Kyle Turris made it known months ago that it was likely he would turn pro after his one and only season with the University of Wisconsin men's hockey team.

After helping Team Canada win the gold medal in the World Junior Championships in early January, the freshman center returned to Madison and told UW coach Mike Eaves that the NHL was beckoning.

Turris, 18, was taken by Phoenix with the third overall pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and Coyotes officials made it known during the WJC that they wanted Turris in the fold as soon as possible.

"He indicated at that time there was a pretty good possibility of that happening," Eaves said Tuesday. "It wasn't 100 percent, but there was a pretty good chance."

The season had been over less than 24 hours Monday — the Badgers lost to North Dakota in the NCAA Midwest Regional championship game Sunday night — when Turris agreed to a three-year entry level contract with the Coyotes worth $2.65 million.

He's expected to make his NHL debut Thursday when Phoenix hosts Dallas.

When the NHL regular season ends Sunday, Turris said he will return to Madison and finish his classload for the semester.

Eaves indicated that Turris could have left UW at the semester break to turn pro, but Turris felt strongly about a commitment he made to the school and his teammates.

He came back and became the fourth freshman in program history to lead the Badgers in scoring.

Had Turris left in January, his incomplete academic status would have caused problems for the school in its Academic Performance Rating, a tool used by the NCAA to measure how each school moves its student-athletes toward graduation.

"He wanted to come back and finish and we talked about that would help us out (with the APR)," Eaves said of Turris. "He was very conscious of that fact.

"I give Kyle, and probably his mom and dad, great credit because with the rumors flying around about leaving after the World Juniors, he said he didn't want to do anything to disrupt the team."

Any other defections?

At this point, Eaves said sophomore defenseman Jamie McBain appears to be the only major flight risk among UW underclassmen.

A second-round NHL draft pick of Carolina in 2006, McBain had an outstanding season for the Badgers.

He had career highs in goals (five), assists (19) and points (24) en route to leading the team with a plus-12 rating.

The Hurricanes are looking for a puck-moving defenseman who can man the point on the power play — roles that suit McBain — but Eaves said he's spoken with Carolina director of player development Ron Francis and the organization intends to wait until the offseason to determine a course of action.

Eaves said sophomore winger John Mitchell also has drawn attention as a free agent.

"In looking at that, and having some initial talks with John, I think we're both in agreement that coming back would be the best thing for him right now because he's just starting to get some confidence," Eaves said.

The next class

Eaves has declined to identify which recruits will be signed for next season, but, at this point, he estimated there will be six.

There are three known locks: center Matt Thurber with Omaha of the U.S. Hockey League, defenseman Ryan Little of Green Bay (USHL) and defenseman Eric Springer of Sioux Falls (USHL).

Pain still lingers

The 3-2 overtime loss to North Dakota remains fresh with Eaves and his players, who had their season-ending team meeting Tuesday at the Kohl Center.

"I'll be over it when I watch the video, and I still haven't done that," Eaves said. "It's tough to watch games like that.

"As much as it stung Sunday night, the one thing that we told the boys is that we stayed together through a lot of storms and we ended up playing our best hockey at the end of the year. For that we can be proud."

Two seniors sign

Defenseman and captain Davis Drewiske has signed a free agent contract with Los Angeles, while defenseman and assistant captain Kyle Klubertanz has signed a minor league deal with Anaheim.