In anticipation of the upcoming season slated to begin later this week, I wanted to highlight some of the top players returning to action this winter. I’ve poured over the numbers, broken down film, scoured fall leagues, consulted with scouts and compiled a list of 100 Names To Know before the puck drops on the 2019-20 season.

While there will certainly be a wealth of first-year players that will make a significant impact on the hockey landscape — we’ll spotlight them later in the schedule — I thought it’d be important to highlight some of the popular as well as up-and-coming names returning to action this season. Among the list are 61 seniors who come back for their final season of prep hockey, 32 juniors and five standout sophomores representing 56 different programs from around the state. These are some of the names to know in high school hockey...

Well, there you have it. What’d I get wrong? Whose too low? Who am I missing? Let’s start this season off with some healthy hockey conversation on Twitter.

To paraphrase Robert California from “The List” episode in Season 8 of The Office: If you’re high on this list, prove me right. If you think you’re too low or not on the list at all, prove me wrong. I would love nothing more than to encourage the spreading of top names in high school hockey and who we all should be paying attention to this season. There are talented players across the state from east to west, north to south, lower peninsula to upper peninsula. I will never be able to get my eyes on all of them… but I’ll spend the next four months trying!