The Grand Forks Herald men's college hockey preseason top 20 for 2021-22
Oct. 4—College hockey preseason polls generally copy the final poll from the previous season.
The Herald's annual preseason rankings do not (for better or worse).
Taking into account last year's performance, returning players, incoming rookie classes, and yes, transfers on the move, here's the Herald's 2021-22 men's preseason rankings.
1. Denver
Denver is as deep as anyone up front with two legit scoring lines. Cole Guttman, Brett Stapley, Bobby Brink and Carter Savoie are back. The Pioneers added 100-point scorer Cameron Wright from Bowling Green and they have the most impactful freshman class in the NCHC. They've got a fourth line with speed (Ryan Barrow) and physicality (Connor Caponi). Their defensive core is talented, even if it might be a bit on the young side. The Pioneers will need goalie Magnus Chrona to return to his form as a freshman, but if he does, they are well positioned to return to the NCAA tournament as a force.
2. Minnesota
The best college hockey teams the last few years have been the teams with the best defensive groups — UND, UMass and Minnesota Duluth. If that trend continues, Minnesota is sitting in a good spot. The Gophers have a loaded defensive group that has largely been together for two or three years now. They've got the reigning Mike Richter Award winner in net in Jack LaFontaine. And they'll be able to score, too.
3. Michigan
Michigan will be one of the most fascinating teams to follow this season. The Wolverines are loaded with talent — more first-round NHL draft picks (seven) than any college team in history. But will they get over the top and win their first conference title in more than a decade? Or will this team go the way of recent high-end Boston University teams, which were good but too young to be great.
4. St. Cloud State
The Huskies have nearly everyone returning from last season's NCAA national runner-up squad. They're deep and have a good mix of offensive players and hard-to-play-against defensive players. In net, David Hrenak can be hit or miss, but he's not going to be asked to steal many games for St. Cloud State this season.
5. Boston University
Boston University has had enormous expectations the last handful of years and hasn't been able to live up to them. This team seems to be flying under the radar, but it could wind up being better than those with all the first-round NHL draft picks. The Terriers bring back their top eight scoring forwards, while adding one of the country's best transfers in Matt Brown from UMass Lowell. They'll miss David Farrance on defense, but they're solid back there.
6. Quinnipiac
Quinnipiac had a huge summer in the transfer portal, adding key players all over its lineup — goaltender Dylan St. Cyr from Notre Dame, defenseman Griffin Mendel from Denver, forward Oliver Chau from national champion UMass and two steady Ivy League defenders who didn't play last season. When you add returners like third-round Florida pick Ty Smilanic, star defenseman Zach Metsa and high-scoring forwards Ethan De Jong and Wyatt Bongiovanni, Quinnipiac is deep and skilled.
7. Northeastern
Northeastern has a terrific 1-2 punch on defense in Montreal Canadiens picks Jordan Harris and Jayden Struble. The Huskies also added a fifth-year senior in Tommy Miller from Michigan State. Their goaltender, Dalton Levi, didn't play last season, but could be one of the best in college hockey. Up front, Northeastern is extremely young, but it should have enough to get by and contend for a Hockey East title.
8. MSU-Mankato
Without nonconference games, it was tough to peg exactly how good Minnesota State-Mankato was last season. The Mavericks showed well in the NCAA tournament, getting to the Frozen Four for the first time, but it was a small sample size. They should win the WCHA again. But this year, we'll have a good idea of where they stack up nationally after their first three weeks. In October, they have two-game series against UMass and St. Cloud State followed by the Ice Breaker (Minnesota Duluth, Michigan, Providence).
9. Western Michigan
The two biggest things keeping Western Michigan from being an upper-end team the last five years have been injuries and goaltending. The Broncos appear to have the goaltending thing figured out with Brandon Bussi. Now, they need to keep star blue liner Ronnie Attard healthy to lead a quietly solid defensive core. The Broncos are loaded up front with veterans like fifth-year seniors Paul Washe, Josh Passolt and Ethen Frank. Offense shouldn't be an issue.
10. Harvard
Harvard didn't play last season, but this will be an instant bounce-back year. The Crimson should be able to score with high-end forwards like first-round pick Matt Coronato, John Farinacci and Nick Abruzzese. The defense is young but talented, featuring draft picks Henry Thrun, Ian Moore and Kyle Aucoin.
