Denver hockey added 10 freshmen for the 2023-24 season, and the group has the potential to make an immediate impact.

Here are three ways the newcomers can help:

Depth and Competition in Goal

Freddie Halyk was one of the top goaltenders in the high-scoring Alberta Junior Hockey League last season. Look beyond his stats (20-22-1, .910 save percentage and 3.05 goals-against average) and you will see a potentially more polished freshman version of the player whose roster spot he fills, Magnus Chrona.

Chrona was a Day 1 starter for the Pioneers and won 73 games during his four seasons, including the Covid-shortened 2020-21 season. He was exceptional during his final two seasons, winning 50 times – including the 2022 NCAA title game. The 6-foot-5 Chrona arrived at DU having played roughly 25 games per season in Sweden.

Halyk, who is 6-6, is more battle-tested. He started 45 games in the regular season and four more in the AJHL playoffs this past season. He played in 18 the season before.

The hope is Halyk won’t be needed right off the bat because junior Matt Davis returns, and he was exceptional in 13 appearances, going 8-1. His other numbers (1.77, .925) would have been among the NCAA’s best had he played more games. Still, if Halyk has to play, his track record shows he can against a high level of competition.

Reinforcements on Defense

The Pioneers lost four of their eight defensemen, including three of their top four. Mike Benning, who signed with the Florida Panthers, put up 83 points in three seasons, including 72 in the past two. Not only was he an excellent shooter and passer, but his defensive game improved markedly last season.

Kyle Mayhew went from playing forward as a freshman to a versatile top-pair player. He improved so much in five seasons at DU that the American Hockey League’s Colorado Eagles signed him. And captain Justin Lee’s value was obvious enough that he signed with the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre Penguins. Like Mayhew, he was a first-call penalty killer and tone-setter with his physical play. The latter two also chipped in 13 points apiece.

DU turned to the United States Hockey League for four recruits, including Zeev Buium, the younger brother of junior Shai, and a player considered a potential first-round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. He led the U.S. National Team Development Program’s defensemen with 40 points. Two other newcomers also are offensively inclined: Boston Buckberger had 53 points for Lincoln, while Cale Ashcroft had 42 points for Tri-City. Garrett Brown, a 6-foot-4 son of former NHLer Curtis and 2022 draft pick of the Winnipeg Jets, brings the physical component.

Shai Buium and fellow junior Sean Behrens will be the leaders of the blue line this season. After that, who knows? Sophomores Lucas Olvestad and Kent Anderson were in and out of the lineup as freshmen. This year’s group could – and probably will have to – take on big roles right from the get-go.

Scoring on the Wings

Denver didn’t dip its toes into the transfer portal this offseason. That tells me the staff is confident in the returning players and the incoming class. That came after DU pulled two gems from the portal in the past two seasons – Cam Wright in 2021-22 and Casey Dornbach last season.

Dornbach is taking 34 points to Iowa of the AHL. Add that to the offense’s ringleader, Carter Mazur, taking his 22 goals to (potentially) the Detroit Red Wings. Those two alone accounted for 35 goals and 71 points off the wings.

It’s likely some down-lineup wings such as sophomores Rieger Lorenz and Jared Wright add more offense, and Tristan Broz and Jack Devine were two of DU’s best players down the stretch. But DU thrives when it has three lines capable of scoring. There are openings for two wings in the top nine.

Enter Sam Harris, Miko Matikka and Kieran Cebrian. All three are coming off strong USHL seasons.

Harris, a Montreal Canadiens draft pick in June, had 56 points and 30 goals (eighth-most in the USHL) for Sioux Falls. Matikka, a 2022 Arizona Coyotes pick who originally was slated to join the Pioneers last summer, had 55 points (27 goals) for Madison and Waterloo. Cebrian, a Denver native, had 47 points and was a teammate of Ashcroft’s at Tri-City. All three could step right in, and at least one of them will have to.

They’re joined by Alex Weiermair and another Colorado native, Peter Lajoy, in the forward ranks.

>>READ: Denver’s 2023-24 Depth Chart