5. Penn State The 2016-17 season was a year of firsts for Penn State. A first Big Ten tournament championship and first NCAA tournament berth and win were nearly joined by a first trip to the Frozen Four. Penn State ran into the buzzsaw that was Denver on the way.PSU loses three pieces of the core that drove it to such heights in 2016-17. Seniors David Goodwin and Dylan Richard will be missed up front. The lone early departure thus far was sophomore defenseman Vince Pedrie, who signed with the New York Rangers after a 30-point season. It looks like big-time prospects Denis Smirnov and Nikita Pavlychev will be back for their sophomore seasons.The Nittany Lions return the second-most goals in the country and nearly 75 percent of their total offense from last season, and the recruiting class is top-notch too. There is one major question mark, though, and it comes in the form of sophomore goaltender Peyton Jones. A .904 save percentage was enough to get the Nittany Lions into the NCAA tournament last season thanks to a dominant record against a weak non-conference slate. It won’t be the case in 2017-18. However, at the rate PSU will likely keep scoring, an even average season from Jones will send the Nittany Lions even higher.

Source: CHN’s Super Early Top 10 For 2017-18 : College Hockey News