-> Colorado College
Head Coach: Kris Mayotte (5th season)
2024-25 Record: 18-18-1
Changes: The Tigers lost their second-highest scorer in Noah Laba, and key players in Gleb Vermeyev and Ty Gallagher.
The Tigers were a victim of the transfer portal, with two key players leaving — Brady Cleveland and Zaccharya Wisdom — all while not using the portal at all to bring players in.
Strengths: The Tigers got much-needed help on offense with big recruits Wilson Bjorck, Tomas Mrsic, and a total of five new freshmen from the CHL. The most notable of those is Tomas Mrsic, who posted 90 points last season in the WHL with the Prince Albert Raiders.
“These new players can find their way to be a piece of a line instead of having to carry the line, and it takes a little bit of pressure off other guys as well,” Mayotte said.
Important returners for the offense also include last season's top point scorer in Owen Beckner, along with Bret Link and Klavs Veinbergs.
Senior netminder Kaiden Mbereko returns for his senior season and looks to improve from what was a down year (2.65 GAA) compared to the standard he'd set in his first two seasons. He was splitting time down the stretch with Carsen Musser, who has transferred.
“The biggest thing is taking each day as a new opportunity and learning from your mistakes and trying to be in the moment each and every day," Mbereko said. "Last year was last year, and today is today and I want to put my focus into how I can be the best version of myself.”
Weaknesses: Despite bringing in two new freshmen in Matteo Mann and Colton Roberts, Mayotte’s defense is similar on paper to last season, where they were middle of the road in the conference in goals against. It won’t get any easier. The loss of key defensemen such as Ty Gallagher and Brady Cleveland leaves a hole on the defensive side for an already struggling Tigers defense.
Predicted NCHC Finish: 6th <-
