Lost_Husky
Late to the Party
The number of players leaving is just the way things worked with class dynamics. Probably not a bad thing this year.
I think they will definitely look at the portal, but I'd be surprised if they picked up more than 1 or 2 guys from it (unless they also lose a couple of underclassmen to it). Maybe they won't pick up anyone from it. I think all the Laker players currently in the portal are getting their degrees this Spring, and LSSU doesn't have graduate programs, so they are looking to move on as grad transfers. There always could be some unexpected additions to the portal from underclassmen.
Whitten has repeatedly said he wants his team to play with pace and be hard to play against. I don't think he will change from that philosophy but will need to tweak it based upon what players he has. I don't subscribe to Flo Hockey but did see the Lakers play in person a half dozen games this season. From what I saw, I didn't think their skating was keeping pace with other teams compared to recent years. They did lose a couple of their best skaters from the previous season and that hurt them. They also turned the puck over way too often, especially in their own end, which I think made things look worse from a skating standpoint. I think they need to upgrade their skating both at forward and at defense.
I know when Tech has played LSSU, Dirk and Joe both said they are slow games.
Not having grad programs really hurts LSSU on many levels, especially hockey right now with the COVID year/portal.