The graduation of four key seniors and the early departure of its top scoring threat means the Denver hockey team will have some work to do over the summer and next fall if it wants to return to – and potentially build upon its trip to – the Frozen Four.

However, the cupboard is hardly bare for the Pioneers despite sophomore Danton Heinen‘s signing with the Boston Bruins and the departures of senior forwards Grant Arnold, Gabe Levin and Quentin Shore, as well as defenseman Nolan Zajac.

Consider this: DU had to replace seven seniors entering the 2015-16 season, including All-American defenseman Joey LaLeggia.

In taking an early  look at where the Pioneers stand going into next season, I will split the breakdown into two posts: forwards first, then defense and goaltending. The focus will be on players currently on the DU roster. Bear in mind that for all of the talk about prospects and incoming freshmen, September is a long ways off.

Arnold, Heinen, Levin and Shore accounted for 28 percent of the Pioneers’ overall scoring (104 of 370 points) and 32 percent (43 of 124) of their overall goals. The quartet accounted for more than 38 percent of the forwards’ goals (43 of 112) and about 37 percent of the forwards’ points (104 of 280).

Replacing almost 40 percent of the offense up front won’t be easy, but the Pioneers unquestionably have the pieces in place to compensate for a significant amount of it, and the primary reason for that is a highly promising freshman class.

Top-line center Dylan Gambrell broke through in a big way with 47 points, including 17 goals – second only to Heinen’s 20. Second-line winger Troy Terry came on strong down the stretch and finished with 22 points. Fellow wings Colin Staub, Jarid Lukosevicius and Logan O’Connor showed flashes, and Staub in particular seemed to pick up steam as the season went along. It would not be an upset to see at least four of those five playing top-six forward minutes next season.

That junior Trevor Moore exceeded 40 points again wasn’t a surprise, much as it seemed like a longshot at the winter break when he had 11 points. His 44 matched his total from a season ago, which came on the heels of 31 points as a freshman. The composition was different, however. Where as he had 22 goals a season ago, he managed 11 this season.

As one of the team’s key returning leaders, the impetus will be on Moore to ramp up the scoring. Fellow juniors Evan Janssen and Emil Romig also played much better down the stretch – really the entire team did – and both will play important roles again in large part because their skating is so good they can disrupt opponents’ games in any zone. Janssen had five points seven playoff games.

The best of the junior core in the first half was center Matt Marcinew, who scored five of his 11 goals in the first eight games. Conversely, he had just one in the final 10. Though he doesn’t garner the attention that his higher-scoring teammates do, he might be one of the Pioneers’ most important players because …

As important as adding scoring will be, DU also will need to develop a couple of players to take the key face-offs that Shore and Levin especially took. Those two and Heinen won 50 percent or more of their draws and all took at least 300 of them.

The only remaining Pioneers to take that many were Marcinew (whose 523 were second most to Shore) and Gambrell. Gambrell, however, only won 42.7 percent of his face-offs. Marcinew had a success rate just north of 55 percent and immediately becomes the go-to option. Given Gambrell’s upward trajectory and increase in confidence as the season went along, I’d expect him to improve in this department. In fact, he should be an every-situation player going forward.

The other obvious center on the DU roster right now is Terry, whose puck handling, skating and hockey sense helped him dominate games at times. I would expect him to anchor one scoring line and Gambrell another, though Marcinew will have an important role regardless of where he is slotted, and he could move into Shore’s slot with Terry and Janssen should other center options emerge in fall camp.

Moore added penalty killing duties this season and did fairly well. That’s crucial going forward because all four of the departing forwards were excellent penalty killers. Janssen also is superlative in that role, and one would have to expect Romig and a few of the freshmen to step into those roles next season.

Other players who figure in the mix  include redshirt sophomore Brad Hawkinson, who has the ability to play either forward or defense but has battled injuries throughout his time at DU, sophomore Rudy Junda and junior Evan Ritt.

@MagnessMayhem