beastandco

I’m assuming Bryn has been around there for most, if not all of the tournament. UND is already represented there. Dane showing face is, at the very least, a nice gesture for potential recruits and their families. I doubt he’d go down there unless they were pretty far along in the recruitment of a player(s) if Bryn is already there. They are probably looking at Carels and a European forward, like you said. That’s really all that is left to recruit in the tournament.

In last night’s press conference, Dane mentioned he is going down to St. Paul today to recruit some of the players when asked if he will be watching Canada tonight. It’s pretty significant for a head coach to make a recruiting trip in between game weeks, in my opinion.

Sneaky four point game for Rickwood. He’s been a stud this year. I also wouldn’t mind seeing more of Kernan. I just don’t know who you play him over. He’s going to be a good player.

Is Stenberg on a similar contract? I noticed he has followed UND hockey on instagram within the last couple of months. He also follows BC, BU, and Michigan. It seems like he has some interest in college hockey but I am not sure if he’s eligible.

He’s referring to multiple guys, which those two have been pretty linked to UND. The pool of uncommitted/eligible players is not very big at this this tournament, especially if you narrow it down to just players playing in juniors.

It could be. Suvanto plays pro Europe so I am not sure if he’s eligible. With the current state of the NCAA, anything is possible. I would guess they are referring to a CHL player. They are pretty tapped into CHL prospects.

According to Cam Robinson and Chris Peters, there are whispers around the world juniors tournament about guys going to North Dakota next year along with MacKenzie. I’m guessing he’s talking about Carels and maybe others. He states this around the 31 minute mark of this podcast today. Also good insight on MacKenzie’s draft stock in there too. Sounds like he probably goes in the first two rounds.

Livanavage and Wiebe will be back tomorrow night according to Schloss if all goes as planned. UND booked them an earlier flight.

If all of the world juniors guys come back for next year, that team could be special.

Solid addition. It seems like the new staff is really prioritizing elite skaters. Ollie, MacKenzie, and now Klimpke are all great skaters. He’s having a really solid year and will have another year of juniors to get better. Similar to MacKenzie, he stated that he will play another year of juniors before he comes to campus. This probably means that UND is still looking to add a defenseman for next season. Carels, DuPont, etc. will probably be gone before Klimpke gets to campus if they land one of them. Lots of flexibility still.

Listening to “Called Up the Prospects Podcast” with Cam Robinson and Chris Peters and they project Ethan MacKenzie as 2nd/3rd round pick this year with 1st round upside if he has a good world juniors.

Williams will naturally get bigger over the next 9 months but he’ll definitely need to put on 5-10 extra pounds to be ready for college, whether that’s next year or the year after. Being over 6 feet and under 160 ponds is very lean. Bryn stated in his press conference this week that he will be at the World Juniors over break. I would guess that he primarily is supporting current players or committed recruits but it also is a good opportunity for him to interact with Carels, Steiner, etc. while they are away from their CHL teams. Having Reschny, Verhoeff, and MacKenzie certainly does not hurt his ability to recruit some of the uncommitted Canadians.

I still think Carels ends up at UND if there is a spot available. There is a non zero chance that one of Livanavage or Wiebe returns for their senior season. If both are gone, which is likely, there is a clear opening in the top 4 for him to play with Verhoeff or Emery. I highly doubt any of the top Canadian targets commit before their season is done. Especially after Schloss said in a podcast last week that he has heard that none of the top WHL defenseman are far along in their college recruiting and close to committing somewhere. UND will have a way better idea of who is gone next year before their recruitment ramps up.

I would be somewhat surprised if they didn’t bring in Williams next year. He will likely be a top 45 pick and has been more productive than any other forward recruit outside of Simpson. Having 10 underclassmen this year may limit their flexibility this offseason if they all return. Reschny is probably the only guy that could potentially sign.

This means nothing but I saw someone had Simpson as a late first rounder in a 2025 redraft. He is going to be a really good player if his game matures.

Pilgrim does not age out of juniors after this year and will likely have stay for another year. It wouldn’t shock me if he went to another team if he gets pushed back.

Yes, he went through all of current recruits. He said that O’Neil will probably play another year of juniors. I believe when talking about O’Neil is when he stated they will probably opt for a player that has the ability to play higher in the lineup to fill the last spot or two. Every recruit except for Brock Schultz can go back to juniors for at least a year. In O’Neil’s case, he can play two if needed. Paraphrasing here but it is also worth noting that Dane Jackson said on the ECH podcast today that there will be a lot difficult decisions on who to take and when to take them for recruiting in the future because of the expanded player pool.

Lots of recruiting talk on Schloss’ pod today. He said he envisions UND will have to add a defenseman this offseason. He specifically mentioned Carels, DuPont, Lin, and Rudolph. He mentioned that he has not heard that any of them are close to committing or far along in their college recruitment. On forward, he mentioned that they will likely try add a player for next year that will have the ability to play up in the lineup through the CHL or portal. He mentioned Simpson and Brock Schultz as definitely coming next year, Ashton Schultz as probably coming next year, and Sanderson and Williams as maybe coming next year.

He was barely eligible by a week or two the first time he entered the draft. There is only about a 1.5 month difference in age between Logan Hensler and MacKenzie. Charlie Cerrato was a mid 2nd round pick last year after being passed up in his previous two drafts. With that being said, Cerrato played in the NCAA and was one of the better freshman in the country. Jake Livanavage was on the NCHC all freshman team before going undrafted in his D+2. Mackenzie is a little bigger than Livanavage so he will likely get drafted in the later rounds. I do not see him going in the Cerrato range because of his age, size, and level of competition.

Corey Pronman has Gavin McKenna at number 4 on his updated draft board. I seriously wonder if he plays another year of college hockey and how that affects his NIL deal. I cannot imagine Penn State’s boosters see this as money well spent.

Ethan MacKenzie getting drafted this year would be a huge benefit for UND. His NHL team would have his rights for 4 years instead of NHL teams offering him ELCs every offseason if he remains undrafted. He won’t have NHL teams trying to sign him every offseason like Jake Livanavage or Caleb McDonald.

Looking into the Spengler Cup and I find it hard to believe that Livanavage and Wiebe will not be playing the Mercyhurst series. Their last guaranteed game is on Decembers 28th. If they make it to the finals, their game will start at 5:00 am central time on December 31st. I think at the very least they could get back at 24 hours before puck drop if need be. I would be very surprised if they weren’t at least available to play. If they play in the finals, they’ll have 55+ hours to get back.

Denver seems like the best fit. I would be surprised if they did not get a high end defenseman this offseason to fill the Pohlkamp role. In terms of UND, they are probably kicking tires on some of the right shot defenseman. If both Emery and Verhoeff return next year, which I think is likely, they’ll probably focus on Carson Carels.