Will Smith and Ryan Leonard celebrate winning gold at the 2023 U-18 World Championship. (Jari Pestelacci/Getty Images)
The college hockey season has yet to begin. All we can do is predict, so I’m going to do a bit of forecasting.
The overarching theme of the season: 2023-24 New England college hockey will be remembered for the rookies.
The first round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft was dominated by New England college hockey players. A big-time rookie is projected to go No. 1 overall in the 2024 NHL draft.
This will not be a season based around freshmen getting their feet wet for a big-time push in their second seasons. There will be freshmen who won’t just contend for the top 10 in scoring, but who will have legitimate cases for the Hobey Baker come season’s end.
