2023 NCAA men’s Frozen Four preview: Everything you need to know

It’s time to crown a national champion.

The NCAA’s Frozen Four heads to Tampa Bay this weekend with the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Quinnipiac Bobcats, Michigan Wolverines and Boston University Terriers battling it out for glory. From more than 60 teams to just four, the NCAA’s college season is a grind, and there’s a lot of pride that comes with winning this event.

The University of Minnesota enters as the tournament’s top team, finishing as the No. 1 seed heading into the regionals. All four teams dealt with some level of adversity over the past few weeks, so it’s not like any of them easily just zipped through to the championship series. Really, it’s a wide-open race.

Minnesota and BU will kick things off with the first semifinal game on Thursday, with Michigan and Quinnipiac rounding up the day’s action at Amalie Arena. The winners of both games will compete for the title on Saturday, with BU (2009) the most recent of the four to win the national championship. Denver took it all in 2022 but fell early in the regionals and won’t repeat.

Here’s a breakdown of the four challengers for the NCAA men’s hockey championship and who you need to know:

No. 1 University of Minnesota

NHL Prospects: Logan Cooley (C, Arizona Coyotes), Matthew Knies (LW, Toronto Maple Leafs), Jimmy Snuggerud (RW, St. Louis Blues), Brody Lamb (RW, New York Rangers), Connor Kurth (C, Tampa Bay Lightning), Aaron Huglen (RW, Buffalo Sabres), Rhett Pitlick (LW, Montreal Canadiens), Bryce Brodzinski (RW, Philadelphia Flyers), Cal Thomas (D, Arizona Coyotes), Jackson LaCombe (D, Anaheim Ducks), Mike Koster (D, Toronto Maple Leafs), Ryan Johnson (D, Buffalo Sabres), Brock Faber (D, Minnesota Wild), Ryan Chesley (D, Washington Capitals)

Record: 28-9-1
National Titles: 5 (last in 2003)
Frozen Four Semifinal: April 6 vs. Boston University – 5:00 PM ET
Draft Watch: Luke Mittelstadt (D)

How the Golden Gophers Got Here 

Minnesota may be the top seed in the country, but it definitely wasn’t an easy route to the Frozen Four. The 9-2 win over Canisius is extremely misleading when you know the context. After tearing their way through the Big Ten tournament, the Golden Gophers lost 4-3 to Michigan in a hard-fought final. They then trailed 2-1 midway through the regional semifinal game against Canisius before eventually skating out to a 9-2 win. Still, if you watch that game, you know how close it was early on. Minnesota then beat St. Cloud State to win the regional — yet, again, it was a bit closer than most would have expected with just a 2-1 score heading into the final 10 minutes of play.

Who to Watch

The Big Ten regular-season champs have one of the best lines in the NCAA, with Logan Cooley (ARI) centering Matthew Knies (TOR) and Jimmy Snuggerud (STL). Cooley and Knies are both Hobey Baker finalists, with Cooley sitting second in league scoring with 57 points through 37 games. Taken third overall by Arizona last summer, Cooley is the backbone of the team’s offensive efforts and has proved time after time he can take games over. Then there’s Knies, the two-way dynamo who can dominate with size and spacial awareness. While he isn’t as offensively gifted, he does just about everything needed. Snuggerud is the pure goal-scorer of the group, but he had a quiet regional with just one goal on 11 shots over two games.

X-Factor

Bryce Brodzinski (PHI) helped lead the charge over Canisius with a three-goal, four-point effort. It was the best single outing for the Minnesota senior, and that secondary scoring help could prove to be the difference.

No. 2 Quinnipiac University

NHL Prospects: Samuel Lipkin (LW, Arizona Coyotes), Skyler Brind’Amour (C, Edmonton Oilers), Chase Clark (G, Washington Capitals)

Record: 32-4-3
National Titles: 0
Frozen Four Semifinal: April 6 vs. University of Michigan – 8:30 PM ET
Draft Watch: Charles-Alexis Legault (D)

How the Bobcats Got Here

Quinnipiac had the easiest regional of the lot, crushing Merrimack 5-0 before beating Ohio State 4-1 in Bridgeport. It was a great response after losing 2-1 to Colgate in the ECAC Tournament semifinals, ending the Bobcats’ 12-game winning streak at the wrong time.

Minor snafu aside, Quinnipiac was one of the best teams in the country during the 2023 calendar year, and the Bobcats come in as the higher seed over the NHL-prospect-heavy Michigan Wolverines. When the Bobcats were hot this year, they were unstoppable, and it’s why they have the fewest losses of any of the four participating teams in Tampa Bay.

Who to Watch

Quinnipiac only has three NHL-drafted prospects on the roster, and one of them – goaltender Chase Clark – is just a stringer. All eyes will be on Collin Graf, the third-highest-scoring player in the country. The undrafted 20-year-old sophomore has had an excellent breakout season, one that has earned him some interest from NHL clubs.

From there, the scoring has been quite spread out. Five others have at least 32 points this season, and seven players have at least 10 goals. Skyler Brind’Amour (EDM) had a solid regional showing, and Samuel Lipkin (ARI) might have been the best player in the win against Merrimack.

X-Factor

Yaniv Perets, a finalist for the Mike Richter Award as top goaltender, might be the most crucial player. He has a 32-4-3 record with a whopping 10 shutouts, giving him 21 in 72 games over three years. His career .936 save percentage is good for third all time among goaltenders with at least 60 games played (Devon Levi leads the way at .942, with Ryan Miller one percentage point below him), and he’s a big reason why Quinnipiac is in this spot to begin with. Perets is the best goaltender in Tampa Bay, and with NHL scouts watching the undrafted third-year college standout, he’ll need to be a game-changer like he’s been so often this year.

