After spending 19 months without playing in front of their fans at Allstate Arena, the Chicago Wolves are back to normal with Saturday’s opener against the Rockford IceHogs at 7 p.m. in Rosemont.

Second-year head coach Ryan Warsofsky is piloting a squad filled with top prospects and established veterans as Wolves aim for their fifth Central Division title since 2017 and their fifth league title since their inception in 1994.

Wolves unveiled their 26-man roster on Thursday.

“From the coaching staff and the players to the support staff and the front office, I think everyone is excited,” Warsofsky said. “It’s been a lot of work getting back in front of our fans and I’m excited to get behind the bench and hopefully put a good product on the ice. Everyone is looking forward to Saturday night.”

Expectations are high as Warsofsky once again welcomes 10 players who helped Wolves win the Central Division title last year – a group highlighted by top scorer David Cotton (14 goals in 26 games), the Central Division star goaltender Beck Warm, top defensemen Cavan Fitzgerald, Joey Keane and Max Lajoie, and NHL first-round picks Dominik Bokk and Ryan Suzuki.

The Wolves roster also includes an infusion of talented veterans who give the team 11 players with NHL experience. The list of newcomers includes 2021 AHL scoring champion Andrew Poturalski (43 points in 44 games), forwards Josh Leivo and Stefan Noesen, defensemen Jalen Chatfield and Eric Gelinas and goalkeeper Alex Lyon.

“I think we have a really strong team,” Warsofsky said. “What I like is that we have competition. We have competition to be in the lineup and we have competition for ice time. The competition (makes you) reach the top. We have a bit of everything.

The Wolves also have three players from Chicago: 27-year-old forward David Gust was raised in Orland Park, Keane, 22, grew up in Homer Glen and 20-year-old rookie center Jack Drury was born in Wilmette. and played for the Chicago Mission before leaving the state to play junior hockey and study at Harvard. If the much-vaunted Drury plays in Saturday’s opener, he and his father, Ted, will join Chris and Jake Chelios as the only father-son tandems in Wolves history.