The 2022–23 Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs men's ice hockey season was the 79th season of play for the program and 10th in the NCHC. The Bulldogs represented the University of Minnesota Duluth in the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey season were coached by Scott Sandelin in his 23rd season and played their home games at AMSOIL Arena.

With great deal of roster turnover, particularly on the defense, the Bulldogs were an enigma coming into the season. Gone were 4 of their 6 regulars on the blue line as was last year's starting goalie (Ryan Fanti) and 4 of their top 6 scorers. Coach Sandelin brought in a large recruiting class led by 1st-round pick Isaac Howard to fill the open positions and, despite the uncertainty, UMD was expected to continue its high level of play.^[1]

After a good start, Duluth began encountering problems on both sides of the puck. Minnesota Duluth was hamstrung from the start of the season when Kyler Kleven suffered an injury in training camp and ended up missing the entire season. While he wasn't a high offensive producer, Blake Biondi was. The junior winger had led the Bulldogs in goals the year before but came into the season nursing a shoulder injury. He muddled through the first half of the year, collecting just 3 goals in 17 games before reinjuring his shoulder in early December. Biondi ended up having surgery on both shoulders and missed the remainder of the year.^[2] Freshman Ben Steeves filled in admirably and led the team with 21 goals, however, he was the only consistent scoring threat that the Bulldogs had.

While UMD suffered with a weakened offense, the team had made its bread and butter on defense and goaltending in recent years. The newcomers on the blueline played well but not quite up to the same standards to which the Bulldogs had grown accustomed. The goaltending, however, became a glaring weakness for the team. Neither Zach Stejskal nor grad transfer Matthew Thiessen played particularly well and the decline in the crease caused Duluth no small measure of problems.

UMD got swept in the second weekend of the season, however, as that came on the road against last year's national runner-up, Minnesota State, no one was ready to hit the 'panic button'. The team's situation grew dire after the following week when they dropped both games at home to Wisconsin, the worst team in the Big Ten. Duluth suddenly found itself at the bottom of the polls with an underperforming roster. The Bulldogs were able to arrest their slide by taking advantage of Cornell in the Big Red's season debut but that reprieve didn't last. Duluth earned a split in four consecutive weeks, however, they faced Colorado College in two separate weekends. The Tigers were one of the weakest teams in the NCHC but still managed to shutout Duluth twice. By the beginning of December the team was going nowhere and, as they sunk further down the national rankings, the program's 7-year run of NCAA tournament appearance was getting ready to end.

When the Bulldogs began the second half of their season, they showed a renewed vigor against Bemidji State but that level of fight didn't last. The team alternated wins and losses in the second half and, though they had some triumphs over strong teams, they weren't able to get their heads above .500. Entering postseason play, UMD had no chance to make the national tournament without first winning the NCHC tournament. While the team had go on the rod in the quarterfinals, they had some measure of good news by getting to play St. Cloud State. While the Huskies were already tournament bound, UMD had taken three out of four meetings between the two during the year and were hoping for a repeat performance. The first match of the series was a defensive struggle with St. Cloud eking out a win in the end. Zach Stejskal turned in a masterful game, stopping 30 shots in the final two periods to lead the Bulldogs to a win. In the deciding game, it began similar to the first with neither team managing to score in the opening period. Luke Loheit's 8th goal gave UMD a lead early in the second, but the Huskies didn't take that lying down. St. Cloud fired 21 shots in the middle frame and found the back of the net three times. Duluth's weak offense wasn't able to overcome the deficit and the Bulldogs' disappointing season came to a close.^[3]

As of July 28, 2022.^[4]

More information No., S/P/C ...

