Cedar Rapids captain Guerin Slezak commits to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Guerin Slezak is headed to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the next stop for a Cedar Rapids captain who spent three USHL seasons becoming one of the RoughRiders’ most trusted voices. The commitment gives RPI a player whose value in Cedar Rapids went well beyond the score sheet, and it gives the RoughRiders another example of a leader developed for the NCAA level.
Slezak wore the captain’s letter for the final two years of his junior run after being part of Cedar Rapids’ 2025-26 leadership group, a group head coach Mark Carlson said was chosen by teammates. Carlson made clear how central Slezak had become to the room, saying, "Congratulations to our five RoughRiders being selected by their teammates to our leadership group. We are excited about them leading the way on and off the ice. We look forward to our Captain Guerin Slezak's return in the future."
That trust mattered because Slezak’s Cedar Rapids path was not smooth. He dealt with adversity twice during his time with the RoughRiders, but he still finished as the player the staff leaned on to help set the tone. That is the kind of detail that gets lost in junior hockey until a captain moves on: the best leaders are often the ones who keep standards steady when the lineup, the results or the circumstances are not.
RPI makes sense for that profile. The Engineers’ men’s hockey program dates to the 1901-02 season, play in ECAC Hockey and are based in Troy, New York. They have two NCAA men’s hockey national championships, won in 1954 and 1985, and a program history built on structure, detail and accountability. For a player whose game was defined by dependability and habits, the fit is obvious.
Cedar Rapids has turned that kind of player into a recurring product. The RoughRiders have had at least one player selected in 10 of the last 11 NHL Drafts and 38 players drafted since their first USHL season in 1999-00. Ivan Provorov remains the organization’s highest pick, taken seventh overall in 2015. Slezak’s commitment fits that pipeline and adds another chapter to a program that has long sold more than talent, including the day he helped present a $920 check to Horizons Meals on Wheels on April 11, 2025, tied to the RoughRiders’ 184 goals.