AJS

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.

Preliminary thoughts: Seniors: I hope like last year, it's decided they will all be moving on. Not that there aren't some you wouldn't want to return of course, but the one's that would probably take them up on the offer are ones I'm fine moving on from. It's easier / cleaner just to cut the cord with all. Early Departures: Two: That's what I feel is about the best case scenario. If they can get away with JBD / Pinto being the only two, they should still be in the mix. It's critical: Sanderson, Scheel, Weatherby return. With the large Senior class, plus most likely a few others turning pro, UND needs to stop the bleeding and return those core members. Additions: This is the first time in a long time I really don't have a firm grip on who will come in. A lot of Forwards putting up Ok / Good numbers. BCHL not playing. It's just hard to get a read. Transfers: Michaud was a homerun. Is there a Top 6 guy out their (i.e. Cruikshank) that could change expectations going into next year? Always a little nerve wracking after the season ends and wait on players to decide. Each player individually is so important to the outlook the next year. Also, we've seen it over the years, you never know, each player is so different. There could always be surprises. I'll wait on expectations for next year until we get a more clear view of what the roster will look like.

This is beyond pathetic

Never expect anything differently when they play NDSU, will be humiliating every single time.

Yes

I'd up it to the best player in College hockey.

I looked into that a few weeks back, since all you heard about was how young NDSU was. They do have a small Senior Class (9) vs UND’s (15), but they have a monster Junior Class (24) compared to UND’s average sized (16). It’s very comparable between the two schools.

I would say speaking very generally. Offense: Advantage UND Defense: Advantage NDSU ST: Advantage NDSU

Absolutely the biggest game of the D1 era for UND. A win would. Boost the perception change regionally and nationally (FCS level) of UND Football. In this shortened Spring Season it would truly put UND in the drivers seat for the Conference Championship along with a potential playoff seed Put NDSU on the ropes for the Spring playoffs. My biggest area of concern this week is Special Teams. Specifically Punting / Punt Returning. Through four games that's the one area that is pretty clear that UND's opponent always has the advantage. Play even on turnovers and they should have a shot.

Looks like a real solid pickup. I'm guessing he'll be on campus this Fall as a True Freshman.

Hope you reminded him! I always find it so bizarre when somebody has to make a point to point out of the obvious. I mean who cares.

Definitely "their".

Learning more about the Spring season and the Missouri Valley Football Conference with each completed week. Western (along with Missouri State) seem to be the worst teams in the Conference, by a long shot. If UND is a true Top 10 team, this one shouldn't be close. Simple as that.

I had a pretty lengthy post before the SDSU game, one of the main take a points was how important with the league change this Spring season is for UND. It's an opportunity to change the perception of your program quickly. Now the discussion regionally is "let's see how they do on the road". Which is more than fair. Recently they have been a much better home than road team. This team has so much momentum right now, such a big opportunity to keep it going. I will say, I like how this team is built this year. Being strong on the Lines, being able to run and stop the run is a winning formula playing on the road. I know this has been asked before, but does anyone know if Beach will be able to return this Spring? They've played well so far, but having 2 of 4 NT's being injured as it's such a unique position makes you nervous if anything happens to one of the two that are healthy.

That's an important sentence. The vertical passing game hasn't clicked, yet. It also won't be his bread and butter, but to me he's shown adequate arm strength, most throws are just a little off. He's also in just his 4th game as a Redshirt Freshman. Reps / Experience are so important right now for him. With the mix of experience / youth on Offense, it's exciting times for UND.