beastandco

Desnoyers must be super recent because I swear I had looked within the last week on his account and Bryn did not follow him.

I hope Verhoeff goes into that locker room and talks about how great his first couple of weeks have been at UND.

I think top programs will have more recruiting leverage than they ever have. The bluest of the blue chips will be able to play the field but if they are not one of those guys, I think it would be in their best interest to commit to a blue blood early. There is only so many spots for recruits on blue bloods and the recruiting pool just doubled.

I must’ve missed that one, thank you. He’s definitely a blue chip.

It’s going to be interesting to see how many late 2007 and 2008 CHL targets commit before their season starts. Cooper Williams and Pierce Mbuyi are the two most notable players that have already committed, unless I am missing someone. There is a ton of talent left on the board. I know players that were already committed are making the jump to the CHL, like McKamey. I still think we might be a couple of years away from top Canadian recruits playing in Canada while being committed to an NCAA program.

As a lot of you know, Schloss had stated in a podcast that a 2008 birthdate player told his agent that he wants to go to UND after the Verhoeff and Reschny commitments. It has been speculated that it was Carson Carels. I would say this list almost confirms it, or at least it would be one of these four.

I don’t hate bringing in Simpson if the vision for him is to play on a scoring line. You cannot have Simpson play limited minutes with his skill set. He also is a left handed winger and we already have a ton of those.

Unless we get a blue chip, I would rather roll the dice with a commit we already have. Only a handful of guys would realistically make this team better next season. We could also see players like Menghini or Swanson take huge steps. I don’t hate having Schultz come in early and play a limited role if the alternative is a player with a similar skill set from the CHL. I just do not want to make a lateral move just to get a guy or make the move the gophers did yesterday.

I hope I’m wrong but I think Roobroeck and Lawrence would have already committed if they were going to. If I’m Bryn, I’m pushing hard for Lawrence. An eye for an eye.

I would expect Martone to make a decision soon. I assume the back up plan is to bring in recruits early. I doubt many uncommitted players are okay with being UND’s back up plan for next year.

Desnoyers is an interesting one because BC has Hagens down the middle already. I doubt either player wants to move over to the wing or wants to play on the second line as a top 7 pick. Martone would be a better fit for BC because they lost out on Carbonneau last week. Bryn must have something up his sleeve. It’s crazy that nobody has an idea who is going to fill the last two roster spots in the middle of July. He has to have some reason to believe that one of these guys can end up here.

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?