nascar99

One of the CHLers who I think will translate very well to the NCAA. Just no penalty trouble please and I think he'll be good pretty quickly.

From the DM conversations I've had with Schloss, he knows more than he gives on about certain problems and as we've mentioned before, he has to toe the line to avoid losing scoops or even worse, getting canned. Back to the McKenna discussion, I do wonder if programs not mentioned like Boston University and Boston College put out serious NIL offers for him.

DuPont feels like North Dakota, Denver, or Michigan. Maybe Boston University if they empty the NIL bag. If it's anyone besides those 4, I'd be shocked tbh.

I think we'll see Denver land a couple more big ones for this year or next, they've been quiet since getting Epperson. I also believe Arizona State will make some noise and is a natural landing spot for Dub guys. The obvious puzzling mystery is Wisconsin. Thought they'd be more active in the CHL pool. Oliver Tulk is going to be awesome off the bat for the Badgers, but they need more. I guess Hastings really hates young players and/or doesn't have enough connections in the Canadian minor/major junior hockey world to win some recruiting battles. Wisconsin has been down bad for awhile, so it might not be appealing for a lot of guys.

90% of Canadian & US teams will be fine with their high profile drafted CHLers going to the NCAA as long as those guys guarantee they're signing after 1-3 years. The remaining 10% might favor more games in major junior, or could be quasi-nationalistic, but as you've seen with Connor (Michigan to Winnipeg), Q Hughes (Michigan to Vancouver) Caufield (Wisconsin to Montreal), Sanderson (North Dakota to Ottawa), Hutson (Boston University to Montreal), Knies (Minnesota to Toronto), Coronato (Harvard to Calgary), etc, the NCAA route has worked more and more for Canadian teams (even if those front offices might have people who hate the NCAA/US). Most of these CHLers are Canadian and are likely to sign ELCs with Canadian teams. US kids are usually the only flight risks since most of them deep down would rather play in the States.

Roobroeck has been heavily tied to Michigan in the rumor mill for months but that has cooled down. Naurato & staff may have pivoted away from him for now. Would imagine Roobroeck ends up somewhere in the NCAA, but likely goes somewhere east of Lake Michigan.

Once McKenna is confirmed to not be a possibility at all, I would shift completely to Kindel, Schmidt, Cootes, McQueen, Fiddler, Lakovic, Bear, Behm. Would call about guys in the O like Martin, O'Brien, Reid, Nesbitt, Czata, Romano even if unlikely. Would think Q guys like Zonnon & Desnoyers will stay out east if they go NCAA.

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

Would be nice for these big schools across the country to move to D1. Just not enough funding

Finn McLaughlin (2006, D, dual citizen, USHL) flips from Denver to Minnesota. His career hadn't taken off in junior as many expected, interesting to see him flip for whatever reason.

He could have committed last August, but IIRC, he wanted to be patient about determining his future. A move back to the Dub before NCAA isn't out of the question, he is Canadian so there's that cultural allure. He only gets to play for the NTDP because he uses the birthplace + mom is American loophole. He played all of his minor hockey in Canada and grew up there entirely.