Senior Penn State men’s hockey forward Adam Pilewicz and defenseman Clayton Phillips announced their plans to use their extra years of eligibility and return to Happy Valley for another season.

Even though the Nittany Lions are bringing in plenty of new talent next year, including Colorado College transfer Ben Copeland, Pilewicz and Phillips’ decisions to stay could help the team more than most realize.

Phillips had an up-and-down season this past year. After transferring from Minnesota during his freshman and sophomore seasons, the Pittsburgh Penguins prospect scored two goals and nine points during his junior season and three goals and seven points during his senior season for the Nittany Lions.

Head coach Guy Gadowsky expressed his anticipation for Phillips to return.

“As far as Clayton Phillips goes, it’s a really unique situation because he’s so talented, yet he’s very young,” Gadowsky said yesterday. “I truly feel he should be coming back…He is still developing and getting better and better. We very much believe in his skillset, and after getting to know him, we also very much believe in him as a person and what he does as a student and team member.”

On the offensive side of the puck, Adam Pilewicz has not produced much on the scoresheet, either. The senior forward has only four points over his four-year career with the Nittany Lions, but his contributions go beyond the scoresheet. He is arguably Penn State’s most valuable player in the locker room.

“Guys like Adam Pilewicz are essential and unbelievably valuable,” Gadowsky said. “I’m thrilled that he would be coming back. Obviously, we lost a couple of really key leaders, but from that standpoint, Pilewicz is one of the top guys that the coaching staff would want back. So, we’re thrilled with that.”

Gadowsky expressed that he was not happy with how he handled the beginning of this past season. He believes that he was not “innovative” enough in developing team continuity and getting the older players to bond with the new freshman. Pilewicz is the type of team player that was able to compensate for that.

Pilewicz has not only been making the most of his Penn State experience with the men’s hockey team. He also danced in THON 2021 with a few other representatives of the Student-Athlete Advisory Board.

“I just kind of fell in love with the atmosphere there,” Pilewicz said before THON. “The school and the community just come together, and to be a big part of that is something that I am just so grateful for.”