Freshman Nathan McLean Making Strong First Impression at SU

By Matthew Gray

Photo Credit: Maria Kaffes

Following Syracuse’s run to the ESCHL Conference Championship Game last season, one of the biggest questions it faced heading into 2025-26 was how its incoming forwards would step up. With offensive staples like Sam Hutchinson, Brock Alvers and Evan Vassilovski gone, the window swung open for its freshman class to make an immediate impact. 

So far, no first-year player has done so more than Nathan McLean.

Through six games, McLean leads the Orange in goals (3), assists (4) and points (7) as his fingerprints have been on many of the team’s tallies. Floating between Syracuse’s top two lines, his immediate chemistry with teammates like Freshman Ben Brant, Sophomore Cam Gaffney and Senior Jack Alecia has allowed him to come in clutch on multiple occasions for SU when called upon.

During his junior hockey career, McLean honed his craft primarily in the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL). During the 2022-23 season, he spent six games with the Toronto Patriots before making his return to the league two years later with the St. Michael’s Buzzers, where he took on a much more significant role. In 55 games played with the squad in 2024-25, McLean recorded seven goals and 18 assists.

A native of Toronto, ON, McLean didn’t know much about the collegiate club hockey landscape coming out of high school. All he knew was that his top priority was finding a team that would allow him to compete relatively close to home. Syracuse fit the bill perfectly.

After exchanging emails with SU Head Coach Chris Timmons, it only took one brief tour of the Tennity Ice Pavilion for McLean to be convinced that Syracuse was where he belonged. Days away from the start of the 2025-26 season, he returned to the TIP and cemented his spot on the team by impressing the Orange coaching staff during tryouts. 

“As a kid from Canada you don’t really hear of club hockey much, it’s not a thing where I come from. With D-I and D-III (around you) you might count club out as being more for fun, but it’s not,” McLean said.

Not long before Syracuse’s season opener against Penn State, McLean was informed he would be on the Orange’s starting lineup that night alongside Brant and Alecia. Despite never playing together in a game-time scenario before, the trio’s chemistry was evident from the moment the puck dropped.

Just over five minutes in, McLean buried the puck off a feed from Alecia for SU’s first goal of the year. With the game tied at one apiece, McLean then returned the favor with an assist on Alecia’s tally. Another goal later on in the third period capped off a three-point night for the rookie in his ACHA debut as the Orange took the game 6-1.

“I’d say I was more excited,” McLean said of learning he would start SU’s first game of the season. “It’s a good opportunity, and it means a lot when you get that chance. At the end of the day, I wanted to go out there no matter where I was and have our team win.”

But that was only the beginning for the young forward. The next night in a 5-4 shootout loss for the Orange, McLean made his presence known by yet again racking up three points (two goals and an assist).

Now with a decent number of games under his belt, McLean said the skill level of the opponents he faces each night with SU is definitely more competitive than those he faced during his time in the OJHL. Still, the left-winger is confident that he and the rest of his teammates have what it takes to make this season a memorable one.

“We truly believe that we can play with anyone on the team and be successful,” McLean said. “Every guy on our roster is here for a reason and made the team for a reason and they all could fill any role if they had to.”