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by Anthony Travalgia/CHN Reporter (@A_Travalgia)

Head coach: Greg Brown 2021-22 Record: 15-18-5 (9-12-3)

Changes: Brown steps in as a first-year head coach for Boston College, replacing the legendary Jerry York. Hard to get a much bigger change than that. Coming off a disappointing season a year ago, Brown takes over an Eagles team that is in transition, looking to get back to being a staple inside Hockey East. The goaltending has changed, with one transfer (Eric Dop) being replaced by another, Colgate's Mitch Benson. Dylan Silverstein, the heir apparent in goal, from the U.S. national program, decided to withdraw from school last week.

Strengths: The timing of Boston College’s rebuild and the beginning of the Greg Brown era beginning in the same year is a good thing for Boston College. With the change that a rebuild brings and the hiring of a new coach bring, a young Eagles squad has the fortune of growing together with a new head coach and a new vision, hopefully making the transition at Boston College a quicker one.

Weaknesses: The Eagles lost all four of their leading point getters last year and will be relying heavily on a younger class of Eagles to lead the way. Averaging three goals a game a year ago, goals may be hard to come by this time around with the offensive firepower the Eagles lost. Newcomer Cutter Gauthier will help the offense somewhat.

2022-23 Outlook: Results wise, the Eagles season should look like last year. This season should provide the Eagles with the opportunity to adapt to the style of play coach Brown wants them to play, continuing to develop their underclassman, and showcasing what should be a solid group of incoming freshmen.

Head coach: Jay Pandolfo 2021-22 Record: 19-13-3 (13-8-3 HE)

Changes: The biggest change for Boston University comes from behind the bench as Jay Pandolfo replaces Albie O’Connell as head coach. Pandolfo served on O’Connell’s staff a year ago as an associate head coach.

In addition to the change at head coach, Pandolfo added Kim Brandvold as assistant coach. Brandvold spent the last seven years with the Boston Bruins, serving as a skating and skills coach for the team.

It remains to be seen whether Pandolfo's background as a standout for the Terriers and long-time NHL'er, and his experience in player development with the Boston Bruins, translates into being a head coach at this level. So far, reviews are positive for Pandolfo, whose team opened with an 8-2 win over Bentley with five freshmen scoring goals.

Strengths: BU is built from the net out, led by junior goaltender Drew Commesso. In 28 games last season, Commesso posted a 2.52 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage, numbers that should improve this season.

Weaknesses: Depth at the forward position is a bit of a concern for the Terriers after losing key bottom-six forwards Ty Amonte, Max Kaufman and Logan Cockerill. In addition, senior Wilmer Skoog is out with an injury to start the season, for something that happened during the offseason. He's expected back towards the end of October. While the Terriers third and fourth lines didn’t provide much scoring, they did a lot of little things right, setting up success for their top two lines.

2022-23 Outlook: On paper, BU looks like a well-oiled machine inside Hockey East. Commesso provides the Terriers with stability in net, Fensore anchors what should be a stout group of defensemen and up front the Terriers have playmakers up and down the lineup.

Consistency is going to be key for BU. If the Terriers can quickly adapt to the style of play Pandolfo asks of them, the Terriers should have no issues being a threat to win Hockey East.

Head coach: Mike Cavanaugh 2021-22 Record: 20-16-0 (14-10-0 HE)

Changes: Graduation and players signing professional contracts hit the Huskies hard as they enter the season with high expectations after a run to the Hockey East finals last season. Up front, the Huskies return just five forwards from last year’s program. The recruiting class did get a boost when Samu Salminen switched his commitment from Denver over the summer. Another change was the loss of assistant coach Joe Periera, who went back to his alma mater, BU. Periera is considered one of the top recruiters in the east. Cavanaugh was wooed by Boston College for its head coach opening, but he elected to stay and sign a new contract.

Strengths: On the backend, the Huskies are an experienced group returning a fifth-year senior, two true seniors, a junior and a sophomore. After another successful campaign a season ago, expect another step forward from Harrison Rees who will be an important leader on the backend.

Weaknesses: With more than half of the Huskies forwards being new to the program, a lot of work will go into finding the right balance of scoring and creating chemistry across the four lines. How quickly the Huskies group of forwards can come together will likely dictate the direction their season takes.

2022-23 Outlook: Even with their roster overhaul at the forward position, Connecticut will look to build off the momentum from last season and take its success a step further. The Huskies will have some work to do in building around a lot of new faces, but there’s no denying Cavanaugh has the program trending in the right direction.   Preseason Poll: 7th

Head coach: Benn Barr 2021-22 Record: 7-22-4 (5-17-2 HE)

Changes: As Maine continues to rebuild its program from the ground up, the Black Bears will feature 16 new players this season, looking to improve off a seven-win season last year. Justin Michaelian, a transfer from Ferris State, should make an immediate impact after an eight goal, 23 point season last year.

