beastandco

It will be interesting to see what the staff comes up with. I could see Rickwood being net front on the first unit because of his size unless we pick up a forward with size. For what I have seen and read about Verhoeff, he has a heavy shot. It wouldn’t surprise me to see two defenseman on the first unit.

I am as well. We could really use a right shot flank on the first powerplay in the next couple of weeks.

I haven’t seen anything about him coming in. I know he was at Chicago Steel’s camp this summer. Recent mock drafts have him going in rounds 6-7. It wouldn’t surprise me if he played two more years in juniors. As of now, we have a somewhat full freshman class of forwards coming on campus in 2026. It wouldn’t surprise me if a couple were pushed back to make room for CHL players. Unrelated to Schultz, it wouldn’t surprise me to see UND drop a couple of commitments because they are not guys that Bryn recruited.

I think a lot of internal problems come to light anyways because of how much of a spotlight there is on the hockey team in Grand Forks. I do think you have to read between the lines with some of the information that Schloss gives out. He will plant seeds on the scoops that he has. It’s surprises me that the Boston schools are reportedly not in the mix. Especially Boston University because players like Celebrini and Eichel went there for their draft years and dominated. Denver would make a lot of sense because he’ll be getting coached by an NHL caliber coach. There’s no way that the Boston schools haven’t kicked tires. McKenna probably just doesn’t have significant interest.

It’s interesting that him and Mikey Berchild follow each other. I wonder if he tried or has been trying to flip him.

Interesting, he also follows Bryn on instagram. After UND fills their last two forward spots, I think Carels could be the next domino to fall. He would be a great Livanavage replacement in a year. I believe he is eligible to commit at any time.

The only thing that worries me about UND’s chances of DuPont coming is that him and Verhoeff are both right shots. Obviously that is a good problem to have but there might be a road block there. They could be the two best defensemen in college hockey after this year and playing on the same team on the same side seems unlikely.

I believe we are in the mix on him. I think he’s the guy that Schloss talked about in his recent pod. If you don’t listen to the pod, Schloss stated that a 2008 born player told his agent that UND is where he wanted to go to school. Carels fits the birth year stated and is in Western Canada. He also follows UND on instagram, for what it’s worth. Even though it’s early, I do think UND is heavily in the mix with DuPont. Schloss has name dropped him a couple of times recently and he doesn’t really do that if there is not any traction.

Are most of the blue bloods in a similar spot as UND with a couple of spots open? I know Minnesota has one roster spot open but I’m not sure about other schools. Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, BU, BC, and Denver seem to be connected to every player. Not every player can go to these schools. I assume they all are nearly full at this point, minus one or two roster spots. If there still is a lot of players coming over, UND’s chances of landing some of these guys have to be high, right?

I wonder if Canadian NHL teams will be more reluctant to send their prospects to college this year. In my biased opinion, there is not a lot of teams that can offer what UND has in terms of quality of line mates and resources for development. I saw the other day that UND has the third ranked freshman class in the country and we still have more to add. Getting another blue chip in the coming weeks would create so much buzz and excitement for next year. I think if there are no commitments from now until the draft, it will be a good sign that UND will likely pick up another first round pick. There has been a lot of good CHL commitments lately to schools that are less desirable than UND. It seems like UND is big fish hunting.

Ryder Ritchie officially commits to BU. No surprise there

Good for the program, bad for the pockets of students. UND will allocate a large portion of their revenue sharing budget to their hockey team. A lot of big ten programs will get outbid by UND’s hockey revenue sharing package because they are allocating 80-90% to their football programs. After the football team takes their cut, the basketball team is next. Most big ten hockey programs will not see a significant amount of money for revenue sharing because it’s capped at $20.5 million. UND will pay a fraction of that but a large portion will go to the hockey team. The hockey team being good is good for enrollment and the university’s wellbeing as a whole. In order to pay for this, administration will increase tuition.

Reschny and Cootes both had a great u18 tournament about a month ago. I am not sure if they played on the same line during the tournament but I am sure they are familiar with each other. Schlossman said in an article last week that the Reschny and Verhoeff commitments could be a domino effect with other players from Western Canada in the future. I am sure Reschny is in communication with other Canadian players about potentially coming to North Dakota, especially when he is spending a ton of time around them at the combine last week.

