beastandco

I have heard 3, maybe 4.

Pahlsson, Gruba, Falloon, Begley, Clark, Rud, and Harris to the portal from Minnesota

We will likely know about 2 weeks from now if UND is targeting one of Carels, DuPont, and Rudolph. Bryn has had enough dialogue by now with the players and/or their advisors to know if UND is their school of choice, or in serious consideration. With the portal opening and closing within the next 9 days, we’ll know how many more freshman will be added next year based off of the remaining open spots after portal commits. Cam Robinson linked Carels to UND again on his podcast today, so that is encouraging.

Definitely a talented group. Hopefully there are no other significant pro signings. Unless roster caps change this offseason, there would only be the open forward spot. I expect a couple of players to hit the portal. If not, we might see a cut or two. I am really optimistic about this offseason. Bryn showed what he can do in matter of a couple months last offseason. Let’s see what he can do with a whole year.

Personally, I would put it somewhere much closer to Old Town. Half of the fans are going there before and/or after anyways.

The Gila River arena is in the worst part of town. Put an arena in a better part of town and hockey can work in the desert. Going to games in Glendale is a headache, imo.

I really do not want to see Michigan win it all. I can live with Denver or Wisconsin. I do like the “Big Ten has never won a national championship” bit. Hastings deserves one though.

We could’ve really used him on the power play this year.

Carels is number one priority, imo. He’s such a good player. Would be thrilled if he commits. UND really needs a right handed top 6 winger. Liam Ruck would fit that bill. The two defenseman power play unit was a tough watch most of the time. I do not like Verhoeff at the flank but he was probably the best right handed option.

It’ll be interesting to see how long this offseason drags out. Is it simply CHL players waiting until after the season to announce commitments? You have to imagine they are much further along in their recruitment compared to last year. I am really hoping Carels and other targets materialize.

Blake Fiddler

If would’ve told me that this team would end up being the number two overall seed in the NCAA tournament and playing in Vegas after the transfer portal opened up last spring, I would have said you’re nuts.

They’ll need to lose 5/6 forwards and a defenseman or two to make room for incoming freshmen. It’s crazy how many cuts have to be made just to get under the roster limit. You would think Larson wants a couple of open spots too.

I believe the three St. Cloud forwards are headed to Dinkytown. Henricks is probable. I imagine they are trying to lure a few veteran defensemen from the portal. Most of their offseason will consist of combining the two rosters/committed lists. They have to lose a few players to get to under the roster limit.

Burnevik, Hall, Roed, and Henricks are all but confirmed going with Larson to Minnesota. The GPL guys said 4 guys are going with and those were the 4 that they had mentioned.

I haven’t seen if it’s a Grimes decision or a Minnesota decision to decommit. I have heard Minnesota is actively trying to target a couple of established defensemen in the portal. One would think Larson will get his pick of St. Cloud’s current roster/commits as well.

An endowment makes sense but getting the money to the players can be difficult. I have seen a lot more NIL fundraising opportunities this year compared to years prior. I have heard what a couple of the football players are getting and it’s more than one would think. UND likely pays out a lot more for their hockey players. The 750k estimate from CHN is probably pretty accurate for UND’s NIL budget next year. I do think this staff could pull some strings behind the scenes to get a little more if they had to.

You have to think Dane keeps Kernan on the third line on Thursday, regardless of Ollie’s availability. Kernan has 16 points in his last 20 games. Ollie was great down the stretch too. I could see Kernan moving to wing with Ollie at center. Both are so underrated.

I’m not sure what he said but supposedly he considered going the USHL/NCAA route after he was drafted into the OHL. He even toured Michigan and Michigan State. I would imagine he would be one of the only first round picks playing juniors next year if he stays. It’ll be interesting to see how many players make the jump. I have a feeling the floodgates will open.

We will see if the money talks but the current state of Penn State’s roster next year will be a tough sell for these top guys. Gadowsky has his work cut out for him.

Top prospect Ethan Belchetz has recently followed UND hockey on instagram. Other schools are BU, Michigan, and Penn State. So three big dogs and Penn State. I expect him to be one of the forwards that makes the jump this offseason.

They have a few good defensemen coming in already, including Tommy Bleyl, Chase Reid, and Brady Peddle. I would look for them to lure a veteran defenseman out of the portal instead of adding another young gun.

I doubt the Ruck twins return the WHL after the year they are having. UND definitely has room with only Simpson, Brock Schultz, and probably Ashton Schultz coming next year. Lots of flexibility with quite a bit of talent available.

Suvanto and Command are arguably the two top draft eligible centers that are currently not committed to a college program. Both play in Europe under junior contracts. Command seems more likely to make the jump but who knows how likely that is. I would imagine UND has 1-2 “uncommitted” forwards they have in line for next year as they deferred or dropped Pilgrim and O’Neill within the last month. I doubt Bryn does that unless he has a couple of guys that will commit once their season ends. Pushing solid recruits back before you have commits lined up doesn’t make a ton of sense, in my opinion. Outside of the top draft eligibles, a large chunk of the CHL is either signed or committed already. The majority of players that are marginally better than Pilgrim and O’Neill are those top draft eligibles along with Cameron Schmidt and Jack Nesbitt. Chris Peters also mentioned that he thinks Bryn will be bringing in “even more firepower” in year 2 while previewing the frozen four.