scoreless, 2-0, and eliminated them from playoff contention. Regular-season champion Providence, tournament champion Merrimack, and Connecticut (the last team in) represented Hockey East.

Consequently, heading into 2026-27, it’s evident that UMass needs to start fast. The Minutemen should be a position to do just that.

Following the 2024-25 season, Massachusetts lost 62 percent of its scoring to graduation or the NHL, which limited its offensive output early. However, during this past offseason just 20 percent exited.

Offensively, Carvel retained his seven most productive pieces, none more important than senior captain Jack Musa. Out of the hockey “hotbed” of Orange Park, Fla., he led the team with 36 points and was a 2026 Hobey Baker nominee.

Musa’s offense was the ignition the Minutemen needed in January and February, tallying 12 points over the last nine games. His decision to stay was a shock to many after Musa received numerous offers from NHL teams as the undrafted forward is a free agent.

Along with Musa, UMass retained Václav Nestrašil who contributed 31 points in his freshman season, as well as Jack Galanek, one of the niftiest young puck distributors in the nation with 19 assists.

Carvel also brought in impressive freshman forward Maxim Massé who totaled 102 points in 63 games in the QMJHL last season, as well as forward Max Curran, who registered 64 total points playing for the Edmonton Ole Kings (WHL), and two Czechia U20 teams. Coupled with a returning veteran presence of senior Cam O’Neill, junior Daniel Jenčko and junior Cam Dunn, it feels like the rest of Hockey East is going to have a lot to deal with from the UMass offense.

The question remains, though, how are the Minutemen going to limit the barrages on the other end. The Minutemen’s most painful loss of the summer was emphatically star goaltender Michael Hrabal. One could make the case that the massive 6-foot-7 netminder was the best in the nation last season as he carried the team to second in the conference standings and was the first Minuteman to be named the Hockey East Player of the Year since Bobby Trivigno (2021-22).

The big goaltender from the Czech Republic left for the Utah Mammoth to start working his way up the organizational depth chart. Senior Jackson Irving was the at-home option heading into the offseason. Irving finished 2025-26 with a 3-5 record and 2.75 goals per game average.

UMass added another Czech talent in Tobias Trejbal. The freshman was a fortress for the Youngstown Phantoms in the USHL, finishing 30-9-3 and with 975 total saves.

Irving has waited his turn for three years behind Hrabal, but Trejbal is coming in as one of the hottest prospects in the nation, creating one of the most highly-anticipated netminder competitions in the country.

Hrabal wasn’t the only part of Carvel’s back end who didn’t return. The Minutemen also lost captains Lucas Ölvestad and Owen Murray to graduation. The two bulky blueliners were the first line of defense for last two seasons. Instead, the dynamic duo of Larry Keenan and Francesco Dell’Elce is expected to have a bigger role after two impressive seasons in Amherst.

Both Landon Nycz and Coleson Hanrahan are also returning for their sophomore seasons in defense. The St. Louis Blues drafted Nycz in June with pick No. 107, and Coleson Hanrahan is one of the two newly-named captains; the first sophomore to earn the role in the Carvel era.

Samu Alalauri is the one standout defensive recruit making his way to western Massachusetts for this season from Finland. The Chicago Blackhawks recently selected him in the third round of the 2026 NHL Draft.

On the coaching side, Carvel lost trusted assistant Tom Upton who left for the head coaching position at Brown, but replaced him with former All-American and the UMass career assists leader, James Marcou.

Despite the many moving parts, Carvel has proven time and time again that he can handle most player combinations. His incoming recruiting class has been rated as among the best in Hockey East and nationally. After a year of ups and downs, the Minutemen should have a much-improved offense and a young and hungry defense. The questions in net remain, but UMass should again be one of the favorites in Hockey East.

• There have been three schedule updates. The Jan. 29 game vs. Northeastern will be played Dec. 4; Jan. 30 vs. UNH was moved to Feb. 12; Feb. 12 will be played at UNH on Feb. 6.

This is the second story in a series of season and conference previews for the upcoming 2026-27 season. Check out the previous story on Providence.

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