Strengths: When you look at a team that allowed 3.4 goals a game last season, it might be hard to see goaltending as a strength, but despite Maine averaging over 30 shots allowed per game, Victor Ostman was often Maine’s best player on a daily basis. The Black Bears added to their goaltending depth via the transfer portal, adding Jacob Mucitelli who had a 1.30 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage in 10 games with Clarkson last year.

Weaknesses: Maine has just 10 combined wins in the last two seasons and with 16 new faces added to the mix, it’s going to take some time for the Black Bears to come together as a unit.

2022-23 Outlook: There’s no reason to believe Barr won’t get the most out of his players each night, but there’s a lot of holes to fill. Known as a top recruiter before taking the head coaching job, Barr still has a lot of work to do, but appears to be trending in the right direction at least. Maine will be competitive, but wins may be hard to come by yet again. The team opens with the Icebreaker Tournament at Air Force this weekend.

Head coach: Greg Carvel 2021-22 Record: 22-13-2 (14-8-2 HE)

Changes: Like last season, Massachusetts will introduce 12 newcomers to its program this season, something that is becoming the norm as the Minutemen continue to send more and more players to professional hockey each season.

Of the players that have moved on from Massachusetts, none will be harder to replace than Bobby Trivigno who was nearly a point per game player during his four years with the Minutemen. Trivigno was CHN’s Player of the Year in 2022.

The biggest loss may be that of assistant coach Jared DeMichiel, who decided to take the same role at Michigan State.

Strengths: Any time you have a player like Scott Morrow as the backbone of your defense, it's undoubtedly going to be one the team’s biggest strengths. Add in players like Ryan Ufko and the Minutemen should be one Hockey East’s top defensive units.

Weaknesses: Between Filip Lindberg and Matt Murray, goaltending has been a bright spot for UMass in the past. Now, both have moved on from Amherst leaving a bit of a question mark between the pipes.

Junior Cole Brady joins the program as a transfer from Arizona State and arrives at UMass with 25 games of college hockey experience under his belt. Junior Henry Graham and sophomore Luke Pavicich have a combined five games of college hockey experience.

2022-23 Outlook: UMass has some big shoes to fill with the losses of Trivigno, Murray, and Josh Lopina. How they replace their production will likely be the key to UMass’ season. But the Minutemen have shown over the course of Greg Carvel’s tenure as head coach that they can always move pieces around to fit the puzzle and find on-ice success. That should be no different this season.

Head coach: Norm Bazin 2021-22 Record: 21-11-3 (15-8-1 HE)

Changes: Andre Lee, Lucas Condotta and Owen Savory are all gone after being three key pieces to Lowell’s strong season a year ago. With a 1.93 goals-against average and a .926 save percentage, the loss of Savory stings the most.

The Riverhawks will welcome 12 new skaters to the program this year, including transfers Jake Stella from American International and Filip Fornaa Svensson from Alaska.

Strengths: Five Riverhawks’ defensemen appeared in at least 30 games for Lowell last season, four of those five return including junior Ben Meehan who led all Lowell defensemen in goals with five.

Weaknesses: With the loss of Savory, the Riverhawks stability in net takes a big hit. Carrying four goalies on their roster, only two have any college hockey experience, though, like with Savory, Bazin dipped back into the transfer portal to find a player who was a stud goalie on a more obscure team — Gustavs Davis Grigals, coming from Alaska. Junior Henry Welsch has played in 18 games for Lowell over the past two seasons and will split time with Grigals.

2022-23 Outlook: Despite the losses of Condotta and Lee, Lowell shouldn’t have much issue finding consistent scoring and enough of it to keep them in games. Lowell features a roster of experienced defensemen, a group that was solid last season. For Lowell to put it all together and make a run in Hockey East, it will need their goaltending to come through strong.

Head coach: Scott Borek 2021-22 Record: 19-15-1 (13-11-0 HE)

Changes: Merrimack did an excellent job tapping into the transfer portal this year. RIT transfer Will Calverley, Slava Demin from UMass and Ottoville Leppanen from RPI are a few of those transfers that will help the Warriors after the program lost three of its top four scorers.

Strengths: Hugo Ollas and Zachary Borgiel started 16 and 19 games respectively last year, giving Merrimack one of the conference’s best 1-2 punches in net. Both are back this year. Winning 10 games on his own, Ollas finished the season with a 2.24 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage.

Weaknesses: Killing penalties was an issue for the Warriors last season. With an 80.2 penalty kill percentage, inside Hockey East only Vermont, Boston College and Maine allowed more power-play goals than Merrimack.

2022-23 Outlook: The Warriors lost some experience both at the forward and defensive positions. Yet, the turnover on the roster was minimal. The blend of Warriors new and old should make Merrimack a tough team to skate against inside Hockey East. Coming off its strongest season under Borek, Merrimack is hoping to give the big names at the top of the conference a run for their money again.

