The 2025–26 Alaska Nanooks men's ice hockey season was the 76th season of play for the program and 41th at the Division I level. The Nanooks represented the University of Alaska Fairbanks in the 2025–26 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season, played their games at the Carlson Center and were coached by Erik Largen in his 7th season.
Season With a high degree of roster turnover (sixteen new faces), Alaska was unknown quantity entering the season. While Lassi Lehti was expected to remain the starting netminder, team captain Chase Dafoe was the only one of the top five scorers who remained on the team. The degree of unfamiliarity was born out in the early part of the season as Alaska won just twice in its first eleven games. While it can't be discounted that the Nanooks played some of the top teams in the country during this time, the club's lack of offense left them unable to take advantage of several solid performances in goal.
By the middle of January, Alaska's season was teetering on the brink. Already eight games below .500, the Nanooks had no chance to make the NCAA tournament but that didn't mean their season was over. With their final twelve games all coming against fellow independent teams, Alaska had a chance to redeem itself from its poor start. After holding arch-rival Alaska Anchorage to a tie in the first game of the season series, Alaska's offence finally woke up. Over a six-game stretch, the Nanooks scored at least four goals and continued that torrid pace for the remainder of the season. Michael Citara, a graduate transfer who recovered from two separate season-ending injuries, led the offense with 16 goals on the season. Due primarily to Alaska winning six of eight games against the Seawolves, the Nanooks received the top seed for the inaugural United Collegiate Hockey Cup.
Alaska played its first postseason game in six years when they faced Stonehill in the semifinal round. While the Nanooks started strong and built a 2-goal lead less than four minutes into the game, the Skyhawks would not go quietly. With Alaska leading 3–1 early in the second, Stonehill scored three straight goals to completely change the tenor of the match. With time winding down at the end of regulation, Alaska was forced to pull their goaltender to try and tie the game. Time slowly ticked away on Alaska's championship hopes and it looked like they had missed their chance until Braden Birnie scored with just 1.2 seconds to play. Overtime was rather muted with just 4 shots being recorded and none finding the twine. The game finished in a shootout and both goaltenders were flawless through the first three rounds. After Lehti stopped Stonehill's fourth attempt, Tommy Cronin fired home the winning tally and sent Alaska to the championship game.
In their final game of the season, Alaska got off to a slower start but still possessed a lead after both the first and second periods. Lindenwood, much like Stonehill, refused to knuckle under and fired a barrage of shots on goal in the third. Lehti did yeoman's work to keep Alaska in the game, stopping 21 of 23 shots in the period. When the dust settled, overtime was again required to settle the match. Just 24 seconds into the extra frame, two players who were playing in their final college game proved to be the heroes. Birnie intercepted a pass and swiftly found Dafoe who netted the winner, ending Alaska's season on a high note.
Departures Kyle Gaffney Forward Transferred to Minnesota Duluth Nicholas Grabko Goaltender Graduation (signed with Idaho Steelheads) Will Hilfiker Defenseman Transferred to Utica Matt Hubbarde Forward Graduation (signed with Iowa Heartlanders) Luke Johnson Forward Transferred to Alaska Anchorage Matt Koethe Forward Graduation (signed with Tulsa Oilers) Luke LaMaster Defenseman Graduation (signed with Utah Grizzlies) Bryce Monrean Forward Transferred to Alaska Anchorage Brayden Nicholetts Forward Graduation (signed with Utah Grizzlies) Matteo Pecchia Forward Graduation (retired) Cole Plowman Goaltender Transferred to Manitoba Matt Rickard Defenseman Graduation (retired) Brendan Ross Forward Transferred to Providence Anton Rubtsov Forward Graduation (signed with Danbury Hat Tricks) Broten Sabo Defenseman Transferred to Ohio State Tyler Waram Defenseman Transferred to Wisconsin–River Falls
Recruiting Jackson Anderson Defenseman 21 Prior Lake, MN Dāvis Borozinskis Forward 20 Liepāja, LAT Zak Brice Goaltender 22 Fairbanks, AK; transfer from Arizona State Michael Citara Forward 23 New Hope, PA; graduate transfer from Merrimack Beau Courtney Forward 21 Parker, CO Tommy Cronin Forward 21 Edina, MN Misha Danylov Forward 21 Kyiv, UKR Liam Fleet Defenseman 21 Denver, CO Jhett Larson Forward 21 Delisle, SK Alexander Malinowski Forward 21 Linköping, SWE; transfer from American International Hugo Marcil Defenseman 21 Bourget, ON Kyle Miller Defenseman 20 San Jose, CA Rylen Roersma Forward 21 Lethbridge, AB Lucas Sorace Defenseman 22 Kamloops, BC; transfer from Calgary Dylan Sydor Forward 22 Kamloops, BC; transfer from Calgary Calvin Vachon Goaltender 20 Redondo Beach, CA
Roster As of August 20, 2025.
Standings
Schedule and results
!colspan=12 style=";" | Exhibition
!colspan=12 style=";" | Regular Season
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Scoring statistics RW 33 16 15 31 20 C 31 9 13 22 32 C/LW 33 13 8 21 22 C/LW/RW 31 8 13 21 36 F 33 7 11 18 22 LW/RW 28 10 6 16 8 F 18 4 12 16 8 D 33 3 13 16 4 F 32 7 7 14 16 F 28 4 7 11 13 F 25 2 7 9 22 D 32 2 6 8 4 D 32 2 6 8 14 LW 31 3 4 7 10 LW/RW 15 2 4 6 6 D 18 0 6 6 10 D 31 0 6 6 26 D 20 2 3 5 29 D 19 0 5 5 6 D 31 0 4 4 4 D 7 0 2 2 0 F 14 0 2 2 10 F 7 1 0 1 2 F 15 1 0 1 6 D 4 0 1 1 4 G 25 0 1 1 0 G 1 0 0 0 0 F 6 0 0 0 18 F 8 0 0 0 4 G 9 0 0 0 0 F 13 0 0 0 0 Total 96 160 256 376
Goaltending statistics 26 1492:09 13 9 3 60 680 1 .919 2.41 9 463:33 2 6 0 24 209 1 .897 3.11 1 9:16 0 0 0 1 5 0 .833 6.47 Empty Net - 31:21 - - - 14 - - - - Total 33 1996:19 15 15 3 99 894 2 .900 2.98
Rankings
PollWeekPre 1 23456789101112131415161718192021222324252627 (Final) USCHO.comNRNR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NRNR–NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR USA HockeyNRNR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR –NRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNRNR Note: USCHO did not release a poll in week 12.Note: USA Hockey did not release a poll in week 12.
References