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I would guess the explanation is a combination of things. College Hockey Inc., might be off on when a couple of players are coming in. For instance, I'm pretty sure no one expects to see Senden come in next year, and the same might be said about Mattson.
You are reading that wrong. Five wins will leave North Dakota inside the tournament bubble at the end of the regular season. However, everyone, including North Dakota, will still have games to play in the various conference tournaments. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I believe they need a minimum of 21 total wins to make the tournament as an at large team, with 22 wins probably putting them in comfortably. That is 7-8 more wins before selection Sunday.
I would guess the explanation is a combination of things. College Hockey Inc., might be off on when a couple of players are coming in. For instance, I'm pretty sure no one expects to see Senden come in next year, and the same might be said about Mattson.
North Dakota is already one forward short due to Nick Schmaltz' late departure last fall. Everyone expects Boeser to sign, and all signs point to Tyson Jost leaving after this year as well, especially if the Avalanche go forward with trading some of their current forwards. So, at a minimum, that's three forwards to replace.
Ausmus will graduate, and most seem to think Tucker Poolman will sign after his junior year. Danys Chartrand is a defenseman, who as a sophomore has yet to see the ice, so most seem to think that UND will want to bring it at least three D next season.
Hrynkiw, in goal, is a senior.
The College Hockey Inc., site has four D listed as coming in next year: Rieger, Kierstad, Evers and Bast. Bast has basically not played for the last two years because of injury. I'm not even sure if he's still at Penticton, so I don't know that anyone is counting on him to be on campus. The other three will likely be there, although there has been speculation around the UND message boards that Evers arrival is questionable as well. The recent announcement that Rieger has committed and will come in next fall suggests to some of us that Bast and/or Evers may not ever make it.
At forward, Nick Jones will be in, as will Mismash. I expect to see Colin Adams and Kawaguchi.
That would put UND at 16 forwards. I wouldn't be surprised if the coaches think there is also the possibility that someone like Poganski (a junior) or Shane Gersich (having a real nice goal scoring year) bolts early, too. That opens up spots for guys like Keane or Mattson.
Now, if Jost, Boeser, Poolman, Gersich and Poganski all decide to come back, we're going to need a bigger bus.
