Previewing The 2025-26 Forward Group

10 new faces headline an overhauled forward unit for the Engineers

The leaves are starting to turn, football has begun, and that means hockey season is right around the corner. The Engineers forward group (like every position) is going to look completely different this year and is more transfer heavy than the defense is. Dovar Tinling and Jagger Tapper figure to be the most prominent returners of the group, but aside from that we will have quite a few new faces to learn. Seeing as the unit will have 8-9 new players at a minimum, and oh hey, a new coaching staff as well, I don’t find analyzing last year to be a worthwhile exercise. So, let’s start fresh with an entirely new unit that has a ton of eligibility and the chance to grow into something special.

Part of what has me excited for this team is how young it is at every position. Guys like Luc Wilson and the aforementioned Tinling will provide experience up front, and Trevor Russell and Jimmy Goffredo the same for the defense. For the most part though, most of the team has 2-4 years of eligibility left and the chance to be Coach Lang’s first great core of players here. That should leave all fans excited. The other major theme that jumps out to me is that this forward group has a ton of lefties and a ton of centers. Like a ton. That will be a challenge for Lang & co. to manage and makes projecting the roster a bit more difficult than usual. Will it propel freshman RW’s Matt Buckley and Jackson Kyrkostas into bigger roles right away? Which guys move to the wing, and will some play on their offside? Those questions are above my pay grade, but I will do my best here to take them apart for everybody. Let’s jump into it.

The Top-6:

I think part of what makes this era of college hockey exciting is that there are so many ways to build a team and players find your program at completely different places in their career. When I look at this top 6, I see players stepping up in competition looking to sustain their production, others coming down looking for more opportunity, sophomores looking to build on a great freshman year, etc. The challenge now is to make it all mesh together.

Tyler Wallace comes over from Niagara with a background very similar to Austin Heidemann’s at the time. 2 highly productive years in Atlantic Hockey including 30 points as a freshman, preceded by a very successful junior hockey career, primarily in the AJHL for Wallace. He was 5th in points in the AJHL before going to Niagara and brings quite a bit of goal scoring and size to the Engineers. He has mostly played center and Lang highlighted that he had one of the best faceoff percentages in the country, but his experience at wing makes him a logical fit to move over given the team’s personnel.

One-Liner: Tyler has produced at every level, but will he be able to take that next step forward despite much harder competition on RPI’s schedule this year?

Dovar Tinling is the veteran of this forward group and arguably the best bet to lead the team offensively. The fanbase is familiar with Dovar’s story now and how he went to UVM too early, but I really think his best hockey is still in front of him. He centered Jack Brackett and Felix Caron for the majority of last season and figures to be a top-line staple in 2025. Tinling’s allegiance to the program through the coaching change when he would have had many suitors figures to make him an immediate leader for this group. I think his offensive game is very solid and he should have every opportunity to produce this season. The question for me is if he can elevate his two-way game to an all-league level as he figures to be at the top of the scouting report for the Engineers.

One-Liner: Is Tinling ready to be the featured guy up front after the Muzzatti, Hotson, and Caron departures?

Jagger Tapper is a very welcomed returner after a pleasantly surprising freshman year where he turned in 20 points. Injuries in the top-6 launched Jagger into an elevated role, which he ran with and never gave back. This time last year, we were talking about Tapper as someone who had work to do to crack the lineup but possessed all the tools to be a successful college player. Tapper is an incredibly important piece of the puzzle here for quite a few reasons. First, he is very skilled and has the ability to continue developing into a top-level offensive player. Second, RPI is very short on right wings this year, so Tapper has a big role to take on. Lastly, he is one of the few holdovers being relied upon to carry the RPI culture, and his 3 years of eligibility remaining make him an exciting piece for the staff to keep developing.

One-Liner: His standout freshman year was unanticipated and at times a bit lucky with ENGs and secondary assists. Can he legitimize that production as an essential part of the core in his sophomore season?

Luc Wilson transfers to RPI from a Minnesota State team that won the CCHA and took the National Champion WMU Broncos to 2 OTs in the NCAA tournament. Wilson primarily was a middle-6 center for Mankato but figures to move to the wing given RPI’s glut at center.

