Joey Muldowney 'not opposed' to returning to UConn for senior season

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UConn star forward Joey Muldowney is “not opposed” to returning to UConn for his senior season in 2026-27, according to head coach Mike Cavanaugh.

“He’s not opposed to coming back for his senior year. Whether he will or whether he won’t, I don’t know. I’ll support him either way,” Cavanaugh said on a radio show last week.

Muldowney’s NHL rights are owned by the San Jose Sharks, who drafted him in the sixth round back in 2022. They tried to sign him last year after he put up 29 goals — second-most in the nation — and 47 points while earning Second Team All-American honors, but he had little interest.

“He turned down an NHL deal last year to come back to UConn,” Cavanaugh explained.

Muldowney made that decision well ahead of time. He told the Buffalo News in February 2025 that he intended to return to Storrs, adding, “If I can graduate from college, that would be great, too.”

A degree isn’t the only factor at play, either. Earlier this season, Alex Karaban became UConn men’s basketball’s all-time winningest player, recording his 116th victory last month. Muldowney could chase that record with the men’s hockey program.

Currently, he’s won 54 games during his career with the Huskies. Among four-year players, Tabor Heaslip and Tom Messineo are currently the leaders with 76 wins. If Muldowney returns, he could take over the top spot with a 23-win senior season.

“I think that does weigh in the back of his mind a little bit, that [he has] a chance to be the winningest player ever here at UConn. I think that’s important to him,” Cavanaugh said.

While Muldowney has been ultra-productive at UConn — he’s the career scorer leader with 60 goals in the program’s Hockey East Era and finished with the second-most tallies in the nation last season (29) — he’s small for NHL standards at 5-9. At the start of the 2025-26 NHL season, there were just 18 players in the league listed at that height, according to The Athletic.

“I’m not sure he’s ready (for the NHL),” Cavanaugh said. “I do think he has a chance to play in the NHL, but he’s also very realistic.”

By returning to UConn, Muldowney could make good money through either an NIL deal or revenue sharing, continue to build his stock and have the opportunity to sign with any team in the league once his rights expire this summer.

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