Head coach: Mike Souza 2021-22 Record: 14-19-1 (8-15-1 HE)

Changes: Tyler Ward, Jackson Pierson and Filip Engaras, the Wildcats’ three leading scorers from last season, have moved on from the program. Looking to replace the offense it lost, UNH tapped into the transfer portal adding Nico Devita from Ferris State, Jack Babbage from Quinnipiac and Ryan Black from D-III Babson.

Strengths: UNH returns some talented defensemen on the backend highlighted by Kalle Eriksson, Alex Gagne, Colton Huard and Luke Reid. Huard’s 16 points last season was the fourth-most among UNH skaters, he also scored six times.

Weaknesses: In Pierson and Ward, the Wildcats had just two skaters reach double digit goals. UNH averaged 2.2 goals per game last season, second lowest among Hockey East Schools and better than only eight schools nationally. Where goals are going to come from is UNH’s biggest question mark.

2022-23 Outlook: The Wildcats haven’t finished above .500 since Souza took over as head coach. While they certainly made strides last season, putting together consistent efforts was a big issue. There’s certainly plenty of talent on the roster, how that all comes together under Souza’s watch remains to be seen.

Head coach: Jerry Keefe 2021-22 Record: 25-13-1 (15-8-1 HE)

Changes: The Huskies will have big shoes to fill on their backend after Jordan Harris left the program to sign with the Montreal Canadiens. Harris was one of college hockey’s top defensemen last season.

There’s a lot of excitement around freshman Cameron Lund and the immediate impact he’ll make. Lund was the 34th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft by San Jose and comes to campus as a versatile forward that can do a little bit of everything in all three zones.

What’s there left to say about Levi that hasn’t already been said? After a very successful season last year that saw Levi top college hockey in save percentage and finish inside the top three in both goals-against average and shutouts, Levi decided against turning pro, returning to campus for his junior season.

Weaknesses: While the Huskies return their five leading goal scorers from last season, they’ll be looking for more offensive production this time around. The Huskies averaged 2.5 goals per game last season, putting them towards the bottom of the goals for rankings.

2022-23 Outlook: After a disappointing ending to a promising season, the Huskies are hungry for more. Northeastern is hoping to build off the experience gained last year and turn that into positive results. Getting pucks past Levi will continue to be a challenge and if the Huskies can increase their offensive production and find more consistent scoring, they’ll be a legitimate contender for a national championship.

Head coach: Nate Leaman 2021-22 Record: 22-14-2 (12-11-1 HE)

Changes: Providence lost goaltender Jaxson Stauber, who signed a contract with the Chicago Blackhawks in March. Stauber started all but one game for Providence last year after starting 23 games the year prior.

Strengths: The Friars had five double-digit goal scorers last season. Led by Brett Berard, all five are back this season. Included in the group is sophomore Riley Duran who scored 10 times as a freshman a year ago.

“Great freshman year, 10 even strength goals and he didn’t play on the power play or on the penalty kill and he was still able to score 10 goals,” Leaman said. “We have high expectations for him. I think the bigger the game, the tighter the game, he shows up more. That’s what’s exciting to us a program, the tougher game he makes the bigger the impact."

Weaknesses: Expectations are high for freshman goalie Philip Svedeback who is expected to be the team’s starter this season. But between Svedback, sophomore John Driscoll and senior Austin Roden, who transferred from Omaha, there’s a lack of experience in goal for the Friars.

2022-23 Outlook: Statistically speaking the Friars were the top team in almost every category last year inside Hockey East. However, that failed to translate into consistent results. The Friars are loaded with talent once again this year and if they can put it all together and find ways to finish games, success should follow.

Head coach: Todd Woodcroft 2021-22 Record: 8-25-2 (6-16-2 HE)

Changes: Leading scorer Philip Lagunov signed a professional hockey contract, leaving a big hole up front for Vermont. Utilizing the transfer portal, the Catamounts added Porter Schachle from Alaska, Oskar Autio from Penn State and Eric Gotz from Michigan State.

Strengths: As the Catamounts continue to grow under Woodcroft, what was a talented freshman recruiting class last season has another year of experience under their belts. Sophomores Simon Jellus and Isak Walther showed signs of promise at times last year and should be keys to a better offensive unit.

Weaknesses: Although their offense should improve after a difficult season, Vermont’s depth at forward is a concern. With some talented defensive teams inside Hockey East, the Catamounts will need to find ways to score more goals if they have plans of being a competitive team this season. Already this season, Vermont opened with a pair of losses to Connecticut, scoring just once each night.

2022-23 Outlook: After a one-win season in the first season of the Woodcroft era, Vermont increased their win total to eight last year, playing 22 more games. For more one year at least, expect Vermont’s season to be centered around continuing to develop their younger players, planting the seed for future success.

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