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We’ll see.

Maybe not elite, but leading Shattuck in goals doesn’t seem a reason to decommit a player if you aren’t an elite team.

I will only say that when you had a heart and soul guy like Cody Croal sitting in the stands when guys that wouldn’t engage physically were staples in the lineup was an indictment on how far we moved away from our culture, which is why the overuse of the word “culture” irritated many who believed their eyes rather than a catchphrase.

I still need to see that the summer work and chemistry is the same. Sometimes the players get the same assumptions that the fans get and we all know the work, some puck luck, injury luck and team chemistry play the biggest role in getting to a Frozen Four. There are going to be more Blue Bloods looking to get back into the tournament, or pushing to finish off, like we are. Who knows what the chemistry looks like this year, and if accolade jealousies, or lack of playing time doesn’t become a bigger issue this year. A ton of variables, especially when some of the games that could make or break us are early in the year against Minnesota and Michigan State when our young defense will need to get up to speed fast. Add Clarkson in there after Christmas when we will be missing some major talent, and you better not stumble. That said, our roster has a ton of potential, and if they come back just as hungry, or even more so after they have had a taste of it, there is plenty reason for excitement. Have a feeling Jax will attend to any chemistry issues right away based on the team issues we saw a few times under Berry.

I hope us winning a National Championship is the impetus if they choose to leave.

He was much more noticeable down the stretch. Hopefully he takes that confidence going forward.

…or Victoria again with McKamey and Ludovic Perreault, although both probably need a couple of years yet.

Hak got ripped for not playing Shane Wright early in his career, but he hasn’t exactly ripped it up since. You have to wonder if what Seattle did to Colorado in the playoffs under Hak played a role in him getting an assistant job with Colorado.

If we can’t get Carle to move on, I’ll settle for their goalie coach to move on!

The thing that really gets me is that I have no clue who will be where in the lineup. Wouldn’t surprise me for Lindberg to play up or down in the lineup for forwards. You always hear during fall camp that certain guys are impressing. Last year the talk was Kernan that was impressing, which was unexpected by me. Will be fun to see who exceeds expectations or has a big jump in development from one year to the next like Emery did.

Would have been nice to get an older player like Carter Sotheran if that is the direction they are going, but he committed to Omaha. Maybe a guy like Dumanski would be in the mix. With the youth of the blue line, don’t know if you go with a true freshman age player, in case injuries crop up, plus they will probably have to play against Clarkson after New Year.

This draft is going to be a fun one to watch for a UND fan with Verhoeff and Carels expecting to go high. Then it will be interesting to see where guys like MacKenzie, Williams and Klimpke fit in. So many great players with guys from non traditional countries, that just getting drafted now feels more of a feather in your cap than it was years ago.

I’m not. Mackenzie was the one who saw the most ice time in the World Juniors last year compared to Verhoeff and Carels, and Lindberg was playing 2/3 of the game for a reason. That said, if Carels didn’t come, that wouldn’t make our team better by replacing with a last minute guy when you possibly could have had a Rudolph or DuPont. Like others have said, I choose to hope that Carels will show up and prove it at this level, then if he has an amazing year, can possibly play a game or two with the NHL team that drafts him after we win the National Championship.

Would say DuPont has more Makar type upside, but right now, yeah Carels is probably the player to make an impact, but that means little if he doesn’t show up.

If I were Michigan, I would throw a lot at DuPont, rather than let a rival get their foot into the door of elite Canadian talent.