How will the Olympics affect Boston College men’s hockey?

The Winter Olympics are coming in a few weeks, and the Boston College men’s hockey team will send two players to compete. Junior defender Drew Helleson and senior striker Marc McLaughlin are playing in the U.S. with several other college hockey players because the NHL is not participating in the games. However, the BC season will not be interrupted during the Olympics, as the Eagles will have six games between February 4 and 20, including both Beanpot games and four Hockey East games. Immediately before and after, there are also a few games that players may miss due to travel or national team training.

Absences sting BC as McLaughlin and Helleson are both among the team’s top four scorers. McLaughlin’s 16 goals currently lead the team and actually account for more than 20% of Boston College’s goals this season. The Eagles are very thin in the strikers this season, and they’ve mostly relied on McLaughlin, Jack McBain and one or two others in scoring so far. The situation is not quite as bad as a few seasons ago when only David Cotton, Logan Hutsko and Julius Mattila were able to score, but it is not much better. The bottom six is ​​mostly underweight, and without McLaughlin for a few weeks someone has to get up.

Two names I would look at to start more participation would be sophomores Trevor Kuntar and Colby Ambrosio. Neither has been bad this season, but it’s probably fair to say they’ve both been a little lower. Kuntari have five goals and eight assists so far, while Ambrosia has seven goals and six assists. These are cool enough numbers for role players, but BC needs them more than role players in the absence of McLaughlin. It would also be great to see Brandon Kruse start scoring a few more goals. He’s played well this season, 17 points in 21 games, but he only has two goals, and without McLaughlin it would be a good time to get a few more goals.

Things also get interesting on the blue line, as Drew Helleson plays huge minutes in every situation. Helleson have scored two goals and given 15 assists in their 20 matches this season, which is already a good career peak. He’s going to be hard to replace, but BC has a few options on his list that can step in and play some third-line minutes. Freshman Cade Alami has seen some activity lately, skating in six games this season, including the last two against UNH. Junior Mitch Andres has also seen a lot of action this season, albeit in a mostly limited role as the seventh defender. Neither Andres nor Alami really looks like a person who could step in and play in the top two right now, but the Eagles should be able to play a role with the top four in Marshall Warren, Jack St. Ivany, Eamon Powell and Aidan. Hreschuk. Just like with McLaughlin, Helleson’s absence is felt in every game, and it requires someone else to get up and make more of a stake so things don’t really get off the rails. The Eagles really have no room for error after their recent losing streak, and two weeks without their main players won’t make things any easier in the future.