Wilson is a high-IQ offensive player with a capable shot and playmaking ability. Last year’s 13 points regressed from his 19 as a sophomore, but he did stay consistent with 7 goals. Similar to Tinling, he is a 1-year guy that will bring experience to a fairly inexperienced team. I don’t expect an enormous jump despite a moderate drop in competition, but Wilson figures to be a solid producer on the 2nd line.

One-Liner: Wilson is as safe a bet as you’ll find and has produced at every level. What is his ceiling for a team desperate for high-end scoring?

Filip Sitar is far and away the x-factor on this roster to me, and like Tapper, a very important player with 3 years of college hockey left. Sitar is a very high-IQ center that is great in the dot and plays a 200-foot game. Stephen did a great piece breaking down his game over the summer which I recommend everyone checks out. To summarize though, Sitar was regarded as an NHL draft prospect in Sweden but was blocked last season on a very strong UConn team. The numbers show his defense was excellent in his 4th-line role, but his production internationally suggests there is way more offense to his game. Additionally, Coach Lang said to us he thought Sitar went to UConn a year too early. We have seen this model work before for RPI with guys like Dovar Tinling and TJ Walsh, and you could make the argument that Sitar is the best player of the three at this point in their respective careers.

One-Liner: The blueprint has worked in the past, so can Sitar deliver on the increased opportunity to produce that he should receive this year?

Rainers Rullers had a productive freshman year and was our lone attendee of development camp this summer, where he spent a week with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He was consistently RPI’s 3rd-line center last year, mostly behind Lee and Tinling on the depth chart. Rainers took on a lot of responsibility as a freshman, as he was one of RPI’s top penalty killers and logged a lot of minutes. Logic would tell you he’d slot up a spot onto the 2nd line this year, but with the surplus of centers this year I think he could be a candidate to move to the wing. I’d expect Rullers to be a top defensive forward again, but I’d love to see him use his size to turn into a true power forward. A year of a college weightlifting program should work wonders, and hopefully we see an uptick in physicality this year, especially around the net. If he can elevate his offensive production, I expect him to be a very useful player for RPI that plays in all situations.

The Middle-6

The middle 6 this year is the strength of the forward group and has a lot of options, especially at center. RPI is going to need to rely on its depth, both to score up and down the lineup, but also to help out with defensive coverage. It is safe to plug in the top-6 players, as well as Bono and Lindberg into the lineup every night. That leaves the three freshmen to carve out the final top 9 role, or establish that they can contribute in a defensive role on the 4th line.

Ethan Bono reminds me a lot of where John Beaton fit into the roster the last few years. Bono is naturally a center but seems like a candidate to move to the wing given the surplus. He was pretty young when he went to Merrimack and did produce for them in a tougher league. He’s got good size and should be a better fit in a league that is more physical than Hockey East. I think it is fair to say there is a role for him if he doesn’t improve from last year, but development as he drops down to the ECAC would be a welcomed occurrence for RPI.

One-Liner: Is he a natural fit to move to the wing and will this move come with a scoring bump?

Alfred Lindberg was the lone AIC Yellow Jacket to follow Coach Lang across the state border this spring. He had a bit of a confusing career at AIC, as he produced 22 points points in just 20 games his freshman but regressed down to 11 last year. He was a bit banged up and Lang said he was extremely snake-bitten, but this is pretty significant point-per-game regression. He was an assistant captain as just a sophomore and certainly seems like the type of kid Lang wanted to bring with him for the transition.

One-Liner: Will his familiarity with Coach Lang facilitate a smoother adjustment for him than the rest of the transfers?

Matt Buckley should be a beneficiary of the left-handed skew of this forward group, as he comes in from a stacked Oshawa team in the OHL. In my view, Buckley is best positioned among the freshman forward to make an impact right away. His 30 goals in the OHL 2 years ago show he has significant offensive prowess which the team is looking for. Last year was a down year, but I expect a bounce back as he joins the collegiate ranks. Buckley should get powerplay opportunities early on as a freshman and wouldn’t be surprised to see him contend for ECAC all-rookie honors.

One-Liner: Was last year’s drop in production an aberration or a concern?

