nascar99

Denver and Michigan recruit all over as well

Yes but the early bday kids don't get to choose that, hockey being a birth year sport makes sense. Holding your kid back a grade to be able to stat pad in school based sports is cheating IMHO.

I personally think it leads to misleading sports stats because you're artificially creating an environment that allows you to stat pad against younger competition. I'd rather challenge myself athletically than make it easier

Not necessarily kids who got held back (some are), but because of US History of states' rights, every school district in every state has a different cut date for their school year grouping, which makes things overly complicated. So a lot of these mid-later 2010s are naturally the oldest kids in their grade, rising sophomores in HS. I love how Canada's federal system means the school year grouping is the same for the whole country and they go by the birthyear, meaning all 2010s graduate HS in 2028, all 2011s graduate in 2029. Much simpler system, wish we did that.

2026 Top 30 Americans August 1 List from Schloss!!

I'm glad to see almost everyone get away from that and really hit Canada & Europe to a lesser extent much harder. Makes the NCAA game better

Boston College adding a very productive Dub forward, Matias Vanhanen (2026 New Jersey 2nd rounder), to their lineup for this season. Much needed scoring depth for the Eagles.

Madison's news release about him going there for 2026-27 still listed him as a Denver commit

Link that says he decommitted from Denver?

Heather has helped oversee the addition of Arizona State & St Thomas. While Arizona State has not been incredible on the ice (yet), I like their presence in the conference, feel like they already have a solid local fanbase there. St Thomas is a good addition, program on the rise, geographically makes sense. Broadcasts/TV are what I'm going to keep an eye to see if they can innovate/improve over time. Overall, I just think NCAA Hockey needs better national promotion. It is on the right track with more NHL fans (especially Canadian) eyeballs on what is going on in the NCAA with CHLers now eligible plus the overall quality of the game getting better and better.

Follows Minnesota, North Dakota, Bemidji State, Minnesota Duluth, Boston College, & St Cloud State on IG. Wonder if he's a August 1 (or shortly after) commit type of guy this year.

They're all related, whether it be closely or distantly. If you're a Pietila in Hartland, Brighton, Howell Michigan, you're related and a great chance you play hockey.

Brooks and Wyatt will be at Minnesota this fall. Joey (2010) is eligible to commit to an NCAA program on August 1 2026. Most are presuming he will commit to Minnesota

Penn State intrigues me this year, wonder how Kale Dach, Pierce Mbuyi, & Shea Busch do as freshmen. Jackson Smith returns plus they got Justin Poirier & Caeden Herrington out of the portal. I don't think their step back will be as far as some think

I think I said it on the Non UND thread at some point, but Levshunov was mentally done with school after his freshman year & felt very out of place socially on a US university campus where the whole culture was so foreign to him. So he essentially told teams he was signing after the draft, even if he actually needed another year at State playing NCAA Hockey. Carels' level of play will prove whether or not he needs another year. If he's a rockstar all year and puts up huge numbers with great defensive attention to detail & physicality, he can justify signing. If he shows some struggles, then he, Conroy, & Dane Jackson will have to have a long conversation about what is best for the player. Conroy (Clarkson) being an NCAA alum does help, knowing that he's not prone to rushing prospects, he understands another year will help. Matt Coronato could have signed after his freshman year at Harvard but the Flames did not rush to sign him, and another year there didn't hurt his development.

He's assuming he's going to be a rockstar all year and dominate games. If he is and puts up a monster season, it will justify him signing after 1 year. If he does not, a 2nd year would benefit him, and thus Carels, Conroy, and Dane Jackson would have to have a conversation about that.

Levi Harper (2008, OHL, Saginaw Spirit) commits to Michigan as most expected

I believe the reason is that Nashville told him they wanted him in the NCAA for 2026-27

London doesn't play their 17 year olds huge minutes unless they're Patrick Kane level rockstars, so their stats are deflated and teams like the higher ceiling potential they have. Same thing happened to Luke Evangelista and Easton Cowan. Regarding Preston, some have wondered if medical reports had flags. Additionally, his production in the Dub this past year was legitimately disappointing. I think he's a Penn State or Boston College guy if he goes NCAA for his D+2.

Alex Hage won't be at Michigan this fall unless he's fine being the 14F, he ain't ready for the NCAA, needs to really progress in junior for at least another year

Penn State has been hard after him for awhile, we'll monitor that going forward