So who is the favorite? Someone has to be, even if that team is hard to recognize with the subtraction taking place.
BC might be setting up for a star-studded roster a year from now, but that hasn't proven to be enough for the Eagles in the past. Will they be more loaded than Wisconsin and Minnesota in 2108-19? Debatable, but probably not. They'll be back to young in net, so they might be better served thinking 2017-18 is their best chance to get it done. Other Hockey East teams -- BU likely has as good an offensive duo as any team in the country with Bach and Leslie, but until the Terriers are more solid in net, it is hard to picture them winning three straight in the NCAAs. Northeastern will need to have the level of play around the country slump quite a bit before it becomes possible that they'd emerge on top, and at that point, it's anyone's championship.
The WCHA rosters are just plain lousy by the league's usual standards. The league still won it the last time that was the case, but I think the fact that the circuit will have so many okay teams but a shortage of really good ones will produce very pedestrian records, and perhaps, no NCAA hosts. At a certain point, perhaps I'll be able to look at the rosters of the three national tournament teams and see what they are bringing back instead of what they lost, but I'm not there yet.
Robert Morris may not be that far away. You look at the Colonials roster and it compares much more favorably with the rest of the country than it typically would. They lose their starter in net, so they'll be like the other contenders in the CHA, Syracuse and Mercyhurst, where they can go only as far as goaltending will let them.
On paper, the eventual winner should come from the ECAC. It was the deepest league last year and that should continue. Clarkson has figured out how to play its best hockey when in matters most, and this is a season like four years ago where its roster might be as good as there is. St. Lawrence was right there for most of the season, but faded badly at the end, and now has to replace its best center and D. Still, that's fewer holes than most other teams are trying to fill. With no dominant offenses around, strong defensive teams like Quinnipiac and Cornell will be even more of a threat. Throw in Princeton, with its top-level young talent, and Colgate, which may have as talented a roster as any team, and no other league is even close to matching the top half of the ECAC. Which one wins?
I'll narrow it down to one of the "C" teams, and I'll order the likelihood Clarkson, Cornell, Colgate.
Sorry, this doesn't fit the thread's format, but the spirit of the topic is in the right place.
