Recruiting Recap: Penn State adds seven skaters for 2023-2024 season
Head coach Guy Gadowsky and the Penn State men’s hockey team finalized its new recruiting class earlier this week, after finishing top 10 in the national polls and making it to the second round of the NCAA tournament the previous season.
The new class consists of five freshmen and two transfers, with five forwards and two defensemen.
Jacques Bouquot, F
One of two transfers in the new class, Jacques Bouquot brings depth to the forward core and a veteran locker room presence.
Bouquot spent the last four seasons at Vermont and was the team captain as a senior in the 2022-2023 season.
In 109 career games, Bouquot has 17 goals and 50 points, with 31 of those points coming in the last two seasons.
The six-foot left-handed forward had a career-best 16 points last season as captain, playing for the Catamounts alongside former Nittany Lion Oskar Autio, who transferred last season.
Before his time in Vermont, Bouquot played for the Wenatchee Wild and Chilliwack Chiefs in the BCHL, where he played with former Nittany Lion Kevin Wall, amassing 14 goals and 33 points in 47 games.
Matt DiMarsico, F
DiMarsico spent the last season with the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL, following in the footsteps of current Penn Staters Jarod Crespo and Alex Servagno.
One of four Pennsylvania natives in the new class, DiMarsico tallied 25 goals and 46 points in 59 games during the 2022-2023 season.
His 25 goals led the Gamblers and were top-20 in the USHL while his 46 points ranked fourth on the team.
Before the USHL, DiMarsico played with the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite, similar to Carter Schade, and averaged 36 goals and nearly 80 points per season.
Dane Dowiak, F
Another Pittsburgh Penguins Elite alum, Dowiak joins the blue and white after two seasons with the Tri-City Storm in the USHL.
In his first season with the Storm, Dowiak helped the team to a 47-11-0-4 record and the USHL regular season champion title.
In 116 total games, the Pittsburgh, Pa., native amassed 32 goals and 63 points, and added two goals and four points in 9 career playoff games.
Reese Laubach, F
Previously committed to Minnesota State, Laubach decommitted a few weeks before signing with Penn State earlier this week.
Laubach comes in after being drafted in the seventh round by the San Jose Sharks in last year’s NHL Draft, making him just the 14th Nittany Lion to be selected in the NHL Draft.
The San Jose, Ca., native spent the past two seasons in the USHL, splitting time with the Omaham Lancers and Youngstown Phantoms.
The six-foot right-hander notched 11 goals and 24 points in 52 career USHL games, including 20 points with the Omaha Lancers.
Laubach is just the third ever Californian to play in Hockey Valley, joining PJ Musico and Taylor Holstrom in 2015.
Aiden Fink, F
This kid is the real deal, folks.
Fink was originally a Wisconsin commit, before he decommitted in April and officially signed with the blue and white.
A projected late third or early fourth round pick in this week’s NHL Draft, Fink spent the last two seasons with the Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
Fink earned top forward honors along with AJHL and CJHL MVP awards following a league-best 97 points in 54 games.
Fink performs in the clutch as well, adding 13 points in 15 playoff games while leading the Bandits to the 2023 AJHL Championship and six goals and 13 points in six games in the 2023 Centennial Cup, which Brooks also won.
Standing at just five-foot-ten and 160 pounds, Fink blazes up and down the ice, leading him to be ranked the 63rd-best North American skater by NHL central scouting.
Fink has the ability to be the 15th career Nittany Lion to be drafted into the NHL, and could be the highest drafted player since Clayton Phillips was drafted in the third round in 2017.
Casey Aman, D
The first official signing of the 2023-2024 recruiting class, Aman spent the last two seasons with the Powell River Kings of the BCHL.
In 113 career games, the Johnstown, Pa., native had 17 goals and 63 points, including seven power play tallies.
This past season Aman served as team captain while having a career season with 10 goals and 35 points in 54 games, good for sixth on the team.
His 35 points were the 11th most among all BCHL defenseman while leading all River Kings’ defensemen.
Aman was named the River Kings’ top defenseman each of the last two seasons and was Team MVP in 2021-2022.
Tanner Palocsik, D
A late addition to the signing class, Palocsik comes in after four years with Dartmouth College in the ECAC.
Palocsik was captain for head coach Reid Cashman during his senior season, marking the third incoming Nittany Lion with experience as team captain.
The right-handed defenseman comes in with an offensive spark, tallying 66 points in 93 career games and averaging over 20 points each season.
Palocsik was a third-team All-ECAC honoree this past season and a two-time second team All-IVY selection.
Palocsik is the third Pittsburgh Penguins Elite product of the signing class, playing for the program from 2012-2017.
After losing six players to graduation and two more players to the transfer portal, Guy Gadowsky and Penn State have reloaded once more to try and make the NCAA tournament for the fourth time in program history and in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2017-2018.
The recruiting class is subject to change and more student-athletes can transfer or be signed throughout the rest of the signing period, which ends on Aug. 1.
Joshua Bartosik is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jsb6137@psu.edu.
