To replace a group of outgoing senior journeymen 2nd/3rd line forwards, they bring in a 2nd round NHL draft pick (Kevin Lynch), a 3rd rounder (Chris Brown), and another kid who starred for the USNTDP (AJ Treais).

Michigan was every bit as good as NoDak last year, and returns a much stronger team. NoDak’s freshman are going to be awesome, but I can’t see how that justifies ranking them ahead of a far more established team.

this manner of thinking proves you’re hilariously unfamiliar with hockey east. what a joke.

Your Top 3 are pretty much spot on. I also think you underrated Cornell a few notches. Though it’s not always super exciting, tight defense wins a lot of games in the ECAC.

The Gophers probably aren’t Top 10 material unless they miraculously learn to play tight defense. Still, it is hard to envision a third mediocre year in a row for the almighty Gophers. I think Lucia will find a way to flog them back into the NCAAs, though they probably won’t go too deep.

We have alot of freshman coming on board!!

I think you could easily argue that the Sioux rank in the middle of the pack. I would love to believe they are contenders, but I can’t find one compelling reason to rank them so high. Who on the team is dominant? Just a bunch of good players and alot of underclassmen. Should be quite good but top four???

I think BU and UND should swap places. I think there’s questions on both sides of the puck for UND. Will they be able to sustain scoring and do so at a great clip? How will they gel from the start?

BU is coming off a stellar season and, though they lose a lot of scoring, they should be just fine.

I also think that UMN is too high. Kangas was brutal at times last year and their defense was abysmal along with Kangas. I do agree with the poster above in believing that Helgeson is overrated. I don’t know if he’s “terrible,” but I don’t think he’s as good as projected either. I think Leddy will be good, but he’ll start slow. The question again likes in the Minnesota defensive zone. Leddy is a puck mover. If you can maintain puck control and pressure the Gophers and throw in physical play to boot, I still don’t see the Gophers as being as explosive as any team ahead of them.

I guess I’d move UW ahead of UMN but it is hard for me to think that there isn’t going to be someone that comes out of nowhere this year.