AJS

Completely agree.

Do you think the Coaching staff feels this way? If they did, I don't think he'd be in the Transfer Portal. Just complete speculation, but it wouldn't make sense if they expected / thought he could be a Top 6 guy next year.

Reminds me of Wilkie, talented, but just never found his groove. When it comes to transfers, my mindset is no current UND player is looking to trade up, like you might see elsewhere. There will never be a situation where a key guy, who is producing and getting big minutes will transfer. This isn't saying Blaisdell isn't talented or can't contribute elsewhere, but what I am saying is it looks like the coaching staff feels like they can overall improve their roster with this move happening. I wish Blaisdell nothing but good luck moving forward! Edit: @InHeavenThereIsNoBeer I like the Wade Murphy comparison a lot better than Wilkie. Edit II: I was hoping we'd see this, just wasn't thinking Blaisdell. I like the process. The Coaching staff sits down and really evaluates each player, the expectations and what gives this team the best chance to be successful.

Johnson was initially named, but believe he’s injured.

Hopefully!

Here's my guess, using Sic's template: Forwards: Portz Schmaltz Ford (transfer from BGSU) Costantini Bowen Defense: Bast, L Morrow Johnson, B Unknown portal player Goalie: Johnson, K Driscoll (picked up off portal)

Some of the main takeaways. No Seniors will be back Hennessy talked about Thome and basically being down to UND and Bemidji and Berry kind of skated around it talking about the Portal and Thome, but I got the feeling at that time Thome was not going back to UND (that was pre-Berry saying no Seniors would be back) Looking for a player or two in the Portal. Emphasized how they really pride themselves on development, but if you can get a guy or two that embody UND hockey you have to take a serious look.

Couple things. Could really go for confirmation about Ford from someplace other than CHN Are all our eggs in one basket for a Goaltender next year? (Driscoll) Non-UND related, but also haven't seen confirmation about Cruikshank / BC since it was posted on CHN yesterday

I'm not entirely sure, but what I've gathered is once you get on a plane (or bus), you can no longer make an argument against close contact. At school, it might be the only true close contact would be people you live with (or at least that's how it can be spun). Is that how others see it?

Couldn't agree more. There are certain players that you change plans for, he's one of the few in the Portal (Ford is one of the others).

Agreed. Two separate false alarms a week apart. It would almost feel weird to me if he ended up there. Is the general consensus that UND would be looking at more than one Forward in the Transfer portal? I wouldn't think so.

Does Ford's addition also make Center now a position of strength going into next year? Weatherby / Ford / Senden / (Jamernik or one of the Freshman). Pretty solid up the middle.

Connor Ford highlights: 2020-2021 All WCHA First Team 2019-2020 All WCHA Third Team Lead WCHA in Goals Last Season (16) / Tied 5th in the country Won 60% Draws Team Captain Last Season Of all those, one of the things I like the most was that he was his teams Captain last year. Still hard for me to really comprehend the impact someone like Connor has on the expectations for next year. It was the same thing with Michaud. You're getting a Veteran, Top 6 guy that you plug in. A proven commodity.

In Schlossman's Daily Skate article, he's reporting that UND is closing in on Bowling Green senior captain Connor Ford.

Knowing clearly it won't be just Kaleb Nelson and Feeney as Goalies next year, but is Kaleb Nelson being brought in to hopefully be "the guy"? Does anyone know more about him? Respectable numbers in the NAHL the last two years.

Simply stat watching, Driscoll seems to be more comparable to Galajda / St. Cyr than Thome / Moe, is that how others see it? If you had the choice of the three, Driscoll would clearly be the #1 pick? https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/248440/zach-driscoll He's really never had a bad year going all the way back to high school.

He should be. Was injured to being the year and just never started tracking. Wouldn't you know, he's leading Waterloo in PPG. Similar USHL Career to Schmaltz. Few years of building and everything seeming to click.

Schmaltz and Costantini

This has potential to be a pretty young class. Bowen (May '02), Kunz (August '02), Costantini ( August '02) were all born within three months of each other. Defensively, Morrow / Johnson are younger than the forwards. @siouxforce19 's cliff notes on what Berry said on the podcast, although I wouldn't expect anything else is great to hear. I'm becoming more and more in the camp to roll with the 5 Freshman I've listed and the 3 (Morrow / Johnson / Bast) on the backend. Clearly they'll need to hit the Portal for a Goalie, but unless that Forward is Cruikshank, then I'd prefer to roll with the recruits.

Portz ('00): 14 G 17 A - 31 Points (41 Games) Schmaltz ('01) <Bos>: 14 G 29 A - 43 Points (43 Games) / +25 Kunz ('02) <Van>: 19 G 12 A - 31 Points (42 Games) / +24 / Senior in HS Costantini ('02) <Buf>: 6G 12A - 18 Points (31 Games) / Leading scorer on Sioux City .85 PPG Bowen ('02) <Ana>: 2 G 2 A - 4 Points (2 Games) This has been talked about others as well, just how hard it is to read the potential forward recruits. Lets take a closer look. Above are who I believe are the 5 most likely to replace the Forwards that departed (4 Seniors / Pinto). Of those five, four have been drafted by NHL teams. It's a given that Portz / Schmaltz are coming. That leaves 3 remaining spots. You could make an argument both for and against any of them returning for another year of Juniors. Costantitni for example although a small sample size was tearing up the BCHL preseason before they shut down. He then gets sent to the USHL and plays on a team that can't score. Bowen, this is his 3rd year of Juniors, he was(is?) a big time recruit and was on pace to be so before his injury half way thru his draft year derailed his momentum. It's easy to look at point total (too early to tell for Bowen) and you aren't blown away. If you look past surface level, this is actually an outstanding potential group. So much so that for me, unless you have the perfect Portal Transfer guy, I'm more than ok with rolling with those 5. That being said, if any of those guys want another year of Juniors, that's ok too. I just think the potential is there that I don't want a situation of picking a Portal guy which causes any of those 5 to look else where if they want to play College next year.

Although a Junior, he's an '03, so he would age out of the NTDP.

Where we stand this morning, next years team needs three things. No More NHL Signings. Confirmation from local media about Sanderson. Weatherby to return. Think those would be the only two that would still have decisions. #1 Goalie Transfer Portal Cruikshank is #1 on my list as well, but a proven Top Line Forward (Transfer Portal) Potentially Foward #2 From the Transfer Portal I don't see the need for a Defenseman in the Portal.

I think so too. Sanderson is such a unique talent. He will be the best player in college hockey next year. Start with him as the building block, then when you start to look at the other pieces, Kleven as your #2 LD for example, that is an elite 1 / 2 Left Handed D-man. Then you look at Frisch pairing up with Sanderson, Morrow potentially with Kleven. Moore / Johnson. They'll be young, but really, really talented. Sort of reminds me of Duluth a few years back. Speaking of unique, let's look at Goaltending. Scheel leaving is a big blow, but with the Transfer Portal this year, you have that get out of jail free card. With one transaction, this team would be back to neutral. My hope is that Thome looks elsewhere and they bring in a proven #1.

Agreed. It was basically an opinion piece. That being said, we should be getting a lot more details here over the next few days.

I would be stunned if any Senior returned for UND. Not because there wouldn’t be some potential interest, but I’m confident Berry has the mindset of their 4 years are completed, it’s time to move on and continue the cycle.