Penn State men's hockey sustained a number of losses to its roster after the 2025-26 season between signings, graduation, and those entering the Transfer Portal. From the Nittany Lions' forward group in particular, they lost seven players, including Charlie Cerrato, JJ Wiebusch, and Matt DiMarsico.
Gavin McKenna made his mark at Penn State and is ready for the NHL
On Friday, they earned a commitment from a Toronto, Ontario native and four-star forward.
Marco Mignosa announced his commitment to Penn State over social media on May 8.
BREAKING: @PennStateMHKY has received a commitment from Tampa Bay Lightning 2025 draft pick Marco Mignosa (F).
— Matt Becker (@mattbecker250) May 9, 2026
Mignosa is a 4⭐️ and recently played in the OHL for the Soo Greyhounds.
Mignosa announced via his instagram today. pic.twitter.com/OPQCO21dnW
Mignosa was a seventh round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, going 215th overall to the Tampa Bay Lightning. He spent a majority of his junior career in the Ontario Hockey League before spending some brief time in the American Hockey League with the Syracuse Crunch, Tampa Bay's AHL affiliate.
With the Soo Greyhounds in the OHL in 2025-26, the forward logged 89 points in 65 games on 35 goals and 54 assists. He led the Greyhounds in goals, assists, and total points while also setting personal career records. The past two seasons, Mignosa was named an alternate captain for the Greyhounds.
The new Nittany Lion is slated to join the Nittany Lions in the upcoming 2026-27 season, helping fill in those gaps from players who recently left the program.
Cerrato, DiMarsico, and Aiden Fink are all forwards who took their talents to the next level. Rising sophomore Gavin McKenna might join them as well following the 2026 NHL Draft where he is anticipated to go No. 1 overall.
NHL-ready talent is hard to replace, but Penn State made its mark with McKenna committing less than a year ago.
Mignosa joins an incoming freshman class that includes forwards Pierce Mbuyi and Shea Busch as well as defenseman Ethan Weber and goaltender Ryder Fetterolf.
The forward group is, by far, the section of the Nittany Lions' roster that needs rebuilding. There are six freshmen helping restructure the lines, including Mignosa.
Their relatively older group on defense will put the pressure on the new faces to the team on offense to get up to NCAA speed as soon as possible. Filtering in more drafted talent can accelerate that process.
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