With the departure of two of Denver hockey’s key players to the National Hockey League last month, Ian Mitchell and Emilio Pettersen, DU is left with a tall order to replace two of this past season’s most electric and highest-scoring players.
As DU aims to return to the Frozen Four during their 2020-2021 campaign, Denver head coach David Carle brought in two seasoned players to help them accomplish that goal. The team added both a forward and a defenseman to their squad for next season last week, with the addition of Steven Jandric and Bo Hanson.
Jandric is transferring from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks where he was the Nanook’s top scorer last season with 33 points, including 13 goals. Prior to joining UAF, Jandric played for the Vernon Vipers of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) where he played alongside sophomore forward Brett Stapley (Campbell River, B.C.).
Hanson will be joining the team as a graduate transfer from St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y. He finished second in scoring last season finishing with 19 points, including 5 goals. Prior to joining the Saints, Hanson spent three years with the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the United States Hockey League (USHL) where he played alongside junior goaltender Devin Cooley (Los Gatos, Calif.).
Having two new players with not only prior collegiate experience but also having played alongside two current DU players will be a tremendous asset to Denver.
“We are excited to add Steven and Bo to the family,” Carle said. “Their experience at the college level adds value to our lineup right away and increases the depth of our program.”
Pettersen, who signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Calgary Flames after being selected by the team in the sixth round of the 2018 draft, will likely be the most challenging player to replace. He was the highest-scoring player on the team this past season with 13 goals and 35 points in 36 games. Pettersen’s departure from Denver came as a bit more of a surprise to fans compared to Mitchell, as he had only spent two seasons with the team. The 5’ 10” forward from Manglerud, Norway, who’s been dubbed as the “Norwegian Gretzky” by some media outlets, mutually agreed with the Flames that he would better develop playing at the next level.
“Another year of college wouldn’t have hurt him at all, but he was really anxious for the next step,” said Flames general manager Brad Treliving in an interview with the Calgary Sun.
Mitchell, on the other hand, was all but guaranteed to leave Denver for the Chicago Blackhawks at the conclusion of this season. The process was simply sped up by the coronavirus pandemic. Mitchell was voted as team captain for the 2019-2020 season and scored 9 goals and had 20 assists throughout the season, tying with eight other DU players, including Pettersen, for the most points. Mitchell was selected by the Blackhawks 57th overall in 2017 but opted to remain with the team in hopes of helping Denver win another national championship. The 21-year-old defenseman from Calahoo, Alberta does, however, plan to eventually return to DU to finish his finance degree.
“That’s something that’s important to me and my family as well. I’ll definitely come back and finish,” said Mitchell in an interview with Blackhawks.
Denver has no shortage of talent returning from last year’s team. Freshman forward Bobby Brink (Minnetonka, Minn.) had an explosive rookie season at DU. Brink was named a finalist for the NCHC rookie of the year and finished second in NCHC rookie scoring with 11 goals and 13 assists in 28 games. He was third in the number of goals scored for DU, behind only Pettersen and sophomore forward Cole Guttman (Los Angeles, Calif.). Brink will likely spend one or two more seasons with the team before heading to Philadelphia where he was selected 34th overall by the Flyers in 2019.
Other notable returning forwards include Stapley, Guttman and junior Kohen Olischefski (Abbotsford, B.C.), who recorded a career-high twenty points last season and will replace Mitchell as team captain.
On the defensemen side, Denver will see the return of several crucial players including sophomore Slava Demin (Cypress, Calif.), also a Blackhawks prospect, and sophomore Kyle Mayhew (Anaheim Hills, Calif.), who appeared in all 36 games and was named an NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete in February.
In short, though Mitchell and Pettersen leave big shoes and leadership positions to fill, DU has plenty of current and proven talent to step up to the challenge. This is not to mention the five freshmen who will join the roster in the fall.
Denver’s 2020-2021 season will officially kick off on Oct. 9 with a two-game series versus the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis. Fans can get a sneak peek of the new roster in action with an exhibition match against the University of British Columbia on Oct. 3 in Magness Arena.
