nascar99

Not gonna get my hopes up about DuPont. Just has the feel of Denver or Michigan to me.

Assuming they have their credits done to be eligible, NHL teams would steer their prospects to the NCAA instead of going back to junior/signing pro. Boston has done that with several of their prospects who they drafted out of European junior & weren't under pro contracts (Jellvik, Svedeback, Locmelis, Nassen, Kostadinski)

Ben Kindel, Braeden Cootes, Cameron Schmidt, Lynden Lakovic, Roger McQueen (if healthy), Nathan Behm are in/around the Carter Bear tier of Dub forwards I'd like to add. But who knows how many of them want to play in the NCAA, they could just sign their ELCs after being drafted.

I think it'll depend on what the trend is with 1st time eligible commits on August 1. If more of the 2009 born CHLers start committing on August 1 2025 and shortly after that, then teams will have more time to plan out/stagger their recruiting classes. The current issue is that the new rules coming into effect last November is that you had all of the 2004 born overagers, 2005s, 2006s, 2007s, and 2008s in the entire CHL become NCAA eligible overnight. We knew that plenty of the 2004s would commit to CCHA/ECAC/Atlantic schools with a handful ending up in the NCHC/B1G/Hockey East, but we didn't know if/when 2005s, 2006s, 2007s, and 2008s would commit. Tons of 2005s have, and we've seen an increase in 2006s/2007s/2008s commit in recent months. But there are still plenty uncommitted, many of whom are 2025 Draft eligible and then a ton of em are 2026 Draft eligible. Very intrigued to see how everyone in junior & NCAA hockey adapt.

Really wonder where Roger McQueen will play next year. Could go back to the Dub to play for a full year, but there's a decent chance he's outgrown junior and needs a higher level of competition. Can't go to the A, nowhere close to NHL ready at current moment. He's certainly someone I could see at Michigan or North Dakota for a year or two. Will depend on who drafts him and where they want him. Would be nice to get a Brandon to UND pipeline going though.

Ritchie was rumored to Boston University last week, although there's speculation he goes to wherever McKenna goes. We'll see. He showed a lot of flashes in the Memorial Cup Final last night, you can see why the Wild took him in the 2nd.

Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State until proven otherwise IMHO. Unless we can confirm he's on campus for a visit, I don't think North Dakota is in the race

Chyzyk is aware of every high end player coming up in minor/prep/HS hockey because he's had to do that as the Waterloo Black Hawks GM in the USHL. This gives North Dakota a massive advantage moving forward. Chyzyk knew who Cole Reschny was back in 2022 at minimum, he knew who Keaton Verhoeff was back in 2023 at minimum. It's very likely that Motzko, Sandelin, and Hastings had no idea who Reschny and Verhoeff were until some point in late 2024 or early 2025 after the rules changed. Plus, those guys don't strike me as the types to follow Canadian minor/major junior hockey much.

Royce Pietila (2007) committed to Lake Superior State a number of months ago. No guarantee he's the last either, the Pietila family seems to stay around Howell/Hartland/Brighton Michigan and play hockey.

I think the key is for Verhoeff to come back for his sophomore season. For example, say he goes top 5 to the Sharks, Chyzyk & Jackson need to work well with Mike Grier to make sure that Grier is on board with UND's development plan for Verhoeff for another year. Verhoeff takes off from a production and defensive maturity standpoint as a sophomore and then steps into the Sharks lineup in spring 2027 after the UND season is done. That's probably the ideal.

Helps having Pegula money for the NIL. Don't be surprised if the Sabres draft Smith or even draft another uncommitted CHLer and then magically "steer" him to Penn State. Then you'd imagine the NHL passes some sort of rule against owners contributing NIL money to NCAA programs.

Verhoeff as a 16 year old >>>>>> Sanderson as a 16 year old We'll see what type of development jumps Verhoeff takes. Sanderson had a very solid 17 year old season at the NTDP, but even then was seen as a bit of a reach at 5 for the Senators. Then Sanderson had two monster years at North Dakota on stacked teams and has gotten better & better since.

To give an NHL comparable, Verhoeff seems like a 17 year old more advanced version of Alex Pietrangelo. Big right shot but more offensive skill.

Looks like projected top 15 pick Jackson Smith to Penn State.

And Cooper Williams (Saskatoon Blades) committed for 2026-27.

Misa could go either way. Depends on what the team who drafts him wants him to do for his D+1

We appear to be getting close to Gavin McKenna news. Buccigross must be hearing something about Michigan State.

He is not

I believe the Kamloops Blazers still have Ashton Schultz on their protected list, so he could report there if he wants to go back to junior but instead go to the Dub

No surprise there. Now we wait on other 2025 Draft eligibles from the CHL like Martone to see what their plans are.

There's an idealistic view in the state of Minnesota amongst some, especially in the Goofers fanbase, that NCAA Hockey should be as young as possible & as Minnesotan as possible. I think they have their head in the sand, not wanting to acknowledge that junior allows for better development for guys coming out of minor/prep/HS before they get to the NCAA. The product would suck if you rushed every 18 and 19 year old player straight into the NCAA without junior experience. These people also either don't realize how good the talent is outside of Minnesota, or have some sort of odd simultaneous superiority/inferiority complex with Canada and how good its talent base is. I would also guess that many of these types know deep down that their programs don't have the recruiting connections in Canada throughout the minor/junior hockey world to take advantage of CHLers now being NCAA eligible.

Livanavage-Verhoeff top pair most likely?

I meant that they prefer random Minnesotans who will stay there for 3-4 years over going after more elite talent, regardless of where it is from (Wood only went there because his dad had coached there).

You're just seeing more guys not being happy that they're told to go back to junior for another year because they want to get to campus as soon as possible and play at the NCAA level, so they decommit & go elsewhere