Littler, Rickwood, Klee, and Kernan all have pretty big frames. I cannot speak for Littler, but I know the other three have been good in the faceoff circle before they came here. I know Boisvert played some wing early last season and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Reschny and/or another CHL guy start at wing and gradually move over to center as the season progresses. I just think back to the 23/24 season and we had McLaughlin playing center because he was our only option. We have five centers on the roster right now but only Reschny and Rickwood can play top 6. If one of those guys is hurt or is struggling to win faceoffs, it would be nice to have a guy step in that is a legit top 6 player.

Cootes seems like a great fit. If we were to get a forward from the dub, I would be ecstatic with him or Kindel. Schmidt’s size concerns me a bit but he is a good player. I think Rickwood is our best faceoff guy so I would be surprised if we moved him to wing. I beleive he was at 57% last year. The downside of Rickwood is that he had one great year with Clarkson and that might not translate to the NCHC. Looking back at a few line charts from last year and Littler played a ton of wing and is a right shot. The staff could view him as a wing. At this point, it might be in their best interest to target a center and juggle the lines around. Winning faceoffs with this young forward group concerns me a little bit but having more options would be ideal.

I looked at uncommitted right shot wingers and the pool is rather thin. Outside of Cameron Schmidt and Benjamin Kindel, there doesn’t seem to be an obvious top 6 winger in the WHL. I wonder if Bryn would bring in another center and move someone to the wing. You can never have too many players that can play center. It wouldn’t surprise me if they brought in a center and move someone to the wing until an injury inevitably happens.

Is there any chance they bring in a player that is already committed? I would imagine that whoever they add will have to be a better player than Schultz or Simpson for this year.

There probably is a short list of draft eligible players and a short list of aged out CHL players. My guess is we take one of the each. We could use a top 6 right handed wing. Cameron Schmidt and Ben Kindell are two names that come to mind.

I think we see a wave of commitments next week from the players at the combine. Players and agents will have a good understanding of where teams stand on their future plans. It is probably a main topic that they talk about in interviews at the combine. Unless a player is pushing for a roster spot in the NHL next year, I do not see an advantage for them to wait until after the draft. I also do not see teams waiting on prospects until the middle of July. Players return to campus after the 4th and I’m assuming they would want their roster filled by then. It’s risky for both the players and college programs because spots are filling up at top programs.

A lot of people care about UND hockey in area. I am not sure how legal this would be but could Hakstol pay a player through the collective? He bleeds green and wants to see this program succeed. I believe he is close with Dane as well. Verhoeff and Reschny definitely are getting paid. I would be surprised if it was not six figures given that the going rate for first rounders is about six figures.

He would have to beat out two of Strinden, Menghini, Swanson, Zellers, and James for top 6 ice time on the wing. That is not including anyone else that we are brining in through the CHL. If he struggled to get into the top 6 this year, it would only be harder for him in the future. Out of that group, we are only losing Strinden and James while gaining McKamey, Williams, Schultz, and Simpson for the year after potentially. I anticipate someone getting pushed back a year or changing their commitment. He probably was second guessing his decision and the news last Friday was icing on the cake. You could have penciled him into our top 6 and first powerplay a month ago, now he would be on the second unit and potentially on the third or fourth line.

Wheeler on Martin: “Martin was a steady riser this year for scouts despite missing a chunk of the year to a tendon injury from blocking a shot. He finished the season with 34 points in 39 regular-season games, playing 18-19 minutes per game on a deep Spokane team. He also had a really strong playoffs for them. Martin is a center with good outside speed and a very quick first few steps who took defenders wide consistently this season despite having a bit of a splay at his ankles. He plays with pace and hustle. He’s strong in the faceoff circle and contributed on both special teams, including a prominent role on Spokane’s penalty kill. He works hard, plays in the guts of the ice, is always scanning and reading/anticipating, stays around chances and the puck because of it, can play in give-and-gos and has enough secondary skill and good game smarts. He’s just a good, versatile player and gamer who plays between the dots and finds ways to influence a game.“

Half of those prospects are already committed. Definitely a clickbait article

I believe he scored 7 goals in the CCHA last year. Anything above that in the NCHC would have been a bonus. Leaving MTU, committing to UND, and heading back to MTU in a month’s time is very odd unless he caught wind of a new UND commit or hated the previous MTU coach that much. My guess, it’s a combination of both.

Seems like a Friday thing. I am not sure if it happens this Friday because of the combine unless it’s a player that is not attending