beastandco

The bat signal has officially retired. What a run. Probably for the best, though.

Undersized center that plays very physical and wins a ton of draws. Bryn and Smaby must have loved him at Waterloo.

Any guesses?

I think we are seeing a lot of teams, like UND, go out and get their local guys early. Most of the top guys are still on the board. I do not see the benefit of the top players committing this early unless it’s their “dream school.”

Hand up, I don’t pay as much attention to some of the lower tier NCHC teams as maybe I should. That being said, I feel like I would maybe switch CC and Duluth. Duluth could be very sneaky in my eyes. I would be surprised if Max Plante wasn’t up for NCHC forward of the year. They have a few other nice pieces returning from last year as well.

Agreed. Hopefully they lined up a couple of recruiting visits during the week.

A lot can happen between now and when the player steps foot on campus. A commitment does not mean much for the player or school until the player steps foot on campus. A few guys on our committed list will not play for UND, whether that is their choice or not. Dane’s message at his opening press conference was clear; get guys that bleed green and white. A guy like Penner may not be flashy, but he has four years to develop into a UND hockey player. If he doesn’t, at least they are making an effort to keep recruiting somewhat local.

I have absolutely zero clue who this one will be… Really hoping it’s one of the Hlinka Canadian defensemen

Happy Tuesday!

Solid start to this recruiting cycle with tons of high end talent still uncommitted. Getting guys like Grubb and DeMars are important to keep recruiting somewhat local. Now time to get aggressive on some of the top Canadian and NTDP players. The next bat signal will be interesting. There isn’t an obvious target, like Grubb, on the board.

Puck Preps has Grubb as the 43rd ranked NA skater for his age. Very solid get, imo.

He’ll be a CHL guy. He most likely went on a visit this weekend before their camp starts next week. Probably not a high profile 2008. They will probably wait until the season is over and field NIL offers. I hope I’m wrong.

I have a good feeling about this one

I believe it was up at the end of last season. CBSSN wanted schools to pay a larger portion of production costs so the schools pulled out.

Anyone have any information on Freddie Schneider? I believe he just followed Bryn on instagram. He does not follow any other accounts related to college hockey teams.

DeMars just turned 16. We likely won’t see him for 3 years unless he has a breakout year. He could’ve been in next year’s cycle.

Yes

It’s DeMars

USHL and CHL training camps start in about 10 days. I would be surprised if any CHL blue chips commit during the season. If that is the case, we could be waiting until next spring to get decisions from Carels, Preston, etc. If Carels waits until next spring, I like our chances with him. Especially if we lose Livanavage and Wiebe. He is somewhat local and his sister also plays hockey at Jamestown. It would be nice to add a couple of recruits before the season starts.

Valentini going to Michigan this year makes me think that Eli McKamey is guaranteed to come in next year unless he has a rough year in the WHL. I know that him coming in next year has always been the plan. If we don’t bring him in early, someone else will.

Adam Valentini, projected mid-late 1st round pick in 2026, will play this season with Michigan. He was already committed but has decided to come in early. This is a very interesting move.

This might be one of the worst lists I have ever seen. So many head scratchers.

One or two of the five mentioned above will stay in juniors for another year. O’Neil needs a big year to make the jump. If all five of these come in, that still projects to be a good freshman class, imo. That being said, I think Bryn will mix it up a little bit to get his guys. He’ll want to get a guy or two to solidify the class. There are a ton of studs still out there, including Preston. I’m guessing he takes five freshmen and using the portal to fill any early departures.