COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – With the 2026-27 season underway, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) announced its first NCHC Players of the Week presented by KJ Branding for the new campaign on Tuesday with three different teams represented. Earning the first set of KJ Branding NCHC weekly honors for the weekend of Oct. 2-4, 2026 are:

• Forward – Jayson Shaugabay, Minnesota Duluth, Jr.
• Defenseman – Ty Hanson, Minnesota Duluth, Jr.
• Goaltender – Jackson Unger, Colorado College, So.
• Rookie – Daxon Rudolph, Denver, Defenseman

This is Shaugabay’s second career Forward of the Week nod and third career NCHC weekly award. Hanson collects his fourth career NCHC Defenseman of the Week honor after earning it three times last season. These are the first career NCHC weekly awards for both Unger and Rudolph.

FORWARD OF THE WEEK
Jayson Shaugabay, Minnesota Duluth
Junior Forward
Warroad, Minn.
 
Shaugabay opened the season strong, recording multiple points in both games of Minnesota Duluth’s sweep of Long Island. The Tampa Bay Lightning draft pick tallied three points in Friday’s season-opening, 7-4 win. He scored the tying goal in the third period, while adding two assists, including on UMD’s first goal of the year. The next night, Shaugabay set up the Bulldogs first and last goals in a 4-0 shutout, with the opening goal the game-winner.
 
Shaugabay finished with five points in the sweep, as he had a hand in five of UMD’s 11 goals on the weekend, including four assists. The centerman also fired three shots on goal, posted a +3 plus/minus and went 12-for-22 in the faceoff circle against the Sharks.
 
Shaugabay’s five points and four assists to start the year both tie for the early NCHC lead.
 
DEFENSEMAN OF THE WEEK
Ty Hanson, Minnesota Duluth
Junior Defenseman
Hermantown, Minn.
 
Hanson picked up where he left off last season, tallying four points and being a force at both ends of the ice in UMD’s sweep of Long Island. The 2025-26 AHCA All-American opened the season with a three-point outing on Friday to tie his single-game career high. Hanson handed out primary helpers on the Bulldogs’ second and fifth goals, with the latter serving as the game-winner, before sealing the 7-4 victory with a short-handed tally late. The next night, he handed out another primary assist on UMD’s final goal while helping record a 4-0 shutout.
 
Hanson ended the series with a short-handed goal and a trio of primary assists. The UMD co-captain led the NCHC with a +6 plus/minus over the weekend while firing four shots on goal and blocking one shot. He also helped UMD’s penalty kill finish a perfect 10-for-10 against the Sharks while logging nearly 25 minutes of time on ice per game.
 
Hanson, a Preseason All-NCHC selection, ranks second among NCHC blueliners with his four points behind only Denver’s Daxon Rudolph (Rookie of the Week).
 
GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK
Jackson Unger, Colorado College
Sophomore Goaltender
Calgary, Alberta
 
Unger was a rock in net for Colorado College to start the season, backstopping the Tigers to a sweep of then-No. 10 UMass while allowing only one goal all series. In Friday’s season opener, he stopped all 32 shots he faced for his first career shutout, including 15 saves in the final frame. The 32 saves tied the second-most in Unger’s career while it marked CC’s first shutout in a season opener since 2008. The next night, Unger turned aside 22 of 23 shots faced in Saturday’s finale, as the Tigers rolled to a 6-1 win.
 
Unger finished opening weekend with 54 saves on 55 shots faced for a .982 save percentage and a 0.50 goals-against average, both of which led NCHC goalies with two games played last weekend. He was one of three NCHC netminders to log a shutout on opening weekend and the only NCHC goalie to earn two wins.
 
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Daxon Rudolph, Denver
Freshman Defenseman
Lacombe, Alberta
 
Rudolph wasted no time making an impact in college hockey, racking up five points from the blue line in his first two games to help Denver sweep Alaska Anchorage in the Last Frontier. The No. 4 overall NHL draft pick in 2026 recorded multiple points in both wins over the Seawolves, starting with three points in his collegiate debut Friday. Rudolph scored DU’s opening goal of the season and the first of his career to tie the game early, while dishing out assists on Denver’s final two goals in a 6-2 victory. He became the first Denver defenseman to record three points in his college debut since at least the 1999-2000 season.
 
The next night, the Buffalo Sabres prospect handed out two more helpers in a 4-1 win, including the primary assist on the game-winner to break a 1-1 tie. Rudolph finished with five points on the weekend, including four assists, the most points by any NCAA defenseman on the weekend. He also fired seven shots on goal, blocked one shot and posted a +5 plus/minus, including +4 in his debut.
 
OTHER NOMINEES:
 
Forward of the Week
Sam Harris, Denver
Matouš Kucharcík, Miami
Drew Montgomery, Colorado College
Kyle Smolen, Arizona State
 
Defenseman of the Week
Philippe Blais-Savoie, Colorado College
Daxon Rudolph, Denver
Jonas Woo, Arizona State
 
Goaltender of the Week
Matteo Drobac, Miami
 
Rookie of the Week
Carl Axelsson, G, Minnesota Duluth
Landon Hafele, F, Arizona State
Matouš Kucharcík, F, Miami