College hockey is in an era of unprecedented talent, parity and success on and off the ice. Consider:

• Six schools have won the last six national championships, including four first-time champions
• More than half of all teams (33) have reached the NCAA Tournament in the last five years
• 30% of all NHL players developed in the NCAA ranks, including more than half of the players on the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins
• A record 11 NCAA players were taken in the first round of the 2016 NHL Draft and a record 67 NCAA players signed NHL contracts since the end of last season
• 90% of all NCAA Division I men’s hockey players will earn a degree, among the top graduation rates of all NCAA men’s sports

Wide open field – North Dakota was the sixth school to win a national championship in as many years in 2016, a stretch that has included four first-time champions.

An abundance of talented players has created incredibly parity in college hockey, and another first-time champ could be crowned in Chicago in April – four teams in the preseason top nine haven’t won a title in their history.

More than half of all Division I teams have made the 16-team NCAA tournament in the last five years (33).

NCAA Tournament Appearances, Last 5 Seasons
5 – Boston College, Denver, North Dakota
4 – Minnesota, UMass Lowell, Quinnipiac, St. Cloud State
3 – Boston University, Ferris State, Miami, Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State, Notre Dame, Providence, Union, Yale
2 – Harvard, Michigan, RIT, Wisconsin
1 – Air Force, Canisius, Colgate, Cornell, Maine, Michigan State, Michigan Tech, New Hampshire, Niagara, Omaha, Robert Morris, Vermont, Western Michigan

Back for more – While early departures for the pros are commonplace across college sports – and 38 underclassmen left early for NHL deals in the offseason – several stars decided to return to campus to continue working toward their degree, develop their game and pursue a championship. Foremost among them are first-round draft picks Brock Boeser (North Dakota) and Colin White (Boston College). Brothers Connor and Tim Clifton (Quinnipiac) – who like Boeser and White played in the Frozen Four last year – Union’s Mike Vecchione and Providence’s Jake Walman are others who spurned NHL opportunities to return to school.

Young guns – A freshman has led the nation in scoring in back-to-back seasons – Jack Eichel and Kyle Connor – as rookies are entering college ready to make an impact. Some extremely talented newcomers will have a chance to duplicate that feat, led by first-round draft picks Clayton Keller (Boston University) and Tyson Jost (North Dakota). Minnesota’s Rem Pitlick led the USHL in scoring by 23 points last year and Clarkson rookie Sheldon Rempal topped 100 points in the BCHL. All should have significant impacts as freshmen.

First things first – Thirteen NHL first-round draft picks will play in the NCAA ranks this season, the most in seven years. That includes four first-rounders on Boston University’s roster alone, the most for one team since 2009-10 (Minnesota).

Show stoppers – National champion Cam Johnson (North Dakota) and national save percentage leader Parker Gahagen (Army West Point) are among an impressive crew of returning goaltenders back on campus in 2016-17. In all seven of last year’s top 12 goaltenders in save percentage return – the other five signed NHL contracts.

NCAA and the NHL

Who takes home the Hobey? – The Hobey Baker Award, college hockey’s top individual honor, will have a new winner in 2016-17 as two-time finalist and 2016 winner Jimmy Vesey moves on to the NHL. One of the aforementioned goaltenders could make a case to become the third netminder to win the award, or players like Providence’s Jake Walman or Denver’s Will Butcher could become the first defenseman to claim the trophy since 2009. All six Division I conferences return a first-team all-league defenseman. The award typically goes to top scorers, which would make Union’s Vecchione, Bentley’s Max French or Boston College’s Ryan Fitzgerald preseason candidates.

New faces – The only first-year head coach in college hockey last year – North Dakota’s Brad Berry – came away with the national title. Four schools have new leaders in 2016-17, each with a unique story. AIC and Wisconsin welcome alumni behind the bench in Eric Lang and Tony Granato, respectively. Greg Carvel’s move to Massachusetts opened the St. Lawrence job, where former Clarkson head coach Mark Morris takes over.

Smart guys – The talent U.S. college hockey players display on the rink is matched by their performance in the classroom. Hockey is among the very best NCAA Division I men’s sports in the NCAA’s two biggest academic metrics – the Graduation Success Rate (90%) and Academic Progress Rate.

A number of NHLers have worked to complete their degrees after leaving campus as well. Last year Colton Parayko (Alaska) and Chris Kreider (Boston College) joined the ranks of graduates.