2023–24 Providence Friars men's ice hockey season

Providence began the year with a bit uncertainty as it had lost the top three scorers from the previous season. For a team that was already offensively challenged, that could have been more than they could afford, but the Friars were bent on exceeding their expectations. New starter Philip Svedebäck took to the college game immediately and posted one of the best starts to a career by going 8–1–2 in his first eleven games. In that stretch, the young goaltender allowed just 20 goals and was ranked among the best goaltenders in the nation in just about every category. He was aided, in no small part, by the defense who was the second-most effective in the nation; only Cornell allowed fewer shots against per game and the success of the early season lifted Providence up into the top-5 in the polls. The offense, too, was playing well in the first month and a half; new addition Tanner Adams fit in well with a diverse group that scored by committee rather than concentrate all of its firepower on one line.

However, just before Thanksgiving, The Friars went through their first rough patch of the season. Going through a stretch of five games against ranked opponents, Providence lost four of those matches, however, due to the strength of their opposition, Providence only slipped a few places in the rankings and they were still a top-10 team by the winter break.

In the five weeks after returning from their vacation, Providence posted a solid record and largely held their position. However, cracks were beginning to form in the team. Svedebäck had started showing some inconsistence in his game; he posted three shutouts in that stretch but also had a couple of bad games as well. The offense was mostly effective but began to falter in February. The scoring never went away but it definitely ebbed as the season progressed towards the playoffs. The Friars lack of offense began to cost the team and they were losing games even when Svedebäck was playing well. However, at the beginning of March, the team was still in the top 10 in the PairWise and all they had to do was win a game or two to guarantee themselves a spot in the NCAA tournament. Losses to Merrimack and Boston University were not offset by a tie with Northeastern and on the final week of the regular season, the Friars dropped from 10th to 14th.

Now on the very edge of the playoff picture (14 was the bare minimum for any chance at an at-large bid), Providence would have to face Massachusetts in the quarterfinals with both teams fighting for their lives. The Friars and Minutemen were bunched up in the mid-teens and, because several teams from other conference were also rated about the same, the loser of the game would knocked out of postseason contention. Providence didn't get off to a good start in the game and in less than 5 minutes the Friars were already down by 2 goals. The team desperately tried to climb back into the match but offense was not their strong suit and time ticked away on their season. In the later stages of the third period, UMass got a third goal but then took a penalty immediately afterwards. Svedebäck was pulled to make the power play a 6-on-4 and the extra skater allowed the Friars to score in just 4 seconds. With the faintest of hopes, Providence began to ratchet up their attack on the Massachusetts cage but their comeback was stopped almost as soon as it started. Guillaume Richard took a tripping penalty and forced the team to play defense for 2 critical minutes. Though they managed to kill off the infraction, the momentum had vanished and Providence was unable to conjure up another goal. The 1–3 loss brought the once-promising campaign to a close.^[1]

As of September 26, 2023.^[2]

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
1		John Driscoll	Junior	G	5' 11" (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2000-04-09	Milton, Massachusetts	Northeast (NA3HL)	—
2		Luke Krys	Graduate	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-09-27	Ridgefield, Connecticut	Brown (ECAC)	—
4		Guillaume Richard	Junior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2003-02-10	Cap-Santé, Quebec	Tri-City (USHL)	CBJ, 101st overall 2021
6		Cam McDonald (C)	Graduate	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2001-02-03	Eagle River, Alaska	Muskegon (USHL)	—
8		Riley Duran	Junior	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	2002-01-25	Woburn, Massachusetts	Youngstown (USHL)	BOS, 182nd overall 2020
9		Hudson Malinoski	Freshman	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	184 lb (83 kg)	2004-05-19	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan	Brooks (AJHL)	TOR, 153rd overall 2023
10		Brady Berard	Sophomore	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	198 lb (90 kg)	2004-02-26	East Greenwich, Rhode Island	NTDP (USHL)	—
11		Graham Gamache	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	179 lb (81 kg)	2002-06-11	Edmonton, Alberta	Tri-City (USHL)	—
12		Nick Poisson (A)	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2001-08-15	Vancouver, British Columbia	Prince George (BCHL)	—
13		Craig Needham (A)	Graduate	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	1999-03-31	Medford, Massachusetts	Youngstown (USHL)	—
14		Cal Kiefiuk	Graduate	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2000-02-28	Macomb, Michigan	Massachusetts (HEA)	—
15		Liam Valente	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	2003-05-23	Märsta, Sweden	Linköping J20 (J20 Nationell)	—
17		Chase Yoder (C)	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2002-05-28	Fairview, Texas	NTDP (USHL)	PIT, 170th overall 2020
18		Jamie Engelbert	Graduate	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	2000-06-21	Cobourg, Ontario	Cobourg (OJHL)	—
19		Tanner Adams	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2005-09-02	Northport, New York	Tri-City (USHL)	—
20		Andrew Centrella	Freshman	D	5' 9" (1.75 m)	177 lb (80 kg)	2004-01-29	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Youngstown (USHL)	—
21		Matt Hubbarde	Junior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2000-04-15	Pickering, Ontario	Dartmouth (ECAC)	—
22		Clint Levens	Freshman	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	189 lb (86 kg)	2003-06-19	Windermere, Florida	Sioux Falls (USHL)	—
23		Bennett Schimek	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	188 lb (85 kg)	2003-04-15	Mendota Heights, Minnesota	Sioux City (USHL)	—
24		Austen May	Sophomore	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	160 lb (73 kg)	2003-05-19	Woodhaven, Michigan	Sioux Falls (USHL)	—
25		Connor Kelley	Senior	D	6' 1" (1.85 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	2002-01-30	Maple Grove, Minnesota	Minnesota Duluth (NCHC)	CHI, 204th overall 2021
27		Taige Harding	Junior	D	6' 7" (2.01 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	2002-01-03	St. Albert, Alberta	Fort McMurray (AJHL)	CHI, 91st overall 2021
28		Jaroslav Chmelař	Sophomore	F	6' 4" (1.93 m)	216 lb (98 kg)	2003-07-20	Nové Město nad Metují, Czech Republic	Jokerit U20 (U20 SM-sarja)	NYR, 144th overall 2021
29		Will Schimek	Junior	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	2001-05-22	Mendota Heights, Minnesota	Sioux Falls (USHL)	—
33		Marcus Brännman	Freshman	G	5' 11" (1.8 m)	166 lb (75 kg)	2003-04-06	Bromma, Sweden	Dubuque (USHL)	—
35		Philip Svedebäck	Freshman	G	6' 4" (1.93 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	2002-05-28	Växjö, Sweden	Dubuque (USHL)	BOS, 117th overall 2021

^[4]

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 11 and 25.^[5]
Note: USA Today did not release a poll in week 12.

† incoming freshman^[6]