Denver reached 30 wins during the 2022-23 season but drew a blank in the two games that counted the most.

First, the Pioneers fell to arch-rival Colorado College, 1-0, an NCHC Frozen Faceoff semfinal. Then, as the top seed, they dropped a 2-0 decision to Cornell in an NCAA Regional.

A team that appeared almost as dominant as the 2022 national champions couldn’t find its goal-scoring touch at the worst possible time after finishing tied for fifth in the nation with 3.8 per game.

So where do the Pioneers go from here? Pundits are bullish on their prospects in 2023-24, and with good reason. DU returns 16 players, and it is particularly well-stocked at forward to put up more points and again contend for the program’s 10th title. How do they get there?

3 Keys to Denver’s 2023-24 Hockey Season

Manage Turnover on Defense

The Pioneers lost half of their defense — three to graduation and a fourth, Mike Benning, signed an NHL contract after his junior season. He played 39 games, and captain Justin Lee and Kyle Mayhew played 40. They all played on special teams. With them, 60 points also skated out the door, 34 from Benning.

Juniors Sean Behrens and Shai Buium each scored 21 points and will be counted on to lead the youthful group, including sophomores Lucas Olvestad (23 games) and Kent Anderson (22).

“That’s the bigger challenge with the four freshmen D and the rising sophomores,” DU coach David Carle said. “It’s more on guys who played a lot, Buium and Behrens. Buium’s earned the opportunity to have a bigger role. I think he’s ready for it but certainly, there’s going to be more asked of him on a minutes-per-night basis. Behrens has been doing that since he got here. We need Kent Anderson and Lucas Olvestad to take a step. They’ve looked good at camp.

“The four freshmen D come in with their own varying levels of pedigree but all had successful junior seasons a year ago. It’s as competitive as ever for ice time on the back end, and that’s a good thing for us. They’re making us make hard decisions.”

Captain McKade Webster reiterated that, adding he doesn’t expect freshman Cale Ashcroft, Garrett Brown, Boston Buckberger and Zeev Buium to have a steep learning curve.

“With the back end, that’s always difficult playing in the NCHC because there are a lot of bigger teams, especially for younger guys,” he said. “(The freshmen) are unbelievable players. Through training camp, they’ve been physical and hard to play against. There may be an adjustment period but I don’t think it will be very long.”

Improve Special Teams

Wait, Denver’s power play was fourth in the nation at 26.3 percent. What’s not to like about that? Nothing, except 19 of the team’s 49 power-play goals left in persons of Benning and forwards Casey Dornbach and Carter Mazur. And keep in mind that when DU needed a goal down the stretch, the power play couldn’t cash in.

So who is likely to step in? The guess is Behrens and Buium and freshmen TBD can combine to fill the Benning void. Buium had three PPGs, but Behrens surprisingly didn’t have any.

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Up front, Jack Devine (six), Massimo Rizzo (five), Tristan Broz (four) and Aidan Thompson (three) should have even bigger roles on the power play. Perhaps a sophomore such as Tristan Lemyre or Rieger Lorenz (two players whose improvement teammates have raved about) will step up.

Denver’s Achilles heel was its penalty kill, which was tied for 43rd (78.4 percent) out of 62 Division I programs. That was with a veteran defense and a senior goaltender.

This is one area the Pioneers must improve on because as good as their power play was (49 goals), some of its strength was negated by a PK that allowed 33 goals. The power play scored nearly one-third of DU’s goals (49 of 150), but the penalty kill allowed almost 40 percent (33 of 86) of its goals against.

Fortunately, a strong core of penalty killers returns up front, led by Webster, assistant captains Connor Caponi and Carter King and sophomore speed merchant Jared Wright. That is a good starting point.

Identify Leaders on Offense

Denver returns eight of its top 11 scorers, led by Rizzo, who had 46 points. However, Nos. 2-3-4 (Mazur, Benning and Dornbach) moved on and took 105 of DU’s 400 points with them.

Devine (31 points) and Broz (28) caught fire down the stretch, and Thompson was a point-per-game player after missing the first eight games due to a knee injury. Those are the likeliest candidates to move into go-to guy status.

“Thompson is a guy who didn’t get to take part in training camp in 2022,” Carle noted. “He was thrown right into the fire four weeks into the season. For him to get a training camp under his belt and start the year on time is huge for him.”

But sophomores such as Lemyre, Lorenz and Wright bear watching, as do freshmen Sam Harris and Mikko Matikka. That later duo were among the top goal scorers in the United States Hockey League last season.

Carle added: “Can Jared Wright add more offense to his game? Can he add more puck possession and shooting positions to his game? Lemyre played well when there was an opportunity because of injury and illness at the end of last year.

“There is less need for (the freshmen forwards) to play, but they’re excellent players. Matikka and Harris came off two very productive seasons in the USHL. (Kieran) Cebrian was a three-year player in the league, a great faceoff guy and is hard to play against. Alex Weiermair is coming in from the National team where he’s got some things to prove he’s the player he believes he is. Peter Lajoy is injured.”

Three of the freshmen defensemen scored 37 or more points in junior last season, and given the playing time available to them, one or two may insert themselves into this conversation as well.

The Final Buzzer

“The beauty of this program is you get a lot of good players who come through here and they get opportunities to play professional hockey, which is great,” Webster said. “In doing that, it opens up a lot of opportunities either for younger guys or guys who were not playing in those roles to step up. There’s a lot of guys this year that I think will make another step and play bigger roles.”

History says he’s correct, and that makes it seem likely the Pioneers will find themselves back in the NCAA Tournament.

©First Line Editorial 2023