Senior-to-be right winger Karson Kuhlman has been promoted to the University of Minnesota Duluth's team captain position for the 2017-18 season while a pair of junior forwards -- Adam Johnson and Parker Mackay -- will as assistant team captains with the Bulldogs.

As an assistant team captain last winter, Kuhlman set career highs for points (22) and assists (16) and was a fixture on both the UMD penalty kill and power play units. The Esko, Minn., native and three-time National Collegiate Hockey Conference All-Academic Team honoree has taken a shift in all 122 games over the last three seasons -- a claim no other 2016-17 Bulldog could make. He'll head into his final collegiate go-around with 60 career points (the most of any returning UMD skater) on 26 goals and 34 assists and a team-leading +39 plus-minus rating.

Johnson, a Hibbing, Minn., product, enjoyed a breakout year in 2016-17, placing second to All-American Alex Iafallo on the UMD scoring charts with 37 points on 18 goals and 19 assists (all personal bests) in 42 outings. He paced the Bulldogs with seven power play goals and was credited with five game-winning goals, the last of which came 1:57 into overtime against Boston University in the NCAA West Regional title game on March 25. Johnson, whose father, Davey, captained the Bulldogs during the 1980-81 season, also generated a team-high five points at the two-day NCHC Frozen Faceoff while leading the Bulldogs to their first-ever championship conquest at that event. Mackay follows in the footsteps of his cousin and fellow Irma, Alberta, native Carson Soucy, who handled an assistant captaincy role with the Bulldogs this past season. Despite being sidelined with an upper body injury for nearly a quarter (10 games) of the his sophomore year, Mackay still managed to rack up eight goals (double his output from the previous year) and 12 points. Like Johnson, he has twice qualified for the NCHC All-Academic Team.