Ian Scherzer is one of the most interesting players on the roster to me, as I truly think he can be a building block for the next 4 years of the program. He is a pure center with elite play-driving metrics, defense, and a very high-IQ. His underlying metrics in the USHL were excellent last year and suggest he was a bit unlucky with his point total. Lang referred to him as “one of our type of players” and I think he may force his way into a prominent role sooner rather than later. I think he has the capability to be a really, really good college player at RPI if he stays and develops. Early in the season, I think he more than Kyrkostas and Buckley has the ability to make an impact on the 4th line if he is blocked out by older players in the top 9.

One-Liner: Can he translate elite play driving metrics into legitimate point production as a college player?

Jackson Kyrkostas is the last true candidate to play in a scoring role in my view, and he is a name RPI fans should be pretty familiar with. He committed to the program during his days at Kimball Union and has been a prolific scorer everywhere he has gone. I suspect he starts in more of a depth role earlier on, but he has the offensive capabilities to be a very productive player.

One-Liner: The skill is there, but does he play a complete enough game to get extended time as a freshman?

The Bottom-6:

The Engineers have struggled immensely on defense, and the penalty kill in the past two seasons, and there are many reasons that is the case. One of those was a lack of depth at forward, causing an inability to defend with your typical 4th-line checkers. It pushed guys like Jake Gagnon and Sutter Muzzatti into penalty killing roles, when in reality, you want those guys taking your offensive chances. I think RPI finally has the right mix and proper depth in the bottom 6 which is going to help forwards stay fresh and help the defense.

Brad McNeil is expected to be one of the captains and is a clear leader of the group. He is a high-IQ forward, a penalty killer, and a guy that you know what you’re getting from. He didn’t take the step forward offensively that I was hoping for last year, but I am not sure this team needs him to. I’d expect him to be plugged right into the 4th line all year long and relied upon for his experience.

One-Liner: Is there any more offense to his game that could propel him beyond just a 4th-line role?

Cole Gordon comes to RPI from an ASU team that made the NCAA tournament last year. Gordon is a grinder through and through, and I feel as if I need to fully reserve judgment until seeing his game in person, because his impact doesn’t show up in the box score. I think Gordon will bring a tenacity to the bottom 6 that the team has sorely lacked recently and will help with the PK improvement as well. Expect he and McNeil to be penciled into the lineup immediately each night.

One-Liner: Will his tenacity and physicality help the team defensively and make his role irreplaceable?

I did a piece highlighting Jack Gorton last week, but he is a bit of a tough scouting report because we don’t have much data on his game. He does possess a lot of size and has flashed some skill, but his game is clearly raw. It’ll be interesting to see how he fits into the puzzle early on.

One-Liner: Can Gorton help carry BU’s culture and winning ways to help Coach Lang establish winning habits within the program?

Mat Bourgault reportedly had an excellent training camp last fall and was flying around the ice in the exhibition game at UMass we saw last year. And then, he suffered a season ending injury and we never got to see anything more. He stuck at RPI through the coaching change and should be fully healthy now, and I expect he will contribute in the bottom 6. Similar to Gorton, we don’t have much tape on him because he has played so sparingly, but I am excited to see him fully healthy again. I expect Mat to force his way into the lineup after a broken freshman year.

One-Liner: Can he force his way into a crowded bottom 6 after years of injuries and setbacks?

Lucas Matta is our final highlight, as the former defenseman is expected to play forward again this year after injury forced him to change position in 2024. Matta is a leader of the group and will provide the team positional flexibility as needed.

One-Liner: Will it be forward or defense for Matta in his final collegiate season?

This year is a big transition for the RPI program, and there will be a lot of new faces for fans to get used to. I strayed away from the more team-oriented preview we typically do in favor of a player spotlight piece, sheerly due to the number of new players there are. It is going to take some time for Lang to get this to gel, and it may not even come this season. I am excited to see the deployment of a new system, and look forward to seeing this young forward group grow together over the next few years. I think the unit has excellent depth and its strongest points are the middle 6, but it will be reliant on development from a few top players to carry the scoring. They will need to score with depth and compete hard to get the most out of their talent this year. A little more than a week until the team hits the ice, we will have a lot more content coming your way to kick off the season. As always, Let’s Go Red.