The NCAA Early freshman Stat Leaders

In what is arguably the greatest freshman class in NCAA hockey history, so many storylines exist for lesser-recruited players to even top five NHL draft picks. Let’s dive into this season's freshman stat leaders and how different these players are from the preseason-projected top guys. 

At one point during the 2024 NHL draft cycle, Benak was looking like a first-round pick. But due to his five-foot-eight, 163-pound frame, he fell to the fourth round, where the Minnesota Wild snatched him up with the 102nd overall pick. 

Benak is an extremely smart player who has a ton of skill and will do whatever and be wherever his team needs him in order to win. Through nine games, the Czech forward has five goals and 18 points, leading this class, and has produced eight of those points in his last five games. 

If you asked 50 college hockey fans who they expected to lead the freshmen in goals by this point, I don’t think any of them would have gotten a single one of these players right. 

Nathan Free of Union College is a forward who came over from the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL and has been amazing so far. In 10 games, he has seven goals and 14 points. But due to the other amazing talents in this class, he has to share this with two other players. 

Fourth-overall pick by the Buffalo Sabres, Daxon Rudolph is tied for the freshman goal lead with seven, and he leads freshmen defensemen with that number. The Denver Pioneers stud has played an insane amount of minutes and currently has a three-game goal streak, including the game-winner in overtime for the Pioneers last weekend. 

Dartmouth’s Drew Stewart is an undersized center who was brought in from the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks, and what makes it so impressive that he’s on this list is the fact that he’s only played five games and has seven goals for Reid Cashman’s squad. 

Drafted by the Utah Mammoth this past June in the fourth round, the Minnesota Duluth goaltender has been amazing this year. Through 11 games, he has a freshman-wide leading 1.17 goals-against average, and when you add in his 7-2-2 record and .946 save percentage, he hasn’t just been a top freshman; he’s been a top goalie in the entire nation.