beastandco

McKenna waiting until mid to late July could play in UND’s favor. If a few teams have belief that McKenna could land there, they will likely be less aggressive recruiting other players. I really think a lot of these guys will commit within a of couple weeks. I’m sure they have completed most of their recruiting process and they are just waiting for their NHL team to sign off on their decision. Realistically, how many other teams can offer what UND can in terms of opportunity to grow as a player around other high level prospects? There is a wide open spot in our top 6 with two of James, Zellers, Reschny, Swanson, and Rickwood as your line mates. It seems like a great situation for both the player and NHL team.

A couple of weeks ago on this thread, someone had stated to me that Cootes would be the perfect fit and I agree. Based off of social media, I think Reschny is somewhat close with him so that helps a lot. I really like Cootes and Brady Martin. One of those two would be perfect fits, in my opinion.

There could be a wave of commitment flips as well. I think we’ll see UND’s roster shape up shortly after the draft. I can already see the Schloss headline of “UND Lights Fireworks By Landing…” on July 4th.

A lot of very good points here. I just have a hard time believing that Bryn and Co do not have a good idea who is coming in for the last two spots right now.

I agree. I know Reschny has to do some extra work this summer to become eligible this fall. There are a lot of guys I’m sure that are not eligible and also a lot of guys that will stay loyal to their junior teams. I know hockey Canada isn’t a big fan of college hockey and a lot of these kids want to be on the world juniors team this winter. I’m expecting Schloss to drop a podcast this week previewing the draft and giving an update on UND’s open spots. He hasn’t said much about the two open spots at forward.

Decommitments are bound to happen anyways. In UND’s case, I don’t think there is a recruit quite ready to make the jump to college hockey that isn’t already coming in. Simpson will likely go in the 3rd/4th round but is very raw. Schultz will go late and would really benefit from a year or two in juniors. It doesn’t make sense for either of those guys to come in this year. Outside of McKenna, I feel like there is very little buzz about anyone else coming over from the CHL. As much as I want a Kindel, Cootes, or Schmidt, there is no indication that NCAA is on their radar.

It could be chaos. I think a lot of teams are competing for 5-10 guys. Most blue bloods have one or two spots open. I don’t think every team will get one or two high end guys. They just do not want to fill their roster and throw away their lottery ticket. I do think we see a wave of commitments in the next few weeks.

It looks like the poll was conducted throughout the season, I think that is worth noting. The 34% that said no could and likely does include players that are ineligible to play college because they play in European pro leagues. Out of the top 50 prospects, I would guess that there is about 10 players that will commit for college next year that are currently uncommitted. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was much more or less.

They have recently deferred a forward. He is projected to barely get drafted this year. They now have two forward spots open. This is like us deferring O’Neill, I wouldn’t read into it much. I just don’t think they have much to attract a CHL kid. Their defensive core is very weak. Their best defenseman would be third pair on UND. Their forwards are currently decent, at best.i just don’t see a stud committing to the gophers to play with Ziemer and Lamb on the first line. They also have zero connections to the CHL. Even before Reschny and Verhoeff, UND had ties to Western Canada. They will eventually adapt; but this year might be a tough one for the gophers.

I listened to Drew Shore’s podcast with Bryn Chyzyk as a guest. Bryn stated that UND has a roster spot open and a lot of the top prospects are waiting until after the draft to make their decisions. I believe it was recorded sometime early June before Gordon’s decommitment because he said “one roster spot open.” I know this was talked about a lot but hearing it from him confirms that UND will probably be quiet until after the draft. He must have some traction on a player or two because it is a gamble to wait this late when players are committing left and right it seems like.

It will be interesting to see what the staff comes up with. I could see Rickwood being net front on the first unit because of his size unless we pick up a forward with size. For what I have seen and read about Verhoeff, he has a heavy shot. It wouldn’t surprise me to see two defenseman on the first unit.

I am as well. We could really use a right shot flank on the first powerplay in the next couple of weeks.

I haven’t seen anything about him coming in. I know he was at Chicago Steel’s camp this summer. Recent mock drafts have him going in rounds 6-7. It wouldn’t surprise me if he played two more years in juniors. As of now, we have a somewhat full freshman class of forwards coming on campus in 2026. It wouldn’t surprise me if a couple were pushed back to make room for CHL players. Unrelated to Schultz, it wouldn’t surprise me to see UND drop a couple of commitments because they are not guys that Bryn recruited.

I think a lot of internal problems come to light anyways because of how much of a spotlight there is on the hockey team in Grand Forks. I do think you have to read between the lines with some of the information that Schloss gives out. He will plant seeds on the scoops that he has. It’s surprises me that the Boston schools are reportedly not in the mix. Especially Boston University because players like Celebrini and Eichel went there for their draft years and dominated. Denver would make a lot of sense because he’ll be getting coached by an NHL caliber coach. There’s no way that the Boston schools haven’t kicked tires. McKenna probably just doesn’t have significant interest.

It’s interesting that him and Mikey Berchild follow each other. I wonder if he tried or has been trying to flip him.