One major offseason question regarding the University of Wisconsin men's hockey team has been answered, leaving one to play out.

The answer was welcome news for the Badgers, who will have emerging standout defenseman Jamie McBain back in the fold for his junior season.

Still unresolved is the status of assistant coach Kevin Patrick, who will formally interview Thursday for the job as coach at Alaska of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.

McBain, arguably the best all-around player for UW during the second half of last season, said Monday he has put off turning pro for at least one more year.

Carolina chose McBain in the second round of the NHL draft in 2006 and regards him as one of the top prospects in its system. That status was enhanced during the 2007-08 season when McBain led the Badgers with a plus-12 rating and was their top-scoring defenseman with five goals and 19 assists in 35 games.

"The way that it played out at the end of the year, you talk to his teammates, in their minds he was maybe one of our best, if not the best, player that we had," UW coach Mike Eaves said of McBain. "Down the stretch, as a leader, he was phenomenal on the bench."

After getting feedback from Hurricanes officials -- specifically Ron Francis, the director of player development -- McBain said he feels he will benefit physically and emotionally from another year at the college level.

"I'm not going to rush anything," he said.

McBain, 20, said the opportunity to be a go-to guy on the ice -- he's the most veteran member of a young, eight-person blue line corps for UW -- was a major lure to come back.

"It's something I take pride in, being the oldest defenseman," he said.

Talks with friends, like former Shattuck St. Mary's (Minn.) High School teammate Kyle Okposo, and UW teammates, like former winger Ross Carlson, prompted McBain to embrace the college experience as long as possible. They told McBain the closeness he has with his current teammates doesn't translate to the NHL, where a business-like atmosphere reigns.

"I love being with these guys," McBain said of his Badgers teammates.

Patrick, meanwhile, was a finalist to coach the Nanooks last spring when the school hired Doc De Castillo.

After Del Castillo abruptly resigned following the 2007-08 season, a search committee interviewed seven applicants over the telephone. Patrick and current Nanooks assistant Dallas Ferguson, who also applied for the job last time around, are known to be finalists who will be interviewed face-to-face this week.

Alaska athletic director Forrest Karr, a former Madison Edgewood High School goaltender who played at Notre Dame, has indicated that a new coach will be hired next week.

Though he also applied for the opening at Green Bay of the U.S. Hockey League (the Gamblers are expected to hire Jon Cooper), Patrick emphasized this is not a "need to" exercise because he thinks he has a "great job, a great situation" with UW.

But he also feels he has a great wealth of experience with three different NCAA Division I schools in three different leagues -- Union (Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference), Bowling Green (CCHA) and UW (Western Collegiate Hockey Association) -- and is looking to apply that running his own program.

"I'm going to continue to show (Alaska officials) what I bring to the table," Patrick said.