2024-2025 Quinnipiac Bobcats Season Preview

Quinnipiac opens the 2024-2025 season against Penn State

The 2024-2025 Quinnipiac Bobcats Men's Ice Hockey Season is upon us and the program looks to reach the NCAA Tournament for a program record 5th straight season. If the team can reach the tournament, it would be the 11th time in program history they have done so. Just two seasons after winning the National Championship, only 4 players remain from that team with only Victor Czerneckianair seeing regular playing time for that team. After coming up just a game shy of back-to-back Frozen Four appearances, there was a mass exodus of players to graduation, professional contracts and to the transfer portal. This upcoming team is going to have a lot of new names and faces which is exciting but at the same time patience is needed as this team looks to gel early in the season.

2023-2024 Season Record: 27-10-2 ECAC Regular Season Champions. Lost to Boston College in Providence Regional Final.

Key Losses: F Collin Graf (49 points), F Jacob Quillan (46 points), F Sam Lipkin (35 points), D Jayden Lee (26 points), F Cristophe Tellier (26 points), D Charles Alexis-Legault (24 points), F Zach Tupker (21 points), F Christophe Fillion (19 points), D Iivari Rasanen (11 points), D CJ McGee (9 points), G Vinny Duplessis (.914 Save Percentage)

Key Returners: F Mason Marcellus (36 points), F Andon Cerbone (26 points), D Davis Pennington (24 points), F Travis Treloar (24 points), D Cooper Moore (22 points), F Victor Czerneckianair (14 points)

Key Additions: F Jeremy Wilmer (36 points at Boston University), F Jack Ricketts (35 points at Holy Cross), F Chis Pelosi (2023 Boston Bruins 3rd Round Pick), Aaron Schwartz (81 Points in BCHL), F Tyler Borgula (51 points in USHL), F Ryan Smith (38 points in USHL), D Elliot Groenewold (2024 Boston Bruins 4th Round Pick), D Charlie Leddy (Boston College transfer) D Nate Benoit (North Dakota transfer), D Aaron Bohlinger (UMass transfer), G Dylan Silverstein (Sioux City Musketeers)

This is a team in a transition after four consecutive NCAA berths with the past three seasons the team reaching the elite eight with the 2022-2023 winning it all. The price of success was seeing 60% of the goals scored walk out the door via professional ranks, graduation or the transfer portal. Quinnipiac will have to rely on some of the younger players along with the incoming transfers to pick up the slack from the departed players. The Bobcats were picked second in the ECAC coaches' poll and are currently ranked 8th in the USCHO.com poll.

Strengths

Quinnipiac lost four key defensemen, but they brought in three talented transfers along with a pair of first year players. The Bobcats have four draft picks on the back end, the most ever they have had at one time on the blue line. Cooper Moore, Charlie Leddy, Nate Benoit and Elliot Groenewold all have their draft rights held by NHL teams. An underrated pickup is graduate defenseman Aaron Bohlinger from UMass who has championship experience with the Minutemen back in 2021. While they are a talented bunch with experience, they will need to probably a little time together over the first half of the season to start to gel. It's been a long time since a Rand Pecknold team has seen the defense as a weakness and I do not expect that to happen now. 

While 60% of the scoring has left the team that doesn't mean they are going fall apart up front. Quinnipiac brings back Mason Marcellus, Andon Cerbone and Travis Treloar as the top three forward scorers. They also add two very good transfer pickups in Jeremy Wilmer (Boston University) and Jack Ricketts (Holy Cross). Wilmer was an outstanding pickup out of the portal as he was a 30-point player in each of his two seasons on Commonwealth Avenue. He has been more of an assist guy, but I think he will be able to score more with the Bobcats being more of a feature player. Jack Ricketts has scoring ability with 45 goals the past three seasons with Holy Cross, but it remains to be seen if the goals will continue to translate jumping to a tougher league in the ECAC. 

For Quinnipiac to get back to the NCAA tournament, they are going to need players like Victor Czerneckianair, Anthony Cipollone, Alex Power and Matthew McGroarty to take that next step as players with the amount of offense the program lost this past year. All of them should play big roles in the middle to bottom six. If two even two of those four players named pop this year that will do wonders for the Bobcats offense.

