There’s going to be less star power on the Minot High boys hockey team this year.

Top-scoring forward Easton Bennett has graduated and top defenseman Colby Enns has elected to go the junior hockey route with the Minot Minotauros.

Yet, the Magicians’ goal of reaching state remains intact.

“We always start the year with the goal of getting to the state tournament,” said MHS co-head coach John Grubb. “We want to be a team good enough that when it gets down to the end of the year, we can push the envelope and reach the state semifinals again. Anything can happen after that.

“We lost the real top end kids from last year, but we do return a lot of kids with a lot of experience. Some of them will have to take on new roles and if we can find those kids, I think we’ll have be a tough team to go against.”

Coming off a 15-10-2 record last year, MHS opens the 2017-2018 season against defending state champion Grand Forks Central at 4 p.m. today at Maysa Arena. The last time the pair of teams met, Grand Forks Central ended the Magi’s’ dream of winning its first state title since 2015, beating MHS 4-1 in last season’s state semifinals.

“I think we’re pretty excited to start the year,” Grubb said. “We have a team that’s not full of stars but we have guys throughout the lineup that has depth and we could have a strong team at the end of the season.”

The Magicians are an upperclassmen-heavy team, with nine seniors, six juniors and five sophomores.

MHS returns junior starting goaltender Odin Nelson after he recorded a 86.2 save percentage and a 3.55 goals against average heading into last season’s state tournament.

“He had a real strong end of the year, especially in the state tournament,” Grubb said. “He’s going to have to take the next step to do it all season long and if he can, that gives us a great chance to win every night.”

Grubb added the team plans on “mixing and matching” different line combinations as the season progresses. Senior forward Jake Viall figures to play a prominent role offensively, coming off a 19-goal, 27-assist campaign in 2016. The Magi hope junior forwards Kyler Stenberg (eight goals) and Mason Diehl (seven goals) take a step forward and increase their point production by about 15. Grubb added the team is thrilled to have senior forward Brett Davis back in the lineup after missing a good portion of last season due to injury.

Meanwhile, Patrick Heide will try to replicate Enns’ production from the blue line. Heide, a senior, tallied 24 assists last year.

Garrick Hodge covers Minot State athletics, the Minot Minotauros and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @Garrick_Hodge.