The Herald's college hockey preseason top 20 for 2023-24

Oct. 13—GRAND FORKS — The Grand Forks Herald has correctly predicted the NCAA national champion the past two seasons.

In 2021-22, it had Denver atop the preseason charts, despite the Pioneers' sub-.500 finish the year prior. Denver went on to win it all, beating Minnesota State in the final.

Last year, the Herald had Quinnipiac and Minnesota 1-2 in its preseason rankings. They played for the national title and Quinnipiac won in overtime.

Can we make it three in a row this year?

We'll try. But it's unlikely. This could be a very unpredictable season in college hockey.

Last season, Quinnipiac and Minnesota entered the year with no questions marks. Both were proven in net, had veteran defensemen, explosive forwards and sprinkled in some instant-impact freshmen.

That's not the case this season — for anyone.

There's not a team in the country that enters this season without question marks. Some will answer those questions and emerge atop the pack. But nobody comes into 2023-24 without concerns.

That means the race to get to St. Paul and lift the national title trophy is as wide open as it's been in the last few years.

Here's how the Herald feels this season will shake out at the end:

A lot of recent NCAA champions had Frozen Four experience. North Dakota lost in the Frozen Four 2015, then won in 2016. Denver lost in 2016, then won in 2017. Minnesota Duluth lost in 2017, then won in 2018 and 2019. UMass lost in 2019, then won in 2021. That team could be Boston University this year. The Terriers lost to Minnesota in the semifinals, but enter this season with perhaps the top two Hobey Baker Award candidates — freshman forward Macklin Celebrini, the potential No. 1 overall NHL Draft pick in 2024, and defenseman Lane Hutson. But are they too young? And how will goaltending hold up? The Terriers brought in Mathieu Caron from Brown. Goalie transfers have been a mixed bag — sometimes outstanding, sometimes disappointing.

The Pioneers are loaded up front with two scoring lines and depth. They return their top line — Massimo Rizzo, Jack Devine and Tristan Broz. They also return all four centers from last year's Penrose Cup champion team. On the back end, they're led by two of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference's best — Sean Behrens and Shai Buium. But for the first time in four years, Magnus Chrona won't be anchoring this team in net. Matt Davis has been solid filling in the last two seasons, but how will he handle starting duties? And although the Pioneers are bringing in highly touted freshman defensemen like Boston Buckberger and Zeev Buium, it's a young group in front of Davis.

When you think of Michigan the last few seasons, that is Boston College this season. The Eagles are the youngest team in the country — average age 20.6 — but they're loaded with talent. Boston College has a pair of Hobey Baker Award contenders up front in sophomore Cutter Gauthier and freshman Will Smith — both top-five NHL Draft picks. The Eagles also are bringing in first-round picks in Gabe Perreault and Ryan Leonard up front. United States Hockey League goalie of the year and Clark Cup champion Jacob Fowler, a freshman, should be the go-to in net. Recent NHL prospect-loaded Michigan and Boston University teams showed you can be very good in college hockey despite the youth. But those teams didn't reach greatness. Michigan hasn't won a conference title in over a decade. Can Boston College be the team that breaks into the greatness level despite a young roster?

The Gophers are unlikely to have a line as dominant as Logan Cooley, Jimmy Snuggerud and Matthew Knies this season. But they might be deeper up front than last year. Some of their depth players emerged late last season and are ready for bigger roles. Justen Close is back to provide stability in net. The question for Minnesota lies on the back end. Veterans Brock Faber, Jackson LaCombe and Ryan Johnson were critical parts to last year's Minnesota team, but have moved on to pro careers. The Gophers have some young talent back there — senior fifth-rounder Mike Koster, sophomore second-rounder Ryan Chelsey, sophomore seventh-rounder Luke Mittelstadt, sophomore sixth-rounder Cal Thomas and freshman first-rounder Sam Rinzel — but how do they adjust to larger roles?

