Not only will the Wildcats have a new head coach, Dave Shyiak, but just four of last year’s players return, mostly due to departures through the NCAA transfer portal with only three or four of last year’s players graduating or completing their collegiate eligibility.

While NMU will have a solid roster size of 28 players this season, 16 of them will be freshmen and 20 in all are underclassmen — freshmen, redshirt freshmen and sophomores.

The four returnees are juniors Jakob Peterson and Zach Michaelis and sophomores Tanner Latsch and Brendan Poshak. Three will have their previous numbers, Peterson No. 23, Latsch No. 22 and Poshak No. 7, while Michaelis will switch from No. 27 to No. 9.

“We are really excited about our group,” Shyiak said in the NMU Sports Information news release announcing the polls. “We have many new faces and a lot of freshmen that are coming in with hunger and energy.

Northern Michigan University’s Michael Van Unen, front right, and Aiden Gallacher, left, jump to block a puck shot in front of Wildcats goalie Beni Halasz, back right, in a CCHA game played against Bemidji State on Feb. 9 at the Berry Events Center in Marquette. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

“They all know there is a great opportunity in front of them to earn playing time. Internal competition will be healthy for our growth as the season progresses.

“The most important component to our team and staff is the culture building. We really have to put in the time to get to know one another and have an understanding of what our values and identity will be.”

Shyiak was hired in late June, just a few weeks after seven-year head coach Grant Potulny resigned and eventually became head coach of the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League, North America’s top professional minor league.

In the CCHA preseason polls, Northern was chosen ninth among the league’s nine teams by the coaches and eighth by the media.

The two polls didn’t have any teams with more than a one-spot difference between them, and both polls mirror quite closely last year’s final standings, except for one team — NMU.

The Wildcats finished fifth in last year’s standings, but only three points — the value of one regulation win — out of second place.

Likely because of the decimation of Northern’s roster, the Wildcats were chosen quite a bit lower for this season.

At the top of the league, 2023-24 runner-up St. Thomas was chosen as the preseason favorite by the coaches, even though the Tommies and last year’s champion Bemidji State both received three first-place votes.

St. Thomas had 73 total votes, as coaches vote for all the teams but their own. That was four more total votes than Bemidji and Michigan Tech, each with 69 votes. Minnesota State-Mankato was picked fourth with 59 votes.

Those four schools received all the first-place votes as Tech got two and Mankato one.

Those four also occupied the top four places in the 2023-24 standings, with St. Thomas and MTU actually tying for second and Mankato one point behind them in fourth. Bemidji won the league in somewhat of a runaway, beating out the runners-up by nine points and Mankato by 10.

Still in the coaches poll, Bowling Green was chosen fifth, Lake Superior State and newcomer Augustana tied for sixth and Ferris State eighth, the Bulldogs just two votes ahead of NMU.

In last year’s standings, BGSU was sixth, LSSU seventh and Ferris eighth, all behind fifth-place NMU.

Augustana played an “exhibition” schedule last season with games against the Vikings not counting in the standings, and was scheduled to do that again this year until it was announced during the offseason that St. Thomas will leave the league after the 2025-26 season.

Despite the Tommies still having two seasons remaining in the CCHA, the league decided to make Augustana a full member right away this year while not altering the school’s schedule of playing just one series against each of the other league members. That has forced the CCHA to come up with a weighted formula for figuring the standings.

The Tommies are bolting in two years for the National Collegiate Hockey Conference that includes North Dakota, Denver, Minnesota-Duluth, St. Cloud State and Western Michigan.

In the media poll, Bemidji was picked No. 1 by three votes over St. Thomas as the Beavers also received five first-place votes to four for the Tommies.

Mankato was a distant third, two votes ahead of fourth-place Tech as the Mavericks got two first-place votes and the Huskies one.

Then came Bowling Green in fifth, LSSU sixth and Augustana seventh. NMU was eighth with 40 votes as Ferris came in ninth with just 33.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.