The Northern Collegiate Hockey Association released its 2015-16 Men's Hockey Preseason Coaches Poll on Wednesday and Lake Forest College was listed fifth. The Foresters finished last season in third place with a league record of 12-5-1.
Voting is done by the NCHA head men's hockey coaches. Each coach votes for the ten other schools in the conference in order of predicted finish. Points are assigned in reverse order of voting (ten points for first, nine for second, etc.). Coaches may not vote for their own teams.
Lake Forest is led for the second straight season by head coach Patrick Kelliher, who guided the team to a 15-7-5 overall record in 2014-15, a two-and-a-half game improvement from the previous season. The team returns NCHA Player of the Year Leo Podolsky, who finished second in the nation last season with a .940 save percentage.
The Foresters will open the regular season with a home-and-home series with league for Concordia University Wisconsin. The teams will face off in Lake Forest on Friday, October 30, at 7:00 p.m. and in Mequon, Wisconsin, at the same time on Saturday.
| Place | Team (First Place Votes) | Points |
| 1 | Adrian College (9) | 99 |
| 2 | St. Norbert College (2) | 91 |
| 3 | Milwaukee School of Engineering | 76 |
| 4 | College of St. Scholastica | 71 |
| 5 | Lake Forest College | 59 |
| 6 | Marian University | 50 |
| 7 | Concordia University Wisconsin | 47 |
| 8 | Lawrence University | 40 |
| 9 | Northland College | 29 |
| 10 | Finlandia University | 22 |
| 11 | Aurora University | 11 |