While the roster might look different, the expectations haven’t changed for the UMass men’s hockey team.

After reaching the semifinals of the Hockey East Tournament last year and booking a spot to the NCAA Tournament — where it fell to eventual champion Denver in double overtime in the Round of 16 — UMass returned to a position it had become accustomed to under Greg Carvel, as the Minutemen failed to win a Hockey East Tournament game and didn’t qualify for the NCAA Tournament in 2022.

With nine freshman and two transfers joining the squad, UMass is hoping to play to the standards set under the Carvel regime of competing in the postseason. That starts on Saturday, as the Minutemen open their season in Waltham against Bentley, with a puck drop set for 7 p.m.

“My expectation is to make the NCAA Tournament and make the [Hockey East] final four in Boston,” Carvel said Tuesday. “If we achieve that, it’s been a good year. It’s the same every year. I think we have that ability. I think we’ll be scratching and clawing to make the Boston Garden and the NCAA Tournament like we did last year. Although, last year I thought we pissed away a lot of hockey games and I’ll take the blame for that. If we can change that and win 20 games then we’ve achieved the standard that we’re shooting for.”

Though the Minutemen finished with a 20-14-3 record a season ago, Carvel said he didn’t feel that the team played to its full potential.

Carvel — who’s led UMass to four NCAA Tournament appearances over his first eight years at the program’s helm, won the NCAA National Championship in 2021 and Hockey East titles in 2021 and 2022 — did what the best leaders do in the offseason: reflect on what they could have done better to get the most out of their players.

“I looked at myself a lot more this summer rather than the team,” Carvel said. “I don’t think we were as good as we should have been last year. I directed that at myself. I’m adjusting the way I coach. I’m not going to tell you the ways I’m doing that but I’m always trying to get better as a coach. I think I can do more to get more out of this team.”

Part of the path to continued success will be finding ways to separate from opponents.

UMass finished the season with 108 goals scored but allowed 105. That small margin wasn’t the product of a few blowouts here or there, either. Of the Minutemen’s 37 games, 23 were decided by one goal or less.

It was the second period that plagued the Minutemen most last winter. UMass outscored opponents 27-22 in the first period and 43-31 in the third, but were outscored 48-34 in the middle period.

The simple, but easier said than done, solution is to score more goals. The Minutemen’s 2.92 goals per game ranked 32nd in the country while their 2.84 goals allowed ranked 27th. With a brand new defensive core in the back, upping the offensive production will be paramount.

Scott Morrow, Ryan Ufko, Samuli Niinisaari, Aaron Bohlinger, Eliott McDermott all departed this offseason, leaving Owen Murray and Linden Alger the lone returning defensemen that logged significant minutes on the defensive end a season ago.

Going into Saturday’s game with the Falcons, three freshman will be expected to start on the back line along with Denver transfer Lucas Olvestad, a junior.

What’s helping that back end is having a talented goalie to clean up the mistakes. Michael Hrabel will be that man for UMass.

The 38th pick of the 2023 NHL draft by the Arizona Coyotes started 30 games between the pipes last year as a freshman, compiling a 2.59 goals allowed average and .912 save percentage. When Hrabel was in net, UMass went 16-12-1. His progress, along with finding more offensive production, will play a big role in whether the Minutemen can play to their full potential.

“Hrabel is the guy we need to take the big step,” Carvel said. “He was a little inconsistent at times last year. When he was on, he was a difference maker. We need him to be solid to allow our young defense to learn how to play at this level and we need to score goals. We don’t need to win games 3-2, it’d be nice if we could score three or four goals a game and give ourselves a little bit of breathing room.”

Where can that increased scoring come from? One place to look is a trio of players who impressed during their freshmen seasons in the maroon and white.

Jack Musa and Aydar Suniev tied to lead UMass in goals last season, each potting 12. Musa added 17 assists while Suniev — a 2023 third round pick by the Calgary Flames — had 13.

Dans Locmelis — a Bruins fourth round pick in 2023 — scored seven goals and distributed seven assists last season and is a player who has shown tremendous growth from year one to year two in the program.

“Jack Musa looks better than he did last year,” Carvel said. “Suniev is competing his butt off which is great to see. Locmelis is the one you’re going to see the greatest improvement from. He’s the kid that needed to get stronger, needed to build his stamina. He’s faster on the ice and he looks really good.”

Seniors Lucas Mercuri (nine goals, 16 assists) and Ryan Lautenbach (10 goals, 14 assists) are the veteran leaders in the forward line, joining Linden Alger as the three captains this campaign.

While the Minutemen are inexperienced on the back end, the hope is the returning talent up top can mask any early season struggles the youth on defense might show.

“It’s very important,” Lautenbach said. “We have a lot of guys who are ready to step up. I think we have four really good lines that are going to come at teams with speed and we’re big.”

Juniors Kenny Connors (seven goals, 15 assists), Cole O’Hara (seven goals, 11 assists) and Michael Cameron (six goals, four assists) return to the talented forward group while Jack Musa’s brother, forward Joey Musa, is a grad transfer from Dartmouth who, along with Olvestad, has made an early impression.

“Joe Musa is similar to Jack,” Carvel said. “He has a high motor and he’s excited to play in the Hockey East and in a program that has had a lot of success nationally. He’s been a great addition as well. We’ve had a lot of grad transfers over the last four, five years and I’d put [Joey Musa and Olvestad] near the top of the list so far. They’re immediate impact.”

Nick VanTassell and Cam O’Neill will start on the fourth line, but certainly have the potential to make an impact in their sophomore seasons.

Carvel said he wanted more production from the two Ottawa Senator draft picks — VanTassell a seventh round pick in 2023 and O’Neill a fifth round pick in 2022 — last year, as VanTassell finished with one goal and one assist in 24 games while O’Neill had three goals and three assists in 28 games.

Getting the two sophomores to play to their potential will only strengthen a talented forward group.

“They’re not middle six forwards right now,” Carvel said. “Now, they’re on the fourth line. We need more from them. We didn’t get a lot from them last year and we didn’t lose a lot. Those two guys learned a lot. They’re much better players today than they were a year ago. They’re tremendously better players. But, they have to start producing points. They’re both NHL draft picks, they both needed to learn a lot and they did last year. The growth I’ve seen I’m very happy about. Now, I want to see it in a game. They need to make an impact this year. They didn’t last year and they know that. We have a really good group of forwards. If we can get those two guys scoring on a regular basis on the fourth line, maybe they’ll be middle six forwards.”

After opening with Bentley on Saturday, the Minutemen travel to Las Vegas for the Ice Breaker Tournament where they take on Omaha on Oct. 11 and either Minnesota or Air Force on Oct. 12.

It won’t be UMass’ lone trip to the West Coast, as it takes a break from Hockey East play to compete in the Desert Hockey Classic on Jan. 3, facing Cornell and either Arizona State or Robert Morris.

In his final season, Mercuri sees the talent and potential with this Minutemen group. Now, it’s on them to prove it on the ice.

“It’s my last year here so I’m just trying to soak it all in,” Mercuri said. “I’m super happy to be here. Just want to win a ton of hockey games and have fun. We have an awesome group. We’re a big team, we’re fast, we’re hard. Just trying to win as many games as possible. Don’t want to look too far ahead and just take it day-by-day.”