Penn State men’s hockey senior Paul DeNaples will serve as the team’s captain for the 2021-22 season, becoming the ninth captain in program history.

Fifth-year seniors Clayton Phillips and Adam Pilewicz, along with junior Connor McMenamin, will serve as the team’s alternate captains.

DeNaples will take over the captain position from Alex Limoges, who signed a one-year deal with the San Diego Gulls in August.

“For my teammates and coaches to believe and trust in me to represent them is very humbling,” DeNaples said in a release. “Nothing is more important to me than to keep building this culture and to lead this team to a championship. I’m excited to get the season going and to see what we will achieve as a team.”

The defenseman enters the season with five goals and 26 points over his three-year career. His best season came as a freshman when he tallied 14 points, led the Big Ten with a plus-31 plus/minus rating, and was a finalist for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.

Meanwhile, McMenamin is joining the captains following his best season as a Nittany Lion. The junior forward appeared in all 22 games while registering six goals and nine assists last season.

Phillips and Pilewicz have also served as unofficial team leaders in the past before being named as alternate captains. Head coach Guy Gadowsky gave high praise to Pilewicz as a leader last season.

“He does the right things all the time,” Gadowsky said about Pilewicz last season. “He’s a great teammate. He does extra work in the weight room…He’s the type of person that not only hockey teams want, but every successful company, team, or organization wants. There are guys that drive teams to play the right way, and he’s one of them.”

Penn State will kick off its season with a matchup against LIU on Sunday, October 3.