First year forward Chris Pelosi is the gem of the incoming class. The 2023 3rd round pick of the Boston Bruins brings size and skill up front. He had a strong season with Sioux Falls (USHL) last year and is expected to play a large role in the offense. He has the ability to be the ECAC rookie of the year. Other key first year players expected to contribute are Aaron Schwartz, Tyler Borgula and Ryan Smith up front. Quinnipiac has done an outstanding job in recent years of having some young players breaking out quickly and I expect no different with this recruiting class.

Weaknesses

This is the first time in a while where I think the Bobcats weakness resides in between the pipes. While I do not think this is a major weakness at this point in time, this is one of the big reasons why the team was picked second in the ECAC coaches poll behind Cornell. Quinnipiac has done a great job of always finding the next goaltender for the last decade plus and I expect that to continue whether its Matej Marinov or Dylan Silverstein. Marinov was a little shaky in the exhibition against Northeastern and at times last year was inconsistent despite his 1.85 goals against and .913 save percentage, he will probably be the guy they open the season against Penn State. It will be interesting to see if Rand Pecknold platoons Marinov and first year goaltender Dylan Silverstein early in the season to see if one of them takes off as he has in the past before settling on one. 

Prediction

Quinnipiac might not have the most talent on paper in the ECAC for the first time in a while and while they have plenty of talented players, I think they have is the most talent behind the bench in terms of coaching staff with the addition of former Union coach Rick Bennett as an assistant on this staff to join Rand Pecknold and Joe Dumais. Bennett has a national championship of his own with Union in 2014 with Joe Dumais assisting him and Pecknold and Dumais won the 2023 title at Quinnipiac. The staff will get the most out of the players and come early 2025 expect the Bobcats to be in position to potentially win another Cleary Cup because that's just what they have done over the past decade. 

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Excitement and Patience await the 2024-2025 Quinnipiac Men's Ice Hockey Team

Quinnipiac saluting its fan's after an overtime win over Wisconsin

Coming off the most satisfying four year stretch in Quinnipiac men's ice hockey history, excitement and patience await for the 2024-2025 squad. After 110 wins, four ECAC regular season titles, four NCAA tournament appearances, three regional finals, a Frozen Four which cumulated in the program's first ever National Championship in the 2022-2023 season, new challenges await for next years team.

Gone are the likes of Frozen Four hero Jacob Quillan who signed a two year entry level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He will finish out the season on an amateur tryout with the Toronto Marlies (AHL). Joining him in the professional ranks are Collin Graf who had 108 points over two seasons after transferring in from Union College. He signed a three year entry level contract with the San Jose Sharks and was immediately brought the the NHL club. Also gone is the third member of that championship line in Sam Lipkin, who gave up his final two seasons of eligibility to sign with the Arizona Coyotes, the team that drafted him in the 7th round of the 2021 NHL Draft. Anytime you lose a combined 130 points, it is going to sting. That is the price of success. Quinnipiac benefited from the Covid shutdown which helped them win the programs first ever national title. It enabled them to bring back a bunch of their own players for extra seasons along with filling some holes via the transfer portal. Now Quinnipiac will have a mini reset as they will likely bring in the biggest first year class since the 2019-2020 season. 

Other players not returning are captain Jayden Lee, CJ McGee and Zach Tupker who used a 5th Covid season this past year. Lee was a key member of the past three teams that won 93 games and went deep into the NCAA tournament in each of those years. McGee played a ton over the past two seasons in multiple different roles and will be missed. Others not returning are senior Iivari Rasanen who could have used a 5th year due to Covid and goaltender Vinny Duplessis. I thought that Rasanen was someone that might return to give the backend more experience. Duplessis not returning is not shocking. When the team got a commitment from a talented prospect in Dylan Silverstein, it was clear they were probably moving in a different direction for 2024-2025. Duplessis gave them stability in goal for one more run at championship glory but it was not meant to be. 

The scoreboard in Tampa after winning the 2023 Title

The Sherbrooke boys are both not returning as well. One day after the overtime loss to Boston College in the regional final, Christophe Fillion entered the transfer portal and two days later committed to play at Miami (OH) under new head coach Anthony Noreen. A day after Fillion entered the portal, Cristophe Tellier also put his name in the portal as well. After back to back 20 plus point seasons, he was expected to be a key member next season but now has decided to do that elsewhere. Fillion and Tellier were always a package deal especially when they committed together years ago. It is not surprising that Tellier has moved on once Fillion left first. It is not known what went into the departures of both, but it could be that the coaching staff felt it was time to bring in the committed recruits and not push them back any longer. 

