AJS

@brianvf nailed it. Making hard decisions that will improve the team.

There's a real value in having 1F 1D 1G who is for the lack of a better word ok being the "emergency player" or for 5, the 15th F. That's extremely valuable.

Giving it a little more thought, it sort of is Berg or bust in the portal at Forward. I know Berg was the 2nd Line center at Omaha. Would he be an improvement over 8 or 27 next year? If he would, then that would completely change the dynamic up front. You would have 22 / Berg in a more traditional (talent wise) top two lines centers. Open competition between 8, 21, 27 for 3rd / 4th line Centers. Whoever is the odd man out moves to wing on the 3rd or 4th line. I know everyone is pretty high on the forward group next year, but this could take it to the next level.

My ideal lineup the 8D would be the "worst case" guy. If this year is any indication, a guy like Strathmann could very well be watching while Klee plays. I really don't see any value of bringing in an extra guy above the norm. Recruit talent, play talent, develop talent.

I'm surprised with your 9D take. As someone who mentioned not wanting a safety blanket on defense, adding an extra defenseman would be much more of a safety blanket than getting the two Top LH guys you can out of the portal.

I would take that over talent sitting in the stands. 15F 8D 3G. We'll see. I do think they go back to 15F this upcoming year though.

I know Berg seems to be the most likely scenario, but really hope they are looking at Larson (NMU) or Campbell (Clarkson) as well.

This is a situation where you want to be sensitive a bit. This isn't anything against Portz in general. With what I can assume Albrecht coming back, that left this team with four (5, 11, 13, 20) I would say pretty interchangeable Forwards. Hoping this works out best for both parties. Portz gets more minutes, UND ups the talent level at Forward, while staying at 15 guys (Adding a portal forward). As someone who's been critical of Berry, this is one of those tough calls that I think he really nailed. Good luck Nick!

Love this. So far so good for UND next season. This is why I'm closely watching what happens with Albrecht / Portal Forward. If both happen, there's becoming a pattern that I really do think is damaging for the program long term. As I post this, Portz hits the portal. This is going to sound harsh, but I love this move. Kudos to Berry.

What happened at Minnesota last year would be the same thing as BC this year. The Boston College Freshman class is so loaded. There is no pushing back, they need to come in and play. Edit: These kind of moves from Boston College and Minnesota, answer the "what kind of program are you".

How good do we think Anderson can be at Right Tackle at 305? This might be a potentially big thing for this offense. Are we going to be able to say that UND's tackles are really good?

Newest episode of the UND hockey pod. Portal names mentioned: Goalies: Haider, Persson, Moe Forwards: (He reiterated, there isn't necessarily a Forward need) Berg Defenseman: Warren Pyke Palocsik (He mentioned he was unfamiliar with him) Nothing new necessarily. Small sample size and Schlossman's lists in the past have been bigger, but usually when he mentions names, the guy that ends up committing are part of that list. Fingers crossed. For whatever reason I feel really confident that one of those goalies will commit. I would be ecstatic with just one of those 3 D-man.

Just for reference. Previous committed dates. DeRidder: March 26 Farmer: April 6 Ford: April 7 Driscoll: April 9 Jandric: April 10 Calder: April 21

The schedule really is favorable for a high floor. Guaranteed: Drake, Western, Indiana State Feel Confident: NAU, @ Murray State, ISU-Red Last year, how many would have you put in those camps? There was a lot more 50 / 50 games. I would have put one (@ ISU-Blue) or maybe two (ACU) into one of those categories. Next year, 6. Six doesn't guarantee you anything. Definitely a favorable schedule.

I concede. There's a chance Denver, Michigan, Minnesota aren't a Top 10 team next year. Probably will but could not. I get technicalities, so I'll have to speak more generally in certain situations. What I would say, is those three programs seem to be the exception to the rule lately.

Some people. Let's lay this out for everyone. Talking anything Pre-Motzko wouldn't make sense, agreed? How many years would you give someone that took over a program to turn it around? The last year I would say they struggled (16-14-7) was 2019-2020. Can we all make the assumption that the current more recent version of Minnesota is more likely to continue then the one the first two years he took over? What are we doing here?

This. DU (along with Minnesota / Michigan), I don't think it really matters who leaves and who stays. Top 10 team every year.

You have to dig deeper than just games played. Look at situations they were put in as well. Can you name any other player that had a successful Freshman year and then were completely out of the lineup as Sophomores by the end of the year? Outside of Johnson / Constantini? I don't want this to come off as this has been an ongoing issue with Berry, because I don't think it has. I can understand defending Berry and his Coaching overall. I think his Coaching last year, decision making overall was indefensible. As a college program, I might be putting too much stock in development. Look at the Sophomore class. Last year was a mess.

I am very interested to see where this goes. I might be putting too much stock in last year as well. I've been really hitting this hard, but I hope UND is a program that recruits and develops. 15F 8D 3G. To develop you need to play. I see no positive at all having talented players watch from the stands. I totally realize some guys don't work out, but never before have I felt like I did about Johnson / Constantini hitting the portal. I highlighted depth forward, because that's perfect. Ideally, you would have 14F 7D 2G in the mix for spots. 1F 1D 1G that are true "depth" or "emergency" type of guys. I don't want to see another situation where truly talented guys (that proved it FR year) end up leaving. I don't want to see a guy like Emerson be in and out of the lineup next year.

My hope is no portal forwards unless someone else leaves. Keep it at 15F. Now, if Albrecht graduates and moves on and they pick up a Top 6 Forward. That looks like a fairly easy way to improve the talent in the Forward group.

Also, correct me if you know differently. UND should be in the driver's seat for both.

O'Neill would be this August. Kuehne is a late November birthday, so I'm assuming he wouldn't be able to until August 2024.

You would add the top 2 to the list. Warren was a first pair guy at BC. Ellis is intriguing to me. He would not be the top pair guy you would need, but I would actually like him as the 2nd / 3rd pair (or 2nd ranked portal d-man). He would be a sophomore, so not as polished as others, I've named, but high upside. RH shot as well. Edit: Think of Ellis as a replacement for Johnson's upside.

Then have Pyke play on his off hand. Palocsik and Krys are a given. What other RHD do you see that are legitimate Top 4 guys? I was hyper focused originally on both portal guys being RHD. I just don't think it's realistic. Honestly, overall, how many Top pair guys are there in the portal for what you hope would be a playoff team? Like 4? How many 2nd pair guys? Like 8? It's a daunting task this Coaching staff is trying to complete right now.

Never seen either personally, but seems like talent wise, these two aren't in the same category. If you're thinking Klee is going to be playing Top 4 minutes, we're in trouble. The issue really, is you need a legitimate high end #1 pair guy (Pyke would be) and another Top 4 guy. I believe it was last year, the US Junior team had almost every D-man was LH. Realistically, guys are going to have to play on their off hand next year. A lot of next season is riding on the portal.