Building the staff.

Penn State mens hockey has made two staff addition, adding Penn State alumnus Alec Marsh and Derek Avery earlier this week, the team announced on Thursday.

Marsh, who will serve as director of player personnel and video, played four seasons for the Nittany Lions graduating in 2019. He was apart of Penn States first ever Big Ten Championship in 2017 and back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in 2017 and 2018. The forward scored 22 times with 32 assists for 54 points in 132 career games.

Marsh played professionally in the SPHL and ECHL until 2021, before ending his career with the Coventry Blaze of the EIHL in the United Kingdom.

He started coaching with the New Jersey Rockets at the under-14 and under-16 level. He led his under-14 team to the 2024 National Quarterfinals and the midget under-16 team to the 2025 National Semifinals. He made the jump to college last season, serving as the assistant coach at Division III Hobart and William Smith College.

Avery will serve as the director of operations and analytics for the Nittany Lions. While not playing for Penn State he graduated from the school with bachelor’s in computer science with a minor in statistics. He also was a student manager for Guy Gadowsky’s team while in school.

Last year, Avery was the team services manager for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League. He had a job as the hockey analytics and video graduate assistant for Penn State but choose to go the AHL route.