Other players that have entered the transfer portal are sophomore defensemen Jake Martin (25 games), freshman defensemen Nicky Wallace (2 games) and sophomore forward Tim Heinke (6 Games). Heinke has already announced he will transfer to Holy Cross to play under Bill Riga.

Quinnipiac got some good news when they announced that both defensemen Cooper Moore (22 points, plus 26) and Travis Treloar (24 points, plus 8) were both returning for a 5th season. The Bobcats have also added transfer Jack Ricketts (35 points in 39 games) from Holy Cross. He will have one season of eligibility remaining and is strong on the faceoff dot. 

Quinnipiac celebrating after winning the 2023 National Title

The Bobcats will have some key players returning in Mason Marcellus (36 points), Andon Cerbone (26 points), Davis Pennington (24 points), Charles-Alexis Legault (24 points). Quinnipiac will need the likes of Victor Czerneckianair (14 points), Anthony Cipollone (13 points, Alex Power (9 points) and Matthew McGroarty (6 points) to take a greater leap next season if they want to remain in the upper echelon of teams not only the ECAC but nationally.

What will make or break next season for the team will be the incoming recruiting class which has a lot of talent. The gem of the class is Christopher Pelosi, a big strong center who is averaging a point per game for Sioux Falls in the USHL. A third round draft pick of the Boston Bruins in 2023, Pelosi is expected to see immediate minutes for Quinnipiac in likely a top six role along with the power play. He has the ability to challenge for the league rookie of the year with his talent. Aaron Schwartz is another standout in this class from the Surrey Eagles of the BCHL. Schwartz put up 81 points in 51 games and is a finalist for the league MVP. He is a creative play maker who also has the ability to score goals as well as he finished second in the league for goals at 34. Two other players who should play a factor in next years team are Tyler Borgula (48 points for Sioux Falls, USHL) and Ryan Smith (23 goals, 37 points for Tri-City, USHL). Noah Eyre (Sioux Falls, USHL), Andrej Kovacevic (Cowichan Valley, BCHL) and Michael Salandra (West Kelowna, BCHL) round out the committed forwards. It remains to be seen if maybe someone like Kovacevic is held back in juniors for another season if the coaching staff gets another forward from the transfer portal. Salandra has aged out in juniors so he will head to Hamden in the fall.

The back end is where the biggest concern lies. Moore, Pennington and Legault are a good start but after that they lack any experience besides Chase Ramsay who played in two games this past season. Nathan Tobey (Madison Capitols, USHL) and Braden Blace (Alberni Valley, BCHL) are coming in next season. Two other players I have listed but I am not sure they are even committed anymore in Aaron Brown (Blackfalds Bulldogs, BCHL) and Jonah Copre (Rockets Hockey Club, NCDC) This is based on Chris Heisenberg list but elite prospects does not have them listed for Quinnipiac next season. Based on how the defense only returns three players with major experience, this is where Quinnipiac should get experience via the transfer portal. They could also bring in Lucas Sorace (Penticton, BCHL) who I have listed for 2025-2026 and that's only because he missed a good portion of  the early BCHL season this year. Filling some defensive spots via the portal would be good business especially if you are going to have a young offense that may take some time to get going. 

In goal Quinnipiac will have Matej Marinov returning along with incoming freshman Dylan Silverstein (Sioux City, USHL). A talented prospect who at one time last season was enrolled at Boston College before withdrawing early in the 2022-2023 season, Silverstein has battled some injuries with some inconsistent play but has a ton of talent as he was thought highly of to play two seasons with the United States National Team Development Program. It is likely that knowing Rand's history with goaltenders, he will alternate between the two early in the season to see which one gets into a better rhythm. Fan favorite Noah Altman will be back as the third goaltender. 

Students, alumni and fans of the program need to preach patience with this new team. While the last three seasons were exciting in its own right, this next version of Quinnipiac could be just as exciting but how quickly they get there is another story. Have faith in Rand and his coaching staff to put a good team on the ice year in and year out especially if there are early season struggles due to the youthful nature of this upcoming team. 

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