2025-26 Hockey East Season Preview: Merrimack Warriors

The first puck drop on the 2025-26 regular season for the Merrimack men's hockey team is fast approaching and the Warriors are getting ready for another season in one of the nation's toughest collegiate divisions. New faces behind the bench and on the ice have been brought in, but this team needs to be careful. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

At least that's been Merrimack's general mode of operation since joining Hockey East in 1989.

In terms of incoming on ice talent, there will be 13 new faces wearing Warrior colors this season, 10 including 10 freshmen: Filip Nordberg, Daniel Astapovich, Ethan Beyer, Hunter Mayo, Parker Lalonde, Joey Henneberry, Riley Bassen, Nolan Flamand, Trent Ballantyne and Ben Yurchuk. 

The remaining three are transfers from other schools: sophomore Tevor Hoskins from Niagara, senior Matthew Campbell coming over from Michigan Tech and junior Austin Oravetz transferring from Michigan State. 

"We are excited about our incoming group", head coach Scott Borek said. "We have added players who will bring excitement to Lawler and players who have a history of winning in their careers."

As for the new member of the coaching staff this season, the rookie is none other than Ryan Durocher, who got his start in coaching with Southern New Hampshire University back in 2012. Since then, he has bounced around New England, the midwest and now back to New England with the Warriors.

"I am thrilled to be joining Merrimack College as an assistant hockey coach," Durocher said in a statement when hired. "It is a privilege to be a part of a hockey program with a tradition for excellence and a long list of professional players who were developed as Warriors. I want to thank Scott Borek for giving me the opportunity to return to New England and coach in Hockey East. I look forward to adding to the successful future of Merrimack hockey.”

Success, which has been missing the past few years, is ultimately what the program wants to have. A repeat of the 2022-23 season may not be possible, but serves as a model to aim for: a second-place finish both in regular season standings and in the conference tournament, losing in the championship game.

However, with every attempt to return to that wonderful success, the Warriors seem to get farther away from it.

In terms of this season, the coaching staff is taking a different approach to the roster, albeit out of necessity. There's only one senior and one graduate student, making the Warrriors one of the youngest teams in all of Hockey East this season. However, it could be an important step toward future success.

Last season, the Warriors scored 81 goals as a team, the lowest mark in all of Hockey East. This, coupled with 18 power play goals, tied for second worst. Merrimack dind't have a player score more than 10 goals, truly remarkable for a program competing at this level.

With such a prominent issue at hand, Borek has had to go back to the drawing board, especially with recruiting. Meanwhile, the Warriors are looking for freshman Daniel Astapovich to be the main man moving forward to build the offense around. 

Astapovich played 109 games in the United States Hockey League, for Des Moines and Cedar Rapids, scoring 24 goals and 32 during that time. Last year with Cedar Rapids was his breakout season, scoring a team high 21 goals and a second best in assists with 26.

Another player the Warriors need to step up is sophomore Caden Cranston, who is coming off a solid freshman year, during which he scored seven goals and connected on 10 assists. His experience, coupled with a chance to be a top-line player, could see a standout season.

However, it wasn't just the offense that needed improving, the defense struggled as well.

The 112 goals allowed tied for third most in Hockey East, the 28 power play goals allowed were second, and the Warriors tied for most short-handed goals allowed with six, all while having the worst penalty kill efficiency at 72.8 percent.

Offense wins games, defense wins championships. If the Warriors want to win some hardware, they need to tighten up the defense.

The key player the program will hone in on will be freshman Filip Nordberg, a defenseman who previously played for the Sioux Falls in the USHL. Throughout his 107 games, he was able to record 38 points, which consisted of seven goals and 38 assists, which was quite impressive. It helps explains why he was drafted in the second round of the NHL draft by the Ottawa Senators. Merrimack needs him to be an immediate leader as he adapts to collegiate play. 

Merrimack appears to have a strength in net, though. Junior MaxLundgren, whoi is 6-foot-5, appeared in 24 games for Merrimack last season, with 22 starts. He went 8-13-0, with a 2.90 GAA and a .909 save percentage. Sophomore Ryan Keyes made five starts his first season, and Swedish goalie Nils Wallström, a junior who had transferred from American International, is looking to take the next step in his career.

So yeah, Merrimack is another young team in Hockey East, but the Warriors have too much talent for it to be a year of searching. It needs to be a season of growth and progress.

They have a real shot to be a dark horse this season, but the players would have to quickly adapt and perform to their very high-end competition. Every team will have its highs and its lows throughout the long season, Merrimack needs to strive to be on a high come playoff time.