beastandco

Kyle Turris is an interesting comp because of how high he went in the draft. I have seen scouts on twitter say McKamey is that type of guy. I think a UND comp would be Tyson Jost. Jost put up about a point per game in the BCHL the year before his draft year. I think McKamey could have done that if he stayed in that league. One thing about Turris and Jost, they had over 2 ppg in their draft years in the BCHL. McKamey has a lot of work to do to get to that point.

Who would be comparable to Eli McKamey as a recruit? I see mixed reviews about him on twitter. Some say he is a top player for his age, others have different opinions. I find him really hard to project as a college player because nobody has played in the BCHL at his age. He put up 31 points in 52 games this season, which is a little underwhelming.

Getting him to take a visit is half of the battle. Grav and Schloss mentioning him and North Dakota is a good sign. Schloss doesn’t name drop for no reason. Martone’s camp seems to be at least taking Bryn’s call. Out of all of the schools, the on-ice fit at UND is the best, in my opinion. He would be a 6 month rental but he would bridge the gap to some of our recruits coming in for the 26/27 season.

I have seen conflicting reports on PSU. Some say they are out, others say that they are the clear favorites. Penn State is currently full but I would assume they could make room for a player like Martone. Michigan has a spot open but they could be bringing in Hurlbert as he has recently left the NTDP. Michigan State has lost Howard and will be after him for sure. A few different things would have to break UND’s way for them to be in the mix.

A lot of these guys probably have the same advisors or advising agencies. He is in constant communication with advisors about their players, whether the player is 20 years old or 15. The work for the upcoming season is mostly done, he is just waiting on a very small group of players and what their decision will be. One thing to note is that UND has a massive advantage in this recruiting cycle because Bryn has been working with and scouting these players all year in the USHL. Most of the players available August 1st are the players that were eligible for the USHL draft.

Getting Verhoeff and Reschny for next year is looking better and better everyday. I did not think this many players would stay in juniors, especially after those two committed at the end of May.

I could see BC now that Carboneau went a different direction… but I have not seen anything about Martone to either Boston school. Have you?

I agree for the most part. It is really hard to recruit a player to come in and not have an opportunity to play significant minutes. Most, if not every, player in the portal would not crack our lineup most nights. It is also hard to steer a kid away from their CHL team if they are not going to play significant minutes for UND next year. That pretty much leaves you with three options: 1. Taking in a recruit early. This would take a recruit out of a better situation for their development. 2. Finding an unsigned/uncommitted player to instantly make your top 2/3 lines. There is probably less than 5-10 of these guys right now. I would also include 2026 draft eligible players here too. Maybe try flip a top recruit from another school and have him come a year early? 3. Find an unsigned/uncommitted guy that has aged out of juniors. At this point, most of these guys have already signed or committed to a college program.

Having an elite hockey program is very important to the university. Opting into the revenue sharing settlement is huge for us in recruiting, in my opinion. Hopefully administration looks at revenue sharing as an investment. If DuPont costs 500k, the amount of attention he will give the university is worth that price, in my opinion. You not only put more fans in the seats, but more eyes on the television. When you add up everything, I guarantee you that it would have a positive return on investment. It is a good way to advertise for the university and would be more affective than a billboards on I-29.

Roobroeck or Martone would be huge but both unlikely. I would love to get an OHLer for 26/27 to open the floodgates, at least. I have a feeling about a bat signal tomorrow. It’s only a matter of time. I just hope we find out before August 1st.

He is 9 months older than Verhoeff and also has nothing to prove in the CHL. He also has the frame to play in college hockey this year and potentially make the jump into the NHL next year. He checks every single box and should absolutely go to college. I think him and his agent would be foolish not to make the jump. Obviously you know that he’s been rumored to Michigan but they have A TON of centers right now. He’s definitely the best forward available after Martone.

Martone is the only guy available that would change the expectations that I have for this team next year. There’s a few unsigned players from previous drafts that would be happy with. Other than that, maybe get a guy like Robbroeck (or Lawrence) to come for their draft year. At this point, any of the above would be unlikely but I guess all it takes is one “yes.” I wouldn’t sleep on some of our underclassman like Swanson, Littler, and Kernan. Those guys could all be good players for us next year.

Was Lawrence between UND and Boston when he committed?

He would turn 18 in January of his freshman year. Potter, Horcoff, and Boumedienne all coincidentally turned 18 in January this season and were solid producers for their team. At this point in his development, McKamey is probably more highly regarded than those three.

This could very well be the case. I think a huge reason he picked UND was because they would let him come early. I bet they bring him in unless he obviously isn’t ready.

At lot can change in a year but it looks like we may only have one or two forward spots open to freshmen a year from now. I would love for Dayne Beuker to join Williams and McKamey as blue chip commits for 26/27.

Looking ahead a bit, are there any uncommitted names to keep an eye on for the future? I have seen Dayne Beuker mentioned on here before. Would he be a guy that makes the jump to college a year from now?

Random thought: Could UND use revenue sharing as a way to be competitive in recruiting? For example, could UND directly offer DuPont 250k to play for a season? I’m not saying they would do that but just wondering if that is possible.

I don’t think he plays the WHL season committed to an NCAA school. I do think he takes visits this summer/fall. Him and both of his parents follow UND hockey on instagram. I would be surprised if he doesn’t at least take a visit. He’ll get offered a ton of money, UND will have to be somewhat competitive in that category if they want to have a chance.

Whatever is going on behind the scenes, it doesn’t look like they are in panic mode. Steering a player away from their junior team is much easier when you can guarantee them ice time. At this point, there is not a ton of guys available that could play significant minutes at UND. Maybe there is a forward in the 2026 draft that wants to play college next year, like Cullen Potter did this year. I do not think he committed until mid-late summer.

It’s pretty much Martone or bust at this point. Bryn and Co will have to pull some strings with donors to make a somewhat competitive NIL offer. There’s too many hoops to go through to land Martone, I just don’t see it. Honestly, the loss of Isaac Gordon hurts more and more by the day. I trust what Bryn has cooked up though.

I respectfully disagree on Livanavage. He was a 2nd team all American last year and at times, the only bright spot in our lineup last year. There’s a reason why he was playing over half of the game some nights during the second half of the season. Other than him and Wiebe, we were shaky on the back end. Having Verhoeff, Livanavage, Emery, and Wiebe as a top 4 truly is elite on paper. Hopefully it translates to wins.

He just turned 17 two weeks ago. If he was in the States, I would say he probably wouldn’t be eligible until August 1st. I do not know if it makes a difference in Canada. I know their schooling is different than ours. UND seems like a heavy favorite to land him.

Half of the Big Ten have this schedule. I broke it down one day last year and North Dakota had played the same amount of out of conference tournament teams as 4/5 of the 7 big ten teams combined, including Minnesota. I believe Michigan and Michigan State had the only tough out of conference schedule. I really think the only difference between UND and some of the Big Ten schools that made the tournament was scheduling. Minnesota was BAD against teams in the tournament last year.