nascar99

I think that'll only happen if they aren't playing much and/or struggling a ton. Which we already saw in the past, difference was, going to the CHL from the NCAA made them ineligible to return to the NCAA. Now, those guys can go back if they want to, as we're seeing with Noah Powell

Wonder if Chyzyk/Jackson gave him a serious offer or if this was primarily an NIL driven commitment and Smith was only going to go east of Lake Michigan. Really interested to see how he develops there, thought he would have fit in better at any of North Dakota, Denver, or Michigan.

Until a high end elite tier Canadian chooses Arizona State, I'll be skeptical. Once the first domino falls, then we can expect it. Arizona State didn't land an elite recruit until Cullen Potter committed last summer. They're still in the infancy stages of being massive players in elite recruiting & getting in battles with North Dakota, Denver, Michigan, etc.

I think that's a fake IG post and you got Fronk'd

Common perception has been that Ritchie wouldn't formally announce until after McKenna formally announces where he's going. Still a chance they go somewhere together or they do their own thing. I'm guessing both are on visits right now.

Matteau doesn't count as Chicago because he was merely born there when his dad was still with the Blackhawks, he never grew up or played minor hockey there.

Connor Hvidston (2022 Anaheim 5th rounder) commits to Colorado College. Very nice overager snag for them out of the Dub. Tigers going after Dub guys hard, just shows that Western Canada will be a massive battle for recruits amongst programs from all over.

They haven't recruited Illinois (more specifically, Chicago suburbs) well enough. Considering the hockey growth (in terms of minor hockey participation and NCAA player production) in Chicago Metro since the Blackhawks 3 Cups, Berry never went after those kids hard enough. Problem is that with many of them growing up in wealthy Suburbanville USA, they're not as likely to covet North Dakota because Grand Forks is small town, Upper Midwest, much more rural, relatively speaking. The Chicago suburbs kids like Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Michigan, Michigan State, Denver, Boston University far more because those schools are either regular Midwestern university towns and/or are in bigger cities. I think Berry once touched on the fact that North Dakota has had problems recruiting big metro, non Upper Midwest/Western Canada kids, which would be places like Boston, Chicago, New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, and to some extent, some Vancouver because Grand Forks is so so different culturally from those metros.

Hopefully North Dakota is at least in on some of these high end OHLers in the coming years. Obviously, Boston University, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, Boston College & even Notre Dame will be the most likely destinations based on pure regionality/geography, but would be nice to snag a few and establish a presence so that guys coming up through the GTHL and then OHL know that North Dakota is a great place to go down the road.

Tomas Mrsic (2006, WHL, Prince Albert Raiders, 2024 St Louis 4th Rounder) commits to Colorado College. That’s a big, big time get for the Tigers.

In North America, the CHL is generally the best league for 16, 17, & some 18 year olds to develop in, while the NCAA is the best league for many 18 year olds, & all 19 & 20 year olds to develop in. I will say that the USHL is better than the Q in terms of quality, but it's still behind the O & the Dub, especially since those leagues have historically given talented 16 and 17 year olds more ice time/opportunity whereas the USHL is too veteran heavy/dependent.

All subject to change for sure, but I think most NHL teams are comfortable with their top prospects from the CHL going to the NCAA for a year or two. Additionally, high end Canadians are much less likely to leverage their way/run out the clock to UFA than high end US guys, so should be no worry there.

After the draft if any at all. Would imagine that Chyzyk has a list of 5 or so guys that could be added and is waiting to see if NHL teams steer those guys to the NCAA for 2025-26.

Every school can defer their meh/underwhelming recruits back to junior if they want to open up spots. If those deferments result in decommitments, you can replace fairly easily later on through the portal/elite CHLers.

Probably a good thing for Carter Bear to go back to the Dub, get healthy, tear it up, and then go to the NCAA once he's healthy