The NHL Entry Draft begins Friday night and continues Saturday in Buffalo, N.Y., and there is a good probability that three players with ties to the University of Denver hockey program will be selected. At the minimum, expect the Pioneers to add to their 14-year run of having a player selected.

There are two schools of thought on Pioneers sophomore Dylan Gambrell when it comes to his draft prospects. On one hand, Gambrell is viewed as a player who has been passed over in the previous two drafts, and one who may have benefited from teaming up with established college stars in Danton Heinen and Trevor Moore.

True, Gambrell was not a huge scorer with Dubuque in the United States Hockey League, and there is no question he and his Pacific Rim Line-mates were dynamic this past season for the Pioneers.

That view overlooks a few other facts about Gambrell and his game that no doubt helped him finish rated 67th among North American skaters by the NHL Central Scouting Service.

First, Gambrell was one of the Pioneers’ best  and most consistent players during the first half of the season. He had more points (12) than either Heinen or Moore at the break, and he only trailed defenseman Will Butcher by one point for the DU lead.

The PRL didn’t really open for business until the second half, so a case could be made that as much as Gambrell was helped by Heinen and Moore, they also were helped tremendously by him. The trio combined for 106 points from Jan. 1 on – 37 by Heinen, 35 by Gambrell and 34 by Moore.

Also of note was Gambrell’s added responsibilities down the stretch. He began killing penalties and taking more face-offs. Clearly coach Jim Montgomery and his staff trusted the then-freshman more and more as the season wore on. Gambrell, who played some AAA hockey for the Colorado Thunderbirds, is originally from Washington state.

At 6 foot, 180 pounds, his size might draw some questions, but look at how much Heinen filled out and grew stronger in two seasons at DU. He progressed enough that the Boston Bruins couldn’t wait to sign him after the Frozen Four.

My impressions of Gambrell through interviews and observations this past season were this: he’s highly detail-oriented and intelligent, and he has a rare ability to make plays in all three zones at high speed. There is no question in my mind he will get drafted. Where depends on how much a team values a versatile, intelligent and skilled forward who will turn 20 on Aug. 26.

Gambrell took time to tee off on some one-timers during the season, which you can read here.

The next DU player generating a buzz is incoming freshman Henrik Borgstrom, a 1997 birth year from Finland. Rated the No. 9 European skater by NHL CSS, Borgstrom is viewed by some as a late first-round option, while others think he’ll slot in somewhere in the second or early third rounds.

On thing is for sure, the 6-3, 170-pound center is going to add even more skill to the Pioneers’ lineup.

“He has elite skill, with his shot and playmaking ability,” Montgomery said. “He has the ability to create offense out of nothing. He’s big and as he puts on muscle mass he is going to be an elite college player.”

Borgstrom put up 55 points (29 goals) in 40 games for HIFK’s U20 team (a Junior A equivalent) and six more points in four playoff games this past season. In 2014-15, he had 37 points in 21 games for the U18 team (Junior B equivalent).

The third DU draft prospect is another incoming freshman,  Erich Fear, a 6-5, 215-pound defenseman who spent this past season with Springfield of the North American Hockey League. He finished as the 157th-rated skater by NHL CSS.

One scout who saw Fear multiple times told me he was impressed by how far Fear came in his only year of junior after playing Midget hockey in 2014-15 in the Chicago area.

A 1997, Fear had 12 points in 65 NAHL games.

“He really came on from Midget hockey,” Montgomery said. “Coaches (David) Carle  and (Tavis) MacMillan loved his potential. We see him turning into a (Tariq) Hammond or (Josiah) Didier-type of player. He’s big, can break the puck out of the D zone and he has a mean streak.”

A future Pioneer, forward C.J. Dodero of Highlands Ranch, is the 152nd-rated North American skater and also could be picked. Dodero, a late ’97 who played for Sioux City of the USHL this past season, is scheduled to play for DU starting in 2017.

Two other prospects slated to join Dodero at Magness Arena in 2017 – goaltender Dayton Rasmussen of Tri-City of the USHL and defenseman Michael Boyle of Dubuque of the USHL – have outside shots at getting drafted. Rasmussen (like Dodero a former Colorado Thunderbird) is a ’98, while Boyle is a ’97 who was traded from Sioux City after the season.

The Pioneers had one player picked in the 2015 draft – Troy Terry, who on Tuesday was selected to participate in the U.S. World Junior Evaluation Camp. Terry (a former Thunderbird and Littleton Hawk) was taken in the seventh round by the Anaheim Ducks. He followed that up with a strong freshman season for DU, scoring 22 points (sixth on the team). Nine of those (three goals, six assists) came in seven postseason games.

@MagnessMayhem