Much has been written about just how important Air Force’s seven graduating seniors were this past season, and this website is no exception.

After all, they included the Falcons’ top four scorers, the mainstay in goal, six players who wore letters and 40 percent of their points and 41 percent of their goals.

Given the adjustments cadets have to make during their freshmen year at the Academy, it’s tougher to project what types of contributions they can make in their first season of NCAA hockey, so for this story, we’ll assume a lion’s share of the minutes will go to players already on the Falcons’ roster. Plug-and-play freshmen such as forward Kieran Durgan this past season tend to be more of the exception rather than the rule.

What follows is a position-by-position look at what the Falcons’ lineup could look like, sans whatever contributions they get from their freshmen.

Goaltender

Graduating: Billy Christopoulos

Returning: Rising juniors Erik Anderson and Zach LaRocque and rising sophomore Alex Schilling

Outlook: The temptation is to think the sky is falling because of how good Christopoulos, the team’s MVP the past two seasons, has been. But some thought that would be the case two years ago, when Shane Starrett signed with the Edmonton Oilers, and were summarily proven wrong. LaRocque made four starts this season while Christopoulos recovered from illness and emergency surgery and played reasonably well. His losses at AIC came when the Falcons had a goal-less weekend. Schilling was one of the better goalies in the North American Hockey League in 2017-18, so he probably will have something to say about how this plays out, too.

Bottom line: The Falcons have capable replacements, and there should be a spirited competition for the starting job. Expectations are always high on this position at the Academy so those will need to be tempered a bit to start the season, but I would not bet against another stud emerging once given the opportunity.

Defense

Graduating: Dan Bailey and Matt Koch

Returning: Rising juniors Jake Levin, Alex Mehnert and Zack Mirageas, and rising sophomores Carter Ekberg, Tyler Jutting and Keegan Mantaro.

Outlook: The leadership of Bailey and Koch will be sorely missed, as will Koch’s outlet passes and offense, particularly on the power play. However, the trio of rising juniors all took big steps this season and gave the Falcons plenty to build on. Each has his own strengths, but all can provide offense. Each scored between 12 and 17 points. Ekberg has a strong offensive side to his game and has the potential to play a bigger role if he enjoys better health. Mantaro is steady and does a lot of things well. He reminded me of Dylan Abood at times. Jutting offers size and a good shot. He was spotted this season but also brings plenty of upside. The Levin-Mehnert pair in particular gives the Falcons a great building block. Mirageas is versatile enough that he be paired with just about anyone and still be effective.

Bottom line: If the leaps Levin, Mehnert and Mirageas took as sophomores happen with the freshmen trio, then this will be a strength of the team and a huge help to whomever ends up starting in goal.

Center

Graduating: Evan Feno and Kyle Haak

Returning: Brady Tomlak and Erich Jaeger

Outlook: Given the complexities of this position, losing two of the best players on the team in one spot isn’t good news. Feno played through injuriesand still was one of the more effective Falcons. Haak was great in the circle and had 12 goals. Both were excellent defensively, too. Tomlak also is very good defensively, has outstanding hands and is a face-off monster. He has had either 18 or 17 points in each of his three seasons, though his eight goals this season were a career high. One would think that more offensive opportunities will lead to even more production. Jaeger led an effective fourth line. He brings excellent energy, is good on draws and responsible defensively. Could he find himself in a bigger role? Given this position’s importance, I would not be surprised to see a couple of veterans moved over to the middle. When injuries forced rising senior Matt Pulver to relocate there during the 2017-18 season, he acquitted himself well. Though his numbers (nine points) didn’t reflect it, he was excellent this past season, his first at the Academy that didn’t end in shoulder surgery. He skates well enough and has some creativity to his game, so a move to the middle might suit him. Rising sophomore Kieran Durgan played some center early on before going to the wing and scoring 12 goals. He’s another option, but given how starved Air Force was for goals last season, and how productive Durgan was right off the hop, he probably makes more sense on a wing.

Bottom line: This position appears to have the most question marks of any on the team. The Falcons need at least one, and maybe two, players to emerge in their top nine – be they Pulver or Durgan or someone else or a freshman.

Wing

Graduating: Evan Giesler and Matt Serratore

Returning: Rising juniors Pierce Pluemer, Matt Pulver, Trevor Stone and Joe Tyran; rising sophomores Marshall Bowery, Max Harper, Shawn Knowlton and Walker Sommer; rising freshmen Kieran Durgan and Jensen Zerban.

Outlook: Losing Serratore for the season was a killer. He and Giesler were reliable every situation players who could score. If Durgan moves back to center, this group will be light on scoring after Stone and Sommer, each of whom had nine goals. The encouraging part about this group is it features quite a bit of speed, and players such as Pulver, Sommer, Stone and Tyran used that to create offense. Bowery could be one to watch as he had eight goals as a freshman but just two this season. Harper brings good size and has history playing with Bowery and Tomlak. Knowlton also has good wheels and can create.

Bottom line: One could make the case that every single player in this group is capable of scoring more, in some cases a lot more. The Falcons will need a committee of players here to step up and provide offense.

©First Line Editorial 2019