beastandco

Given their style of play and skill level, I think Zellers and Reschny would fit well with each other. I think our first line (as of now) would be James - Reschny - Zellers. I do think we add a top 6 winger from the CHL, especially after the Gordon news. Strinden, Menghini, and James can play anywhere in the top 9. I would bet those three are split up at the beginning of the season to bring experience to every line. By the end of the season, I think we will use our upperclassmen as a shutdown line given their play style. The Gordon departure hurts but I do not think he would have been able to take a spot from someone in the top 6. Especially if there is a CHL prospect that is still coming in. Gordon could of heard about a silent commit or players taking visits and decided it was best for him to return to MTU.

For top 6 ice time at UND he would have had to beat out two of Swanson, James, Zellers, Strinden, and Menghini. We also saw with Wilkie (who was a better transfer than Gordon) that the NCHC is tough to produce in, especially if you are not on the top powerplay. It’s also worth noting that he probably hears about kids taking visits for next year. Players are involved with visits and he knows guys on the team. I don’t know if he spent any time on campus but he definitely is/was aware of who could be coming in still. If UND lands another blue chip at wing in the next couple weeks, it could be his spot that they are taking.

When he committed, he was set to be a top 6 and power play guy. Now, he would be potentially playing in the bottom 6. It could also be that he didn’t want to play for Michigan Techs coach and now that they have a new one he wants to come back.

He said that the player reached out to his agent within 2 hours of the news being broke on Friday. It’s also worth noting that he said the birth year of the player and DuPont is the year after the player he said. I do find it weird that Schloss has brought up DuPont a couple of times recently. He doesn’t name drop players too often that don’t want to come here.

On the open forward spot, he stated that he had no idea which direction they would go. Either direction they go, it will be a player they are really high on. He also said that if they are targeting a high end player, sharing the ice with Reschny and Verhoeff makes it that much easier to land one. I can honestly say that UND hockey is trending upwards. That’s something I haven’t been able to do in a few years.

Schloss said in his pod that an agent of a 2008 player stated to him that he wanted to go to UND immediately after the Reschny and Verhoeff news broke. It sounds like a top 2026 NHL draft eligible player has UND as his top choice. It sounds like a western Canadian player. He talks about it 29:00 - 31:00 minute mark of the pod.

There is going to be players that are simply not NCAA eligible and there will also be players that sign their ELC and play more games in the CHL. There is not a ton of buzz about these guys going to the NCAA. I don’t really see why a lot of these guys would wait until after the draft to commit if they are being picked outside of the top 5. Misa and Martone make sense because they could potentially make an NHL roster. Also, there probably is only 20/30 CHL draft eligible players that could make the jump to NCAA next year.

Michael Russo (Wild’s writer) said that Ritchie is going to BU in a podcast released today. He said look out for the official announcement this week. I would replace Penn State with BU in McKennas top 3. I do not see McKenna going outside of the state of Michigan. Outside of those two, I only see him entertaining traditional blue bloods.

I would love to add a top 6 winger and move James down to the third line with Littler and Menghini. Reschny is a great playmaker but needs to play with a “shot first” winger imo. I think Bryn is still big fish hunting and will use the remaining forward spot to make the group better instead of backloading it. xx - Reschny - Gordon Swanson - Rickwood - Zellers James - Littler - Menghini Croal - Kernan - Klee/Andrew

I wouldn’t be surprised if McKenna toured UND. Penn State is a weird fit because they aren’t a traditional program. Schloss said there isn’t any movement between McKenna and UND a couple of weeks ago but he also said McKenna was focused on the remainder of the CHL season. He probably will play at a Boston or Michigan school. I do not think anyone really knows where he’s going and any information about it is just to get clicks online.

I wonder if UND has any commitments in the near future. It seems like CHL recruiting has picked up a ton and UND has a forward spot open. Anyone have any ideas on who they are after? I believe most players report back to Grand Forks in July so I would expect another commit within a week or two.

Michigan, Michigan State, and Penn State?

I love Bryns aggressive style of recruiting. I do not think anyone thought that we would bring in a top defenseman like Verhoeff. I was expecting them to back fill and get a depth guy. I wonder if they will have the same approach for their remaining forward spot. Why bring in a freshman bottom 6/extra forward when you can make the team better by getting the best possible player?

Verhoeff will be given every opportunity to play significant minutes on this team. There will be lots of attention on him given that he could potentially go 2nd overall in the draft next year. The coaching staff also wouldn’t want a guy like that on their 3rd pair. My guess is that they play him with Wiebe or Livanavage. Two veteran defenseman that could cover up some of the mistakes that he will make early on.

Verhoeff will be given every opportunity to play significant minutes on this team. There will be lots of attention on him given that he could potentially go 2nd overall in the draft next year. The coaching staff also wouldn’t want a guy like that on their 3rd pair. My guess is that they play him with Wiebe or Livanavage. Two veteran defenseman that could cover up some of the mistakes that he will make early on.