Badgers come in at No. 10 in preseason men's hockey poll

It's the first time they've been ranked in the top 10 of the preseason poll since 2014-15.

Wisconsin coach Mike Hastings speaks to forward William Whitelaw (8) during the second period of a game against Michigan State on Saturday March 2, 2024, at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis. / Jovanny Hernandez / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

Mike Hastings led the Badgers men’s hockey team to a 26-12-2 record and an NCAA Tournament appearance in his first season as head coach of the program. The expectations figure to be high for his second season, as the Badgers are ranked No. 10 in the USCHO men’s preseason poll. 

That’s a spot higher than the team finished last season, and it’s the first time the Badgers have been ranked in the top 10 since 2014-15. They’re the fourth-highest ranked team in the Big Ten Conference behind just Michigan State (No. 4), Minnesota (No. 6) and Michigan (No. 7).  

Rounding out the top 10 are Denver (No. 1), Boston College (No. 2), Boston University (No. 3), North Dakota (No. 5), Quinnipiac (No. 8) and Cornell (No. 9).

The Badgers will go into the season without their top-two leading scorers from a season ago in forward Cruz Lucius (34 points: 13 goals, 21 assists), who transferred to Arizona State, and forward David Silye (32 points: 9 goals, 23 assists), who signed with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers. 

They do, however, return their third- and fourth-leading scorers from last season in defenseman Ben Dexheimer (28 points: 5 goals, 23 assists) and forward Simon Tassy (28 points: 12 goals, 16 assists). 

It won’t be long now before the Badgers officially kick off their season. They open the year with an exhibition at Omaha at 6 p.m. on Oct. 5 before their season-opening series against Lindenwood on Oct. 11-12 on Kohl Center in Madison, Wis. Times are to be announced.