11. North Dakota
UND lost more NHL talent from last season than anyone. Almost 20 percent of all college hockey NHL signings came from UND. It's hard to replace that, but UND starts with the best player in the NCHC and perhaps the best in the country in defenseman Jake Sanderson. The rest of the blue line is as good as any team in the league with Ethan Frisch, Tyler Kleven and Chris Jandric holding down the top four. If their other transfers pop, especially Connor Ford of Bowling Green and Ashton Calder of Lake Superior State, the Fighting Hawks could generate enough offense to be sneaky good this season.
12. UMass
The defending national champions have some significant losses in star goalie Filip Lindberg and standout defensemen Zac Jones and Marc Del Gaizo. Up front, the Minutemen lost their leading goal scorer in Carson Gicewicz and their second-leading scorer in Chau. UMass still has some strong pieces — leading scorer Bobby Trivigno, defenseman Matthew Kessel and veteran goalie Matt Murray are a few — but don't expect the Minutemen to be quite as strong as last season.
13. Omaha
Omaha is going to score, there's no doubt about that. The Mavericks were second in the NCHC in offense behind UND last season and they bring back their top 11 forwards, while adding Brannon McManus from Minnesota and Cameron Berg from the USHL. They have goaltending with Isaiah Saville. But Omaha was porous defensively at times last season. If the Mavs are stronger in that area, they could be among college hockey's top teams.
14. Minnesota Duluth
The Bulldogs finished in the bottom half of the NCHC in offense last season. They didn't get much offense out of their defensive core, and they lost offense-drivers Cole Koepke, Jackson Cates and Nick Swaney in the offseason. The Bulldogs don't have any rookies who will instantly jolt the offense, so they need guys like Blake Biondi, Quinn Olson and Luke Loheit to make leaps.
15. Bemidji State
The Beavers played the most difficult schedule in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association last season, going against MSU-Mankato six times, Lake Superior State five times and Bowling Green four. That's 15 games against the top three, six against the bottom three. They still excelled. In the NCAAs, the Beavers convincingly knocked No. 1 seed Wisconsin out before falling to the eventual national champions in the region final. They've got 22 players back this season and could be right back in the NCAAs if they can find an effective goaltender to replace Zach Driscoll. Considering Bemidji State's track record with goalies (Michael Bitzer and Matt Dalton come to mind), fans should have some confidence Michael Carr will be solid.
16. Notre Dame
Minnesota and Michigan are the top two teams in the Big Ten. Notre Dame appears to be next in line. The Fighting Irish are always solid defensively under coach Jeff Jackson, and now they've added one of college hockey's most decorated goalies in former Hobey Baker Award finalist Matthew Galajda from Cornell. The Irish will be strong in front of Galajda and the Slaggert brothers will lead them offensively.
17. Boston College
Boston College had major losses all over its lineup. Up front, Matthew Boldy, Alex Newhook, Logan Hutsko and Mike Hardman are gone. In net, the departure of star goalie Spencer Knight is big. That's a lot of talent to replace. The Eagles have an excellent, veteran defensive group returning (led by Eamon Powell, Drew Helleson, Jack St. Ivany and Marshall Warren), but will need to get production from their transfers, especially Brandon Kruse from Bowling Green, to contend for the Hockey East title.
18. Providence
The Friars might not have the big names they've had in the past few years like Tyce Thompson or Jack Dugan, but they're an older, veteran group, and that's a big deal in college hockey. They have 19 upperclassmen on their team. They have their entire defensive core (all eight of them) and starting goalie (Jaxson Stauber) back from last season. They added Denver captain Kohen Olischefski, too. Don't be surprised if they're a lot higher than No. 18 by the end of the year.
19. Clarkson
The Golden Knights don't quite have the high-end talent of Quinnipiac or Harvard, but they should be in the mix in the ECAC. Forward Alexander Campbell, a Nashville Predators pick, could be one of the league's best and he has talent surrounding him at every position.
20. Arizona State
The Sun Devils struggled quite a bit last season playing a Big 10 schedule, but they played every single game on the road. They were on the road for 36 consecutive days at one point. So, throw last year out. They've got Johnny Walker back for a fifth season and they were aggressive in the transfer portal adding several key players: Michigan captain Jack Becker, Notre Dame forward Colin Theisen and Bowling Green defenseman Tim Theocharidis. They added one of the country's top recruits in Josh Doan, who went No. 37 overall. Expect Arizona State to be in the mix for an NCAA spot again.
