He helped UND win the Penrose Cup as National Collegiate Hockey Conference champions. He helped Canada win the gold medal at the World Junior Championship. He improved his numbers in nearly every category: goals (7), assists (18), points (25) and plus-minus (plus-21).

But the first-round pick of the Ottawa Senators knows there's more on the table.

That's why Bernard-Docker picked up the phone Friday, called the Senators and informed them that he's going to return to UND for his junior season.

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"I just think the way the season ended didn't sit well with most of us," said Bernard-Docker, who is currently in his native province of Alberta. "For me, personally, I think I have more to accomplish in college. With the guys we have coming back, it's pretty exciting."

It's big news for the Fighting Hawks, who were 26-5-4 and the No. 1 team in the Pairwise Rankings when the season came to an abrupt end due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Bernard-Docker, a 6-foot, 185-pound, right-handed shooting defenseman, figures to play significant minutes next season for a UND team that is losing two defensemen to graduation -- captain Colton Poolman and Andrew Peski.

Bernard-Docker joins a handful of other UND players who have already announced their intention to return rather than sign an NHL contract.

Previously, juniors Jordan Kawaguchi, Matt Kiersted, Collin Adams and Grant Mismash confirmed their plans to come back to school to the Herald.

Kawaguchi, a forward, and Kiersted, a defenseman, were undrafted free agents who had interest from multiple teams. Adams is a New York Islanders sixth-round pick and Mismash is a Nashville Predators second-round pick.

"It speaks to the type of guys we have in that locker room, the coaching staff and what a special place it is to play at North Dakota," Bernard-Docker said. "This season, we all bought in. We didn't get the result we wanted at the end, but we're coming back next year and that's the ultimate goal."

Bernard-Docker, who went No. 26 overall in the 2018 draft, is Ottawa's highest-drafted unsigned pick. Ottawa's second-highest unsigned pick is UND freshman forward and NCHC rookie of the year Shane Pinto, who has not yet announced a decision on next season, but has been keeping in close touch with the UND coaching staff.

Bernard-Docker's all-around game will put him on the ice for every key situation next season.

He defends well and will continue to kill penalties. He excels at changing the angle of his shot and getting pucks to the net from the point, which makes him a threat on the power play.

"There are little parts of my game that I want to improve," Bernard-Docker said. "One of them is being more deceptive with the puck, trying to skate it a little more and take ice before I make the first pass. Really, I'm going to be trying to help the team in any way I can. We're going to have a lot of skilled players and it's going to be about guys buying into their roles.

"I'm going to play wherever the coaches put me in the lineup. At this point, I'm just worried about improving offensively and defensively over the course of the summer. Wherever I'm thrown into the lineup, I'm just going to try to help the team win any way I can."

Despite losing Poolman and Peski to graduation and sophomore Jonny Tychonick to transfer, defense figures to be a strong point for UND with the returns of Kiersted and Bernard-Docker. UND also will bring back Ethan Frisch, Gabe Bast and Josh Rieger.

While the Fighting Hawks are still finalizing the incoming freshman class, one guy they will bring in is Jake Sanderson, who was ranked as the No. 4 North American prospect for the 2020 NHL Draft by the NHL's Central Scouting Bureau this week. If Sanderson goes in the first seven picks, he will be the second-highest drafted player at UND ever, only behind Jonathan Toews (No. 3 in 2006).

The freshman class will join a group of returners, who are eager to make another run.

Bernard-Docker said he doesn't anticipate motivation being a problem for UND during this offseason.

"I don't think it's going to be too hard to get motivated," Bernard-Docker said. "It's a completely new year. We're starting at zero again. The success we had last year means nothing. We're going to prepare for another year."