Middleton’s Musings: My picks for the 2025-26 NCHC All-Preseason Team

COLUMN

College hockey season is right around the corner, with games beginning on Oct. 3-4. As with each upcoming season in every major sport, predictions are aplenty.

Before every season, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) releases its Preseason Poll and Preseason All-Conference team, both of which are voted on by a media pool of universities and national outlets.

I was given the opportunity to vote on both, and in the first part of “Middleton’s Musings” this week, I wanted to address the picks I made for the Preseason Poll.

But before we get into my picks, here is what the official team looks like after all the votes were counted:

F - Sam Harris (University of Denver Pioneers)

F - Cullen Potter (Arizona State University Sun Devils)

F - Max Plante (University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs)

D - Jake Livanavage (University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks)

D - Eric Pohlkamp (Denver Pioneers)

G - Hampton Slukynsky (Western Michigan University Broncos)

Now, let’s dive into my picks, some of which were the same and some of which were different from the final squad.

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F - Cole Reschny (North Dakota)

My first and only different pick from the finalized voting of the forward group was Cole Reschny, a 5-foot-11 forward who was selected 18th overall in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft by the Calgary Flames.

Like many forwards, Reschny came to the NCAA via the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), having played last season with the Victoria Royals in the Western Hockey League, a subsection of the CHL.

With the Royals, Reschny posted a team-leading 26 goals and 66 assists across 62 games. He also added 25 points in 11 postseason games, making him one of the most sought-after commits in college hockey, and the Fighting Hawks were there to scoop him up.

Reschny’s passing ability, along with the talent North Dakota acquired around him this offseason, made it hard for me not to pick a player with elite vision and excellent speed, even if he hasn’t touched college hockey ice yet.

F - Cullen Potter (Arizona State)

The second forward of my three was Cullen Potter, a now-sophomore with Arizona State and another prospect for the Flames.

Last season with the Sun Devils, the 17-year-old Potter made waves around the NCAA, scoring 22 points in 35 games with an excellent Arizona State squad. The most intriguing aspect of his game isn’t his ability to score, but his skating.

Potter is one of the most dynamic players in all of college hockey, and that aspect of his game has helped him score some highlight-reel goals, totaling 13 on the season.

Now, with an opportunity to try and reach the top of the NCHC, Potter has one year of college hockey under his belt. Leaving him off my ballot would have been a cardinal sin, so he was an easy choice.

F - Max Plante (Minnesota-Duluth)

Minnesota-Duluth’s 2024-25 season did not go the way anyone around the program would have liked. However, the staff, players and fans were able to witness some breakouts from a few freshmen players, including Hermantown, MN native Max Plante.

Plante was selected in the second round of the 2024 NHL Draft by the Detroit Red Wings. While he did deal with some injury issues during the course of last season, including when the Bulldogs visited Miami, as well as having duties for the United States national junior team, he made an impact in the games he played.

The now-assistant captain for the Bulldogs was named to the 2024-25 NCHC All-Rookie Team and was a finalist for 2024-25 NCHC Rookie of the Year after scoring 28 points in 23 games.

Plante won’t be playing hockey with as talented a team as North Dakota, Arizona State or Western Michigan University. Still, he’s a cerebral player who makes everyone around him better, and he proved that in his freshman season. If the injury bug stays away, the NCHC needs to be on high alert.

D - Keaton Verhoeff (North Dakota)

As one of the most interesting players in all of college hockey (and the second-youngest), 17-year-old Keaton Verhoeff has an opportunity to do special things with the Fighting Hawks in 2025-26.

Verhoeff joins a team of familiar faces, including junior defender Jake Livanavage, who was my close-second choice. He looks to prove that he really is the second-best player in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft behind Pennsylvania State University’s Gavin McKenna.

Last season with the Victoria Royals, Verhoeff scored 45 points in 63 games as a 16 year old, including 10 points in 10 international games split between Team Canada’s U-17 team and Team Canada’s U18 World Junior team.

Considering how talented the young defender is, what’s at stake for him in the upcoming season and the archetype of defenseman he is relative to the competition, I firmly believe from the outset that he will look like he belongs at the college level and in the NCHC.

D - Eric Pohlkamp (Denver)

After playing his freshman season at Bemidji State University, Eric Pohlkamp transferred to Denver and proved why head coach David Carle and his staff sought after him so much.

In 2024-25, he scored 11 goals and tallied 24 assists in 44 games, the second-highest amongst defenders on the team, only behind Zeev Buium, who is now playing with the NHL’s Minnesota Wild.

Pohlkamp may not be the most flashy or well-known name in the college hockey sphere, but he will certainly make an impact on the blue line for the Pioneers in 2025-26.

Considering his production last season and how consistently Denver’s system produces players who can create offense with the puck, not having at least one Pioneer on this list felt wrong, and Pohlkamp was the correct decision.

G - Connor Hasley (Arizona State)

Predicting goalies to win honors or awards, especially in the NCHC, is almost an impossible task. The amount of talent is virtually unmatched in any other conference. With names like Western Michigan’s Hampton Slukynsky, University of Nebraska-Omaha’s Simon Latkoczy, Colorado College’s Kaiden Mbereko and others, this is a conference dominated by the men in the blue paint.

However, after his transfer to Arizona State this offseason, I’m all-in on the Connor Hasley train.

Last season, Halsey led all of college hockey in shutouts and finished with a .925 save percentage, good for seventh-best in the NCAA among goaltenders with at least 20 starts. He kept his Bentley University team in the game against the No. 1 Boston College in the NCAA tournament and is now playing behind a squad coming off a second-place finish in arguably the toughest conference in all of college hockey.

The way Hasley moves around the crease is impressive, to say the least. Sometimes it can get him into trouble, but after seeing how he operates against the best competition in the highest-pressure situations, it’s hard not to drink the Kool-Aid.

While he very much could not win this honor come season’s end, considering his competition, he was my selection for this particular piece of the puzzle.

Selecting these players was not an easy task. While all or none of them could come true by the time the season concludes, it was fun to think through and explore different options before the puck drops on what could be one of the most exciting college hockey seasons to date.

@jjmid04

middleje@miamioh.edu