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Zakreski's going to need a spot in the line-up once he's ready, but then again, it's tough to change what's already working for a team; unless the staff decides to go 7 forwards to accommodate him. Tough decisions, because there's no dead weight with the current top-12 F.

For sure. If no forwards leave early or transfer this off-season, there are only 4 openings for next year. One can assume with a high degree of probability that B. Schultz & Simpson are locks for next fall; leaving only 2 available spots. The decision will be quite difficult because there are these guys who could legitimately have a spot: Pilgrim, O'Neill, A. Schultz ... plus the possibility of a high-end CHL &/or senior F transfer from another NCAA team. That's 5 possibilities for only 2 openings. It's impossible to project with 100% certainty a player's future value to the team based on age/experience alone; but it may come down to the coaching staff deciding between an untested player at the NCAA level like Pilgrim or A. Schultz, vs a senior portal transfer like Rickwood. The benefit of bringing in seniors like Rickwood is they're already proven at the NCAA level & they bring much more maturity to the team; the downside is you risk losing young talent to another team. It's not just talent that wins titles, but talent paired with experience. The 25-26 BU team provides a cautionary tale of what having too young of a roster can do to a season. * Purposely omitted Williams & Sanderson from possibilities for next year because they seem like they'll be playing another year of juniors anyway.

Many underclassmen like UND, but the difference is they're without senior studs the likes of Rickwood, James & Strinden; guys who are consistent producers and who can also provide maturity & focus for the youngsters when things aren't going their way. Menghini will be the only senior next year, would be nice to have another senior transfer like Johannes or Rickwood to provide veteran leadership.

Besides talent, so many variables come into play in late March that make a team a champion: team peaking at the right time & playing with a strong identity, shrewd coaching, bounces, a hot goalie, being mostly injury-free. These other variables are just as important as having a stacked roster. Many years WMU & DU don't have the guns that other schools may have, but their two coaches have players who all buy into their systems & make championships possible.

According to doctors & Poolman, Zakreski appears to be completely structurally healed from his injury; only things, according to Jackson, are for him to regain his timing & build up his endurance. He & Klee in non-contact jerseys at practice.

Not only is Zakreski skating again, he's also practicing with the team. According to Taylor Budge in her reporting of this week's press conference. Having him back in the lineup (at some point) will be invaluable to the team's already significant depth.

Two lessons in this saga: For Boisvert, the grass is rarely greener on the other side. For Pandolfo, not all shiny objects have value. He'll probably due his due diligence next time before bringing in another high-profile portal guy. Tough spot for 17 yo Lawrence to be in: brought in mid-season with no training camp to acclimate himself, coupled with teammates who have either mentally checked-out &/or are simply underperforming.

There are more inside scoops here than the Herald. Their interpid beat reporter hasn't said anything regarding Zakreski since an early January press conference; unless it was noted in one of his articles or podcasts. Will be interesting to see who if anybody gets sidelined when he returns; perhaps Klee.

Snuggerud

Not much movement in the NPI at this point in the season. Before Saturday's game against #44 Omaha, WMU was sitting at #3. WMU only fell 2 spots to #5 after their loss, which isn't much at all considering Omaha was so low; while Omaha only jumped 4 to #40. UND maintained the #3 position during their bye week, which is good considering they could have easily fallen to #5 if WMU & PSU had had better weekends...Ohio St. missed a good opportunity to knock MI down a peg, outshot them both nights & lost in ot yesterday.

According to your tier levels, Michigan can only be beat by MSU, but Ohio St. outshot & almost beat them last night. Michigan is playing on borrowed time with an average goalie. WMU may not have a roster full of high draft picks, but their coaching staff separates them from other good teams. Excellent structure & disciplined play. If Ferschweiler/Herter had UND's players this year, good chance they would be #1 NPI now. Some coaches just have the Midas Touch.

Perron put Michigan on his back with 1g, 2a in 3rd period last night to lead his team to victory. From being a despised non-factor at UND to being one of the the most valuable forwards with 1st line minutes at Michigan. Amazing what a change of scenery can do, or maybe everything is finally clicking for him, or both. OSU was actually doing very well against MI, outshot them & even had a 3rd period lead; but their goaltending was a no-show. With Ivankovic out, MI is very beatable.

Minnesota winning benefits UND in the NPI. Am assuming ASU beating CC is more to UND's benefit than vice-versa, but dunno.

Of the 7 players highlighted above, I don't know in what universe that would even be possible to have all of them on the same team, because it would mean making one of them a 7th D every night or a healthy scratch if you're dressing 13 F. In your scenario, it would look like Laurila would be the 7th D every game (imagine that, an elite D like Laurila possibly being a healthy scratch), with Lindberg or Jubenvill only getting a sniff of ice if there were an injury. Would be surprised if Jubenvill hangs around next year if that were the starting D...which would be unfortunate, because you groom a player for 2 years, only to have him pushed out when his experience as an upperclassman could have been a stabilizing force on the backend.

Dartmouth may not even make the national tourney the way they're tailing off, but can imagine PSU's reaction getting stuck in the same region (Loveland) as WMU & Denver. Good times.