AJS

The reality is the portal situation actually is sort of bleak. Of course, there is high end talent, but how many? Four goalies that you would feel good about to varying degrees if you needed a starter. Five D-man that would fit the criteria of being considered "1st pair" on a playoff team. UND got one of the goalies and one of those defensemen yesterday. That's huge! Not playing with house money yet. My question is for where they are at, do they need another one of their portal D to be one of those 5 "1st pair" D-man? Tall task, but cannot overstate it enough how big yesterday was for next year's team.

From a leadership standpoint, you're right, 27 does make sense. There are things that happened this past year, that I hope never happen again. Simply, 27 cannot get the 19 treatment from last year. Similar skill sets. 27 is a 4th line Center on a good team. Hopefully his minutes would follow suit to that.

Leadership will be key next year. Gaber / Caulfied, will a sophomore wear a letter? Regardless, things are pessimistic right now from the fan base. Opposing fanbases are having a fun time. Have a feeling this is going to light a fire in this program. "Count us out, we'll show you" type of mentality.

Two things. I truly hope this is a crazy thought and not something floated out that is an actual rumor. As we sit on 03/30, obviously so many unknowns. I would say the word rebuild is pretty premature. This is going to be a very fun, very talented offense. He's a key part to it. Up until this point every portal exit has made sense to varying degrees (Moore being the least). 9 would not make sense at all. Better day today. Start with 13 signing anywhere and then let's get a big portal addition.

Now that they need three, Noah Ellis immediately becomes a crucial piece. RH shot. VGK draft pick. Sophomore. Someone who you would feel great bringing in as more of a 3rd pair guy (maybe 2nd) next year. High upside.

@scpa0305 I agree with almost everything you're saying. The feel that some high-end recruits have gotten honestly is warranted and is concerning. There's no spin there. Why the flip of the switch for me? I explained the Portz move was significant. 13 leaving would also be big and what I would call a true offensive reset. As far as a recruiting standpoint. Last year's Freshman class was very good. I really like the incoming Freshman class as well. We'll see how this goes, but there appears to be a real path where next year the roster is constructed in a way where talent plays. Where you'll see the Freshman and Sophomore forwards in the lineup every night. Minimum of 3 of the 5 Freshman defenseman will be in the lineup every night. If the roster is constructed correctly (which I do think it's headed that way) and talent plays, we will not see what is happening this year happen next year. Here's to watching the reset and this program going back to recruiting talent, developing talent, playing talent.

@Kevin G and me over here buying all the stock in next year's team.

I would doubt system changes, I would lean more towards with 5 Freshman next year, having an offensively dynamic, but defensive liability at times would be not ideal. Bringing in 3 two-way guys would seem to mesh better with inexperience. That makes sense to me.

The Moore optics aren't good, but if you could buy stock in next year's team, I'm going all in. Why? The Portz domino was an important one to the talent of next year's Forward group. Schlossman's article on Moore was the first time I've seen it written that Albrecht might not return. In my ideal situation, 13 goes as well and you pick up two forwards from the portal. 15F with 5 and 11 being the only "depth" guys. I don't like that Moore left, but there's nothing that can be done now. Is there an argument to made that with 5 Freshman coming in, you need the three remaining to be solid two-way guys? I could see that. Interested to see what they do in the portal. If they nail these (potentially) 6 portal guys, watch out.

It's all situational / player specific. I want UND to recruit talent, develop talent, play talent. To be blunt, Portz was one of the four forwards that I don't think is very good. To go one step further, between 5, 11, 13, 20, I think two would be ideal.

Yikes. Don't like that one at all.

Based on the last few goalies, this might sound backwards, but what I find exciting about Persson is I hope we know what his floor is. .925 (FR) is obviously outstanding, but .894 / .891 on terrible Miami teams is hopefully his floor.

@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