Re: Minnesota Gophers 2019 Offseason -- a respite from the red menace
Clarkson has 6 commits, 3 forwards and 2 defense + 1 player listed as a forward or defense.
Do you know what the Clarkson goaltending plan for the upcoming season is? Marie-Pier Coulombe, or maybe another transfer?
Looking at the top seven teams from this year, any of whom could have been very close to the top, the teams hardest hit by graduation look to be BC, Clarkson and Wisconsin. BC's blue line goes from being a strength (or at least we presumed it would be), to quite raw. The Golden Knights lose an All-American goalie and six of their top 10 scorers (one being the reigning Kaz winner), including two D who played a lot. Wisconsin graduates two D, including their best one, and five of its top 10 scorers; the four graduating forwards totaled 539 points in their careers.
The Gophers' seven graduating skaters totaled 436 points in their careers, with 403 of that production coming from the four who played sizable roles as seniors. I'd say they are the fourth-hardest hit of these seven teams.
Cornell graduates its goalie, but does return some experience in net and its blue line returns intact. Up front, they lose three seniors who were more role players and combined for 151 points in their careers. If Browning can handle the starters role, the Big Red should be just fine.
Northeastern loses Anderson and Sullivan, who combined for 199 points in their careers. Anderson was playing on the top line, but the Huskies should have the depth to weather that. On D, they lose the Hartman whose first name is spelled Maddie, and both backup goalies. Overall, the impact should be fairly minimal.
Princeton's biggest losses are Lund (131 pts) up front and Sucharda on D. The Tigers also graduate a couple of role-playing forwards. They have some impact juniors to fill any leadership hole, so they should be fine as well.
Overall, it looks like the field tightens up a bit, with Cornell having a more realistic hope of winning it all this year.
As for Minnesota, I think the fans feel better about the D (returning a lot more experience) and goaltending than they did coming into the season. The forwards aren't as deep, but to a slight extent, they never quite achieved their full potential as a group. Williamson slumped late, and Pannek was inconsistent throughout. She had a few great weekends, but more where she seemed out of synch.
I don't see one team where I think it is their title to lose, but I think these teams will be in the mix again. BC and Clarkson look to be the two whose chances take the biggest hit. Yes, they have top-ranked classes coming in, but I've also heard that this isn't as strong a class overall as the last couple were. We can add Colgate, Providence, BU, Ohio State, and UMD to the mix, and the winner is just about certain to come from those dozen teams.
