beastandco

It looks like Martone is our only realistic option at this point out of the first round picks. The Flyers want him to play NCAA. Desnoyers is looking to make Utah but will either go to his junior team or BC. Maybe he doesn’t go to BC if Hagens returns as well? He models his game after Toews, maybe he’ll model his career path as well. I have not seen anything on McQueen going to college or returning to juniors. He could be an option. Zonnon follows a bunch of college teams on instagram, including UND, but he was traded in the QMJHL about a month ago so it looks like he’s returning and playing with Carbonneau, if he doesn’t sign with BC. All of the other first round picks that are forwards are returning to juniors, I believe. If UND is unable to get lucky on these remaining guys, they will have to find a uncommitted player from a previous draft class, bring in one of their committed guys early, or look to see if there are any guys that want to come in from the 2026 draft.

Unpopular opinion but the national media having Penn State as the favorites is hilarious. To me, they are in the 3-6 range and aren’t at the level of MSU or BU. McKenna, Fink, and Smith are great players but a lot of teams have high end guys. Luke Misa and Gadowski are good pieces but they have some question marks. I think they are closer to North Dakota than they are to Michigan State, imo.

It’s seems like Michigan has been tied to all of these guys but they haven’t been able to close. McKenna was considered a Michigan lock back in April. Nobody had Penn State in the mix on McKenna until a few weeks ago. Things can change fast. He still most likely ends up in the Big Ten, but UND being mentioned this late is a good sign. Michigan already has a pretty full top 6 and if Martone ended up there, it would crack me up to see Perron on the third line.

I think Howard signs if they trade his rights to a team that he could play right away. Since the draft has already occurred, it is definitely less likely that his rights are dealt and he signs. If Penn State is really out on Martone, it will be a battle of the blue bloods to get him. I expect him to go to a team with a high quality center. Michigan, North Dakota, Boston College, and Michigan State make a lot of sense. He is the exact player UND needs to fill their roster.

Agreed. Schloss knew exactly what he was doing by firing off that tweet. He doesn’t name drop unless there is some truth to it. From what I have seen, Penn State was full before McKenna and will have to make room. Martone would make two spots that would have to be opened up. Obviously you do that for a player like that. Regarding Michigan, they made a few moves last week that may have filled most of their roster up. They also have some high end recruits that I would be hard to push to the bottom 6.

It sounds like McKenna will officially commit tomorrow. I wonder if the floodgates will open a little bit now that he is off of the board. I would guess all parties involved want to figure out where players are playing next year as soon as possible. Hopefully Bryn has something up his sleeve

I think he has two years of junior eligibility and we probably would just take on a player already committed to UND at that point. He definitely wouldn’t commit for next years team, imo.

Reading that Penn State will have to push back a recruit for McKenna. Layne Loomer is the guy that will get sent back to juniors supposedly. If they also add Martone, they will have to push another back. This is something to watch out for.

Good point. How are these guys going to treat an NCAA regional game? Especially when they know they will join their NHL team hours after their final college game. This could explain how the Big Ten teams haven’t won in the past decade.

I have read that the Flyers want him to go the college route. Penn State has been rumored for months and now he is drafted to a team that is a couple hundred miles away. If Penn State isn’t the team, UND could have a real chance. He still probably ends up in the Big Ten.

If there wasn’t any traction, he wouldn’t say anything. He doesn’t want his mentions filled with Martone speculation for no reason. He knows that fans will take any Martone to UND talk and run with it. He probably heard something through the grapevine and planted the seed. There is still no reason to believe that Martone is going to UND, but we might be on the short list of teams that he would consider.

UND will be able to funnel a lot of money into their hockey team via revenue sharing. Big Ten schools pay other sports like football and basketball before they get to hockey. Since revenue sharing is capped, UND’s budget will likely be higher than a lot of competitors because of hockey is the focus of UND athletics.

I agree with everything you stated but I think it’s worth noting that Reschny and Verhoeff didn’t come here without any NIL money. They definitely could have left some money on the table but I do think UND is more competitive in the NIL landscape than people realize. They aren’t competing with Penn State, Michigan, and Michigan State but I don’t think they land Reschny, Verhoeff, and Williams if they are offering a fraction of other schools. The only reason why these kids are considering Penn State is because of money and it’s a joke to me. I don’t think Penn State has one player currently in the NHL. I do think it is a red flag for a prospect for them to choose Penn State when there is no tradition, winning history, and notable alums.

Just read something about the Flyers’ assistant GM stating that he will talk to Martone about the college route within the next couple of weeks. Says he has a ton of offers, I’m sure UND is one of them. Penn State seems like the likely landing spot but stranger things have happened. Outside of Martone and McKenna, there might only be a couple of commitments. I still think we would’ve filled our roster with older CHL players already if we weren’t in on some of the top players from this draft.

Between the draft, development camps, and 4th of July festivities, it is not surprising that there hasn’t been any new notable commitments. There hasn’t been any word on who UND is even after in the last month or so. Since they still have open spots and it’s July, I would expect to hear a commitment or two in the next couple of weeks.

I think what we are seeing is Canadian prospects taking the path of least resistance. Staying in juniors is a path that has already been paved. There also is the element of them stabbing their junior teams in the back as well as hockey Canada, which I understand. Victoria hasn’t handled the loss of Reschny and Verhoeff well. I don’t think they understand how much better college hockey is on and off of the ice. From what I have read online, it seems like a lot of the first rounders from this year’s draft are going back to juniors. That could also be Canadian media being out of touch or biased.

“Manitoban and left winger Carter Bear, who went No. 13 overall to Detroit, has indicated to NCAA teams that he intends to play for Tri-City in the WHL this season. Bear's uncle, Darren, played college at UND. He overlapped with Jackson for one season.“ Here is the quote from Schloss this week. Things could obviously change but it looks like he is returning to juniors.

Schloss had said in his weekly column that Bear has informed NCAA teams that he will return to juniors. My guess is that he signs his ELC and takes the 95k signing bonus instead of keeping his NCAA eligibility.

Something to watch in the coming weeks is if Carter Bear signs his ELC. If he stays unsigned, the possibility of him coming to UND for 26/27 stays alive.

Brooks’ production is underwhelming, especially for being committed to one of college hockey’s elites. I believe the younger Cullens are two of the best Americans in their age group. We will see what happens.

I just read a little bit about his plans for next year and when he was asked about college during development camp he said that he plans to work as hard as he can this summer to be in Long Island. It does not really seem like college is in play. With that being said, a year of college would be best for his development, imo.

We need 2-3 forwards to stay four years in every class and he is a guy that can come in with limited expectations and find a role for himself. We saw Michigan do this with Luca Fantilli and they were able to get Adam as well. Regarding Schaefer, I heard he might go to Denver as a Zeev replacement. NCAA is good for defenseman development and there is no rush to win in Long Island. He could use a year in college after playing half of the year last season.

There might be more players than we realize that do not make it to campus. I would be surprised if Pilgrim makes it unless he waits until he ages out of juniors. We will likely go hard after a couple of forwards in next year’s transfer window as we only have Menghini for that class. Hopefully we do not lose any underclassman forwards to the portal that are in our top 9. If we can get one or two of DuPont, Carels, Rudolph, or Lin that would be a win. It will be a busy summer/fall for Bryn on the recruiting trail for defenseman. I believe we only have Lindberg on our committed list for defenseman. There will be lots of turnover after this year for defenseman as a few guys will turn pro.