The Wolverines lost their best forward (Hobey Baker winner Adam Fantilli), defenseman (Luke Hughes) and goaltender (Erik Portillo). But there's enough talent left to make a run. Up front, Michigan is explosive with forwards Gavin Brindley, Frank Nazar and Rutger McGroarty. The Wolverines also have good depth pieces. Their question mark is on the back end. Transfers Tyler Duke of Ohio State and Marshall Warren of Boston College might help offset the losses of Hughes and Keaton Pehrson, but the Wolverines will need to be better defensively than last season. Michigan also has questions at net, where Jacob Barczewski is coming over from Canisius, but is unproven in the Big Ten.

UND figures to be loaded up front with a mix of smaller dynamic players — Riese Gaber, Jackson Blake, Jayden Perron — and bigger, physical presences that can wear down opponents and chip in offense. But UND is completely unknown at the back end. The Fighting Hawks don't return a single defenseman or either of their top two goalies. Their portal additions should help. The headliners are defenseman Garrett Pyke from Alaska, defenseman Keaton Pehrson from Michigan and goaltender Ludvig Persson from Miami. But it's a total mystery entering the year.

Michigan State completely reconstructed its roster in the offseason with major additions through recruiting and the transfer portal. The transfers include first-round draft pick Isaac Howard from Minnesota Duluth, two-way center Red Savage from Miami, national champion Reed Lebster from UMass and Northern Michigan's fourth-leading scorer Joey Larson. The impact rookies include highly touted goaltender Trey Augustine from the National Team Development Program and two standout defensemen — potential top-five NHL pick Artyom Levshunov and second-rounder Maxim Strbak. Those additions should vault a team that finished No. 16 in the Pairwise last season.

The Bobcats are going to score a lot this season. They received a huge boost from the returns of Collin Graf and Sam Lipkin, two of the NCAA's top returning scorers. Jacob Quillan also is back after scoring the title-winning goal. Rookies Andon Cerbone and Mason Marcellus will provide instant offense. But Quinnipiac's biggest strength was on the back end, where it lost fifth-year senior Zach Metsa and standout goaltender Yaniv Perets. If the Bobcats can find a way to limit opponents' offense like they have the last few years, they'll be right back in the mix. In goal, Quinnipiac will turn to either BU transfer Vinny Duplessis and Matej Marinov, who had an excellent season with Fargo.

The Black Bears took major strides last season and are ready to be back in the national picture. They kept several key pieces around — mainly goaltender Victor Ostman, a Mike Richter Award candidate. They also added some high-end weapons in the Nadeau brothers from the Penticton Vees in the British Columbia Hockey League. Bradly is a first-round pick and gets the attention, but his brother Josh will be equally as impactful in Orono. The concern for Maine is that it's still too young on the back end, but Ostman will cover up some mistakes.

For so many years, Minnesota Duluth's strength has been the defense and goaltending. It's the opposite this year. Minnesota Duluth brings back two pure goal scorers in Blake Biondi and Ben Steeves. The Bulldogs also mix in some good players around them like veteran center Dominic James and fifth-year senior Quinn Olson. Transfer Connor McMenamin from Penn State and speedy rookie Matthew Perkins also should help the offense. The Bulldogs were uncharacteristically porous on defense last season. But we've seen goaltender Zach Stejskal play at an elite level. Expect him to get back there this season. The biggest question mark is on defense, where now-departed Wyatt Kaiser logged massive minutes.

Merrimack might have the best 1-2 goaltender punch in the country with 6-foot-8 Rangers pick Hugo Ollas and 6-2 Zach Borgiel, who posted a .919 last season. The Warriors also return their top three scorers from last season in Islanders draft pick Alex Jefferies (41 points), Oilers draft pick Matt Copponi (29 points) and Ben Brar (26 points). On the back end, former Alberta Junior Hockey League star Zach Bookman is due for a breakout. The Warriors have a great opportunity to return to the NCAA tournament after getting knocked out by eventual national champ Quinnipiac last season.

