2022–23 New Hampshire Wildcats men's ice hockey season

With about half of the roster changing in the offseason, the outlook for New Hampshire was a complete unknown. Gone was the team's starting goaltender, as well as its top three scorers. David Fessenden, who had previously been a starter at Alabama–Huntsville, held the inside track for the job at the start but he ended up sharing the job with Tyler Muszelik for most of the season. The revamped offense seemed capable enough in the first few games, enabling the team to post an early 3–2 record. Unfortunately, after that decent start, the scoring completely dried up. Over a nearly 8-week stretch, New Hampshire went 0–12–1 and scored more two goals on just one occasion. While the defense wasn't particularly strong in that span, the offense squandered the chances they got by averaging slightly more than 1 goal per game. It wasn't until the series with Arizona State in min-December that the team pulled out of its tailspin but they still ended the first half of the season 10 games under .500.

With the Wildcats on pace for one of their worst performances in history, UNH stumbled after their return from the winter break. The team got swept by a down Union squad and then had to run through a gauntlet as 8 of their next 9 games came against ranked opponents. With everything arrayed against them, New Hampshire completely turned its season around. Fessenden played some his best hockey in that 9-game stretch while the offense rediscovered its scoring touch. The Wildcats went 7–2 in those games to pull itself out of the doldrums. While they weren't solely responsible, the wins that UNH posted in that run helped knock Connecticut and Providence out of the NCAA tournament.[1]

While the wins came too late to save New Hampshire's season, they did show what the team was capable of doing. The offense struggled over the final few games and cost the team in their lone playoff game, but the Wildcats had already proven themselves to be 'giant-killers'.

As of August 23, 2022.[2]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1		Jeremy Forman	Junior	G	5' 10" (1.78 m)	150 lb (68 kg)	1999-09-22	Northbrook, Illinois	Corpus Christi (NAHL)	—
2		Jack Babbage	Sophomore	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-08-30	Tully, New York	Quinnipiac (ECAC)	—
3		Conor Lovett	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2001-04-07	Franklin, Massachusetts	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	—
6		Nico DeVita	Sophomore	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	202 lb (92 kg)	2001-05-24	Bellevue, Washington	Ferris State (CCHA)	—
7		Stiven Sardarian	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2003-02-07	Saint Petersburg, Russia	Youngstown (USHL)	BUF, 88th overall 2021
8		Nikolai Jenson	Junior	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	193 lb (88 kg)	2000-07-28	Cold Spring, Minnesota	Youngstown (USHL)	—
9		Connor Sweeney	Sophomore	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2000-05-05	North Andover, Massachusetts	Islanders (NCDC)	—
10		Kalle Eriksson (A)	Senior	D	5' 10" (1.78 m)	178 lb (81 kg)	1999-09-15	Leksand, Sweden	Madison (USHL)	—
11		Jake Dunlap	Freshman	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	2001-12-05	Windham, New Hampshire	Madison (USHL)	—
12		Liam Devlin	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	2001-01-07	Needham, Massachusetts	Omaha (USHL)	—
13		Nick Cafarelli	Junior	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	182 lb (83 kg)	2001-12-31	Middleton, Massachusetts	Wenatchee (BCHL)	—
15		Chase Stevenson (C)	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1999-01-13	West Kelowna, British Columbia	Trail (BCHL)	—
16		Luke Reid	Junior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	192 lb (87 kg)	2001-09-26	Warman, Saskatchewan	Chicago (USHL)	NSH, 166th overall 2020
17		Kristaps Skrastiņš	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2001-11-20	Grobiņa, Latvia	Amarillo (NAHL)	—
18		Harrison Blaisdell (A)	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2001-03-18	Regina, Saskatchewan	North Dakota (NCHC)	WPG, 134th overall 2019
19		Damien Carfagna	Freshman	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2002-12-12	Wood-Ridge, New Jersey	Sioux City (USHL)	—
20		Colton Huard	Sophomore	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2000-11-27	Foothill Ranch, California	Chicago (USHL)	—
21		Cam Gendron	Junior	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	1999-02-05	Hampstead, New Hampshire	New Jersey (NAHL)	—
22		Joe Hankinson	Senior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	194 lb (88 kg)	1999-06-15	Hopkins, Minnesota	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	—
24		Robert Cronin	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	187 lb (85 kg)	2000-08-15	Plymouth, Massachusetts	Dubuque (USHL)	—
25		Will Margel	Sophomore	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2001-03-16	Potomac, Maryland	Johnstown (NAHL)	—
26		Morgan Winters	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2001-12-08	Osprey, Florida	Omaha (USHL)	—
27		Cade Penney	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2001-03-23	West Chester, Pennsylvania	Surrey (BCHL)	—
28		Alex Gagne (A)	Sophomore	D	6' 4" (1.93 m)	207 lb (94 kg)	2002-08-12	Bedford, New Hampshire	Muskegon (USHL)	TBL, 192nd overall 2021
29		Cy LeClerc	Freshman	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2002-08-17	Brentwood, New Hampshire	Janesville (NAHL)	—
30		Tyler Muszelik	Freshman	G	6' 3" (1.91 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2004-07-01	Long Valley, New Jersey	NTDP (USHL)	FLA, 189th overall 2022
35		Rafe Gaughan	Sophomore	G	6' 1" (1.85 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-02-11	Somersworth, New Hampshire	Northeast (NA3HL)	—
41		David Fessenden	Senior	G	6' 6" (1.98 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	1998-04-30	Parker, Colorado	Alabama–Huntsville (WCHA)	—

[4]

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.[5]