With snowcover in Siberia's far North mostly melting out now, it seems less unlikely that the GFS projections will not verify. It has been consistent in blasting the Laptev/ESS with heat for several days now, and the forecast for said event is now within the D10 window. By no means a certainty, but if this does come to pass, the fast ice along the Siberian coast and the sea ice within Laptev/ESS are likely to disappear very quickly within the next two weeks. Combined with the rapid melting across the North American coast we are already seeing, and ongoing Pacific-side melting, this should pave the way for continental heat blasts to begin affecting the heart of the CAB by mid-June.
Combined with the forecast for the Atlantic sector, which is imminently going to endure a massive heat influx from the NATL and persistent LP that is conducive to FRAM export and bottom melt, it would appear we are indeed in for a June cliff this year. Whether Hudson/Baffin cooperate fully remains to be seen, but they will melt out one way or the other anyways -- if they coincide with the rest of what's imminently happening, the fall will be that much more impressive.
I would also argue that the forecast for the next two weeks implies that 2017 may actually increase its lead wrt volume loss vs. 2016 and 2012 -- things are looking extremely bleak on all fronts, and the large positive anomalies at the jaws of the FRAM are about to meet their doom, which could spell an additional increase in the current gap vs. 2012, and not in a direction that is favorable to the sea ice.