Turning pro next season, Colin White says, has “definitely” crossed his mind.

But he has not yet made the final decision that will move to a front burner for the highly-touted Senators prospect when he’s done playing in the Frozen Four, which commences next week in Tampa.

White and his Boston College Eagles will compete for the NCAA men’s hockey championship with the No. 1-ranked Quinnipiac Bobcats, the North Dakota Fighting Hawks and the Denver Pioneers, whose roster includes Quentin Shore, a sixth-round Senators pick.

The Eagles will face Quinnipiac in the opener of Thursday’s doubleheader at Amalie Arena, with the final set for Saturday.

“Definitely, B.C. is a great place,” said White, who as a freshman centre finished second in team scoring with 42 points, including 19 goals, in 36 games. “There’s a lot of great things here. I’ve learned a lot this past year. The coaching staff here is great. The team here has been unbelievable. There’s a lot of things I love here, and then, there’s a lot of things in Ottawa I love as well.

“There’s positives and pluses and minuses to both things, but at the end of the day I think I’m just going to need to sit down with my family, Ottawa and my adviser and see what the best for me is at the end of the season here.”

The initial sitdown, at least, could take place in Tampa, as Senators assistant GM Randy Lee will be at the Frozen Four.

So what is right for White? That’s a tough question.

The Senators certainly don’t want to rush the 21st overall pick of the 2015 entry draft, who will be a teenager until Jan. 30. But even they must admit to surprise at how quickly White has progressed. The Hanover, Mass. native, whose two-way game reminded them of Boston Bruins star Patrice Bergeron, finished just four points behind BC scoring leader Ryan Fitzgerald, a Bruins prospect who played three more games.

White also performed exceptionally as an assistant captain for the bronze medal-winning Americans at the world junior championship. He had three goals and seven points in seven games, and wound up playing on a line with Auston Matthews and Matthew Tkachuk, two young men who will be top picks at this June’s draft and should be impact players in the NHL next season.

So to think that White could help the Senators as early as 2016-17 is not a stretch.

“As a player, you always want to be confident going in to wherever you are,” said White, a 6-foot, 183-pounder. “So I think if I were to (come out of school early), I’d be real confident, and work really hard this summer to be the best I can next year, in whatever role I play. But for me, it’s just being consistent.”

White followed the Senators closely this season, watching at least a game per week. He knows they had trouble with consistency.

“I don’t think that’s a huge problem though, in the long run,” he said, “because I think you’ll learn from that.”

White is also aware of the expectations that will accompany the arrival to Ottawa of him and fellow first-rounder Thomas Chabot.

“I’m not intimidated at all,” he said. “I’m excited. I’m won’t be really nervous at all, when the time comes.

“Personally, I just want to do whatever I can to help a team win. Whatever that role is I get stuck in, I want to be the best at that role.

“In the future, whatever it is, wherever I am, that’s what I plan to do. I’m just going to bring a lot of excitement and enthusiasm, and work my hardest, day in and day out.”

White’s hard work clearly paid off in his first year at BC, as he averaged more than a point a game — something he didn’t quite manage to do in the previous two seasons with the U.S. national under-17 and under-18 teams.

“I was a little bit surprised, but I was confident going in I had the ability to do it,” said White. “I’m definitely just more poised with the puck this year. I’m holding on to the puck a little bit more. Being able to make plays, I think I’ve improved a lot with that.

“Middle entries for me, being able to open other guys up. Bringing guys to me and opening them up. I think just my awareness on the ice has improved a lot.”

All of which is leading him to the next step. When he takes it is the question that will soon be answered.

“Family, school, whether I want to leave or not, get a degree, what’s best for my development,” White said when asked what goes into the decision. “Like I said, I’m kind of focused on this week, and then I’ll focus a lot more into that.”

PAINFUL MEMORIES

Colin White flopped on his first trip to Ottawa.

Oh, he looked good on the ice, but he was unable to complete last summer’s development camp because he flopped at the Spartan Sprint team builder in Gatineau.

“I was coming down the hill and I couldn’t slow down,” remembered White, chuckling. “I couldn’t catch my speed, and there was a little pothole covered by grass, and I stepped right in it and twisted my ankle. It swelled up a lot. It couldn’t even fit in my boot.”

It took White four weeks to fully recover from the sprain. There was no lingering issue with the ankle, but he still wishes he could have been able to finish the development camp.

“I was really disappointed, considering I trained up to that, and not being able to (do) that. But I feel I did whatever I could to be a part of it, and did whatever I could with the trainer to get better as well. I still took advantage of whatever I could.”

And White left Ottawa for Boston College believing that when he was on the ice, he measured up well with other Senators prospects.

“I felt pretty good,” he said. “I felt like my game was getting better and better.”