nascar99

Less than a month away from the August 1 recruiting window opening up. Very excited. Tons of first time eligible late 2008s and 2009s that we'll all be tracking.

I'd be very surprised if DuPont doesn't end up at one of North Dakota, Denver, or Michigan. I can squint and see one of Boston University or Boston College make a big push for him too though.

Anyone know if Landon DuPont has accelerated his education and is a junior in HS already, or is he still just a normal sophomore and thus commitment eligible on August 1?

Iowa and Illinois should always be the first 2 teams on these lists for expansion. Oregon would be great too in addition to Washington. We just need at least 1 team in Illinois. 5th most men's NCAA players by any US state, no D1 programs, pathetic. If Illinois or Northwestern aren't going to add hockey, would like to see Northern Illinois add it. Easy CCHA addition in their infancy

North Dakota should play Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, and either Boston College or Boston University every season IMHO.

He would be a great option, but there's no indication that he'd be willing to go NCAA

He can commit at any time. All Canadian 2008s were NCAA commitment eligible August 1 2024, but because the old rules were still in effect, Carels and the rest of the CHLers couldn't go the NCAA route and commit at that time. All Canadian 2008s graduate HS in 2026 since the school grade is the birthyear in Canada, January 1-December 31 is the school year grouping for each grade. Federal system, going by birthyear makes it much simpler IMHO.

I don't think it'll hurt his draft stock if he stays in junior (he could have a dominant draft year in the O), but he certainly should play a season or two in the NCAA at some point before turning pro

The first thing to watch this summer is how many Canadian 2009s commit to the NCAA on August 1 & shortly after when they become commitment eligible.

Verhoeff is a bit of a different case because he accelerated his schooling to graduate HS early and play his 17 year old season, his DY in the NCAA. That's a huge, risky jump. Similar to went Hanifin and Werenski left the NTDP after their 16 year old season to play in the NCAA for their DY. The other kids who've dominated junior, have the credits done to play in the NCAA/graduated from HS, should be more than wanting to make the jump to the NCAA. Vast majority of those kids are D+1 & D+2 kids who've been drafted & haven't signed their ELC yet. But pressure to stay home, settle into routine, and just have a guarantee to get points every night, definitely makes it a bit tougher sell for NCAA programs.

O'Reilly signed his ELC last year, thus not NCAA eligible

Martone and McQueen are the only realistic hopes right now for UND. Friedman said Cootes is back to junior, we know Bear is going back to junior. Martin will sign his ELC soon, Nesbitt isn't interested in the NCAA at current time. The QMJHLers are going to be back in the Q or if they go NCAA, it will be a Hockey East school (one of Boston University or Boston College).

Two open spots for State now. Spartans should still be a very good team, but more pressure on some of their youngsters to produce a ton off the bat, plus Stramel will need to be great every night

As annoying as Buccigross is, would much have rather watched he or Emily Kaplan interview Gavin McKenna. Kevin Negandhi has zero clue how hockey development routes work & none of the producers on the SportsCenter staff informed him. Cool to see NCAA hockey get more attention on the flagship show though

Hope Penn State kicks the s*** out of Minnesota

Bettman and the Predators did help, they just weren't going to pay for the entire program's 1st year.

Kindel is now off the prospective recruits board, he signs his ELC. Very interested to see how he develops versus Reschny. Is stat padding in junior to maintain confidence or putting up solid, but unspectacular production against older competition in the NCAA better for overall development.

How many points do we think McKenna is going to put up for Penn State? While many may disagree with me, I think he's in the 55-60, maybe up to 65 points range. I think he'll feast on the power play but take some time to adjust to defenses really keying in on him at 5v5, I think his 5v5 production will be modest, especially at the start of the season.

Posted in the Non UND 2025-26 thread, might as well post it here since expansion is pushed back at least a year.

Not surprising, hope they get their s*** together in order to start in 2026-27.

Guessing it'll just be Buccigross or Emily Kaplan doing the normal remote interview on SportsCenter where McKenna tells everyone he's officially going to Penn State.

Augustine and Yegorov means that Michigan State and Boston University are my top 2. Until Penn State shows they can either outscore all of their problems or get great goaltending with whomever is starting for them this season, they aren't ahead of State or Boston University

He's followed Michigan for months. They were the early favorite before Penn State & just signing pro entered the conversation. I'd be he goes to Michigan before I'd bet on him going to North Dakota.

Good chunk of change for NCAA Hockey yes, but a mere rounding error for Terry Pegula. I would think Michigan, North Dakota, Michigan State, & potentially others like Denver would be all over Porter Martone. Very interested to see how Michigan State pivots after falling just short in the Gavin McKenna recruiting battle; they're still the national championship favorite IMHO.

It could explain why all of the B1G plus Boston University and Boston College haven't won in forever. There was noise floating around about how Rinzel's play dipped for Minnesota in the 2nd half of the season after it was clear the Blackhawks wanted to sign him, indicating that his mind was already partially out the door, ready to turn pro. Another theory is that these elite teams/blue bloods just don't have/recruit good enough depth/culture guys that we've talked about before, the types that stay 3-4 years. @tnt is correct bringing this up. It's the one thing that Minnesota tends to do well on a consistent basis, although they might focus on it too much to a fault.