No. 3 University of Michigan

NHL Prospects: Rutger McGroarty (C/LW, Winnipeg Jets), Frank Nazar (C/RW, Chicago Blackhawks), Mackie Samoskevich (RW, Florida Panthers), Dylan Duke (C, Tampa Bay Lightning), Jackson Hallum (LW, Vegas Golden Knights), Eric Ciccolini (RW, New York Rangers), Luke Hughes, (D, New Jersey Devils), Seamus Casey (D, New Jersey Devils), Ethan Edwards (D, New Jersey Devils), Jacob Truscott (D, Vancouver Canucks), Erik Portillo (G, Los Angeles Kings)

Record: 26-11-3
National Titles: 9 (last in 1998)
Frozen Four Semifinal: April 6 vs. Quinnipiac – 8:30 PM ET
Draft Watch: Adam Fantilli (C), Gavin Brindley (RW)

How The Wolverines Got Here

After a perfect run at the Big Ten Tournament, beating Wisconsin twice in the quarterfinal before topping Ohio State and Minnesota for the title, Michigan entered the Allentown Regional at full speed. The Wolverines showed no mercy against Colgate, taking an 11-1 win in the most lopsided match of the tournament. Penn State posed a much bigger threat, with Michigan trailing 1-0 with just eight minutes to go. A big power-play goal from Adam Fantilli forced overtime, and Florida’s Mackie Samoskevich needed just 52 seconds to score the game-winner to avoid a total collapse.

Who to Watch

Michigan is the team to watch if you care about high-quality NHL prospects. The Wolverines have quality talent at every position, led by Mackie Samoskevich (FLA), Rutger McGroarty (WPG), Lukes Hughes (NJD) and Erik Portillo. Samoskevich scored the goal that sent them to Tampa and has generally been one of the better wingers in the country this year. Hughes is a dynamic two-way defenseman who’s expected to sign with the Devils once the season comes to a close. The 19-year-old sophomore had a five-point night against Colgate, which was easily one of the best single-game efforts by an NCAA defenseman in quite some time. Portillo, a Los Angeles Kings prospect, has shown he’s more than capable of standing on his head from time to time, and he’ll have to outplay Perets if Michigan is going to advance.

Of course, all eyes will be on Fantilli, one of the finalists for the Hobey Baker. Projected to go second overall in 2023, Fantilli leads all NCAA players with 64 points through 35 games. His output is the 10th best in the history of U-19 players in the NCAA, and his 1.83 points-per-game percentage is the best of the 21st century. For what it’s worth, Michigan is 18-0-1 when Fantilli has a multi-point night.

X-Factor

Frank Nazar’s (CHI) freshman season began in mid-February after recovering from hip surgery, so we never got to see just how good he could be. He’s been decent but nothing spectacular since his return. This would be an excellent time for Nazar to show just how good he can be and why the Hawks were thrilled to land him at 13th overall.

No. 4 Boston University

NHL Prospects: Lane Hutson (D, Montreal Canadiens), Drew Commesso (G, Chicago Blackhawks), Domenick Fensore (D, Carolina Hurricanes), Ty Gallagher (D, Boston Bruins), Case McCarthy (D, New Jersey Devils), Cade Webber (D, Carolina Hurricanes), Devin Kaplan (RW, Philadelphia Flyers), Jay O’Brien (C, Philadelphia Flyers), Ryan Greene (C, Chicago Blackhawks), Dylan Peterson (C, St. Louis Blues), Ethan Phillips (C/RW, Detroit Red Wings), Luke Tuch (LW, Montreal Canadiens)

Record: 29-10-0
National Titles: 5 (last in 2009)
Frozen Four Semifinal:  April 6 vs. University of Minnesota – 5:00 PM ET
Draft Watch: Jeremy Wilmer (LW)

How The Terriers Got Here

If there’s anything BU likes to do, it’s keeping things interesting. After an easy win over Vermont in the Hockey East quarterfinal, the Terriers narrowly beat Providence in the semifinal and Merrimack in the championship game. They had no issue stepping all over Western Michigan in a one-sided effort to open the fun in Manchester but only managed to beat Cornell 2-1 in one of the best games of the regionals.

Who to Watch

BU has no shortage of prospects, but all eyes will be on Lane Hutson (MTL). The 19-year-old mobile blue-liner broke a 35-year-old record with 48 points, the most by a U-19 defenseman in that span. He scored the opening goal against Western Michigan in Manchester and then showed off his defensive flair against Cornell, shutting the opponent down when it mattered most.

Up front, Matt Brown and Wilmer Skoog – both undrafted prospects – share the goal-scoring lead with 16 goals each. They play a high-flying, run-and-gun style, making it very difficult to slow them down. Ryan Greene (CHI) and Jay O’Brien (PHI) both have had excellent seasons, while Jeremy Wilmer has been the go-to set-up forward. And don’t ignore Lane Hutson’s older brother, Quinn Hutson, who has 15 goals this year.

X-Factor

Drew Commesso (CHI) will have his work cut out for him. One of the better American goaltending prospects in the game today, Commesso will have to deal with the top line in college hockey. He will be busy, and he has an 11-0-0 record when making at least 26 saves in a game — so maybe that’s a good thing.