This is not Bob Motzko's Huskies anymore. St. Cloud State has transformed from a small, skilled team into a much larger squad. The Huskies enter this season as the fourth-tallest team in college hockey, only behind Lindenwood, Vermont and Boston University. That's a style Brett Larson's Minnesota Duluth teams used and won with. The Huskies' strength will be on the back end, where Dylan Anhorn turned down pro offers to come back for a fifth season and Jack Peart appears ready to be among the league's best. The other defenders won't put up as many points but are solid all-around. St. Cloud State's question is at center and how much offense will be produced outside of Veeti Miettinen and Zach Okabe.

Notre Dame might not have the flashy first-round NHL Draft picks like others in the Big Ten, but the Fighting Irish are solid all around. It starts in net with fifth-year senior Ryan Bischel, who may be the leading candidate for the Mike Richter Award entering the season. He posted a .931 save percentage last year, which trailed only Devon Levi in college hockey. Nabbing Ryan Siedem out of the transfer portal from Harvard will help Notre Dame's defense. Up front, the Fighting Irish are adding to an already-strong offense with rookies Danny Nelson (second-rounder), Cole Knuble (fourth-roudner) and Maddox Flemming.

Mike Hastings has taken over the Wisconsin program from Tony Granato, but Granato did not leave the cupboard bare for Hastings and Co. Wisconsin is loaded with nine draft picks at forward alone, including a highly touted Granato recruiting class. Hastings added to that by bringing over three of his best forwards from Minnesota State in David Silye, Christian Fitzgerald and Simon Tassy. Mercyhurst transfer goalie Kyle McClellan seemed to find his game at the end of last season. If a young defensive corps can hold up, the Badgers could make huge gains in Year 1 of the Hastings era.

The Broncos have nearly the same defensive corps as last season. The only difference is Aidan Fulp signed with the Islanders and Samuel Sjolund, who was ineligible a year ago, fills his spot. Up front, Western Michgian lost its entire first line in Max Sasson, Jason Polin and Ryan McAllister, but the Broncos did a terrific job replacing them in the transfer portal with Ducks pick Sam Colangelo, Sabres pick Matteo Costantini and Red Wings pick Ethan Phillips. Others, like Chad Hillebrand and Dylan Wendt, are due for breakout season. The Broncos should be right back in the mix nationally.

Clarkson had a disappointing 2022-23 season, but has a chance to bounce back. Dallas Stars pick Ayrton Martino and Coyotes pick Anthony Romano figure to have big seasons offensively. They've got good players around them, too, including Michigan transfer Eric Ciccolini. Blues pick Noah Beck will lead the back end. Clarkson will look to either two-time transfer Austin Roden or Canadiens pick Emmett Croteau, a freshman, in net.

The Mavericks are starting from a terrific spot on the back end. Simon Latkoczy was outstanding in net as a freshman. In front of him, Omaha has two dynamic offensive defensemen in Joquim Lemay and Jacob Guevin. They're complemented by strong defenders like Rangers pick Victor Mancini, fifth-year senior Kirby Proctor, fifth-year senior Dominic Vidoli and senior Nolan Krenzen. If the Mavericks can find enough offense, they'll shoot up higher than this.

The Wildcats have been lurking behind Minnesota State in the CCHA for a few years and this may be their chance to win the McNaughton Cup. Northern Michigan should be dynamic offensively again with Andre Ghantous and Artem Shlaine leading the way. Goalie Beni Halasz is coming off of an excellent freshman season — he posted a .919 save percentage. In front of him, Northern Michigan has most of its 2022-23 defensive corps back.

Sophomore Matthew Wood, a first-round NHL Draft pick, could be a Hobey Baker Award candidate by the end of the season. He tallied nearly a point per game as one of the youngest players in college hockey last season. In net, the Huskies have two outstanding options. They added former Clarkson goalie Ethan Haider from the transfer portal to compete with Arsenii Sergeev. UConn may be improved on defense as well.

Cornell had some major losses up front, but the USHL's second-leading scorer from last season, Ryan Walsh, should come in and help that department right away. The Big Red should be a strong defensive team with goaltender Ian Shane anchoring it from the back end. Shane posted a .916 last season.