No.	S/P/C	Player	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	DoB	Hometown	Previous team	NHL rights
2		Darian Gotz	Junior	D	5' 11" (1.8 m)	189 lb (86 kg)	2000-10-19	Hermantown, Minnesota	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	—
3		Isaac Howard	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	182 lb (83 kg)	2004-03-30	Hudson, Wisconsin	NTDP (USHL)	TBL, 31st overall 2022
5		Wyatt Kaiser	Junior	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	2002-07-31	Ham Lake, Minnesota	Andover (USHS–MN)	CHI, 81st overall 2020
6		Ben Steeves	Freshman	F	5' 9" (1.75 m)	167 lb (76 kg)	2002-05-10	Bedford, New Hampshire	Sioux City (USHL)	—
7		Blake Biondi	Junior	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	181 lb (82 kg)	2002-04-24	Hermantown, Minnesota	Hermantown (USHS–MN)	MTL, 109th overall 2020
8		Jesse Jacques	Graduate	F	6' 2" (1.88 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	1998-09-10	Hermantown, Minnesota	Green Bay (USHL)	—
10		Derek Daschke	Graduate	D	6' 2" (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	1998-01-06	Troy, Michigan	Miami (NCHC)	—
11		Cole Spicer	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	2004-06-13	Grand Forks, North Dakota	NTDP (USHL)	BOS, 117th overall 2022
12		Jack Smith	Freshman	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	2002-07-06	St. Cloud, Minnesota	Sioux Falls (USHL)	MTL, 102nd overall 2020
13		Tanner Laderoute (C)	Graduate	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	1997-06-04	Edmonton, Alberta	Okotoks (AJHL)	—
15		Quinn Olson (A)	Senior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2001-05-09	Calgary, Alberta	Okotoks (AJHL)	BOS, 92nd overall 2019
16		Luke Loheit (A)	Senior	F	6' 1" (1.85 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2000-07-26	Minnetonka, Minnesota	Penticton (BCHL)	OTT, 194th overall 2018
17		Dominic James	Sophomore	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	165 lb (75 kg)	2002-07-03	Plymouth, Michigan	Lincoln (USHL)	CHI, 173rd overall 2022
18		Joey Pierce	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	208 lb (94 kg)	2002-10-02	Ely, Minnesota	Lincoln (USHL)	—
19		Riley Bodnarchuk	Freshman	D	6' 3" (1.91 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	2001-06-01	Okotoks, Alberta	Okotoks (AJHL)	—
20		Owen Gallatin	Sophomore	D	5' 8" (1.73 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2002-06-17	Hugo, Minnesota	Fargo (USHL)	—
21		Luke Mylymok	Junior	F	5' 11" (1.8 m)	183 lb (83 kg)	2001-09-29	Wilcox, Saskatchewan	Salmon Arm (BCHL)	—
22		Kyler Kleven	Sophomore	F	6' 0" (1.83 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	2000-10-12	Moorhead, Minnesota	Waterloo (USHL)	—
23		Will Francis	Sophomore	D	6' 5" (1.96 m)	207 lb (94 kg)	2000-11-16	St. Paul, Minnesota	Cedar Rapids (USHL)	ANA, 163rd overall 2019
24		Kyle Bettens	Freshman	F	6' 3" (1.91 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	2001-07-04	Winnipeg, Manitoba	Youngstown (USHL)	—
28		Aiden Dubinsky	Freshman	D	6' 0" (1.83 m)	185 lb (84 kg)	2004-04-28	Highland Park, Illinois	Tri-City (USHL)	—
31		Zach Sandy	Freshman	G	6' 0" (1.83 m)	177 lb (80 kg)	2002-12-07	Fargo, North Dakota	Minot (NAHL)	—
33		Carter Loney	Sophomore	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	161 lb (73 kg)	2002-08-02	Columbus, Ohio	Sioux City (USHL)	—
35		Zach Stejskal	Junior	G	6' 4" (1.93 m)	215 lb (98 kg)	1999-12-20	Cohasset, Minnesota	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (NAHL)	—
36		Matthew Thiessen	Senior	G	6' 2" (1.88 m)	214 lb (97 kg)	2000-06-09	Steinbach, Manitoba	Maine (HEA)	VAN, 192nd overall 2018
37		Luke Johnson	Freshman	F	5' 10" (1.78 m)	167 lb (76 kg)	2001-10-15	St. Cloud, Minnesota	Lincoln (USHL)	—

Close

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Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.^[7]