[Prospective Recruits]

10 hours ago, tnt said:

My point is that he produced at the next level and his recruitment wasn’t based on huge numbers in high school, at least his second recruitment.  He played half that year at age 19, was defenseman of the year, led the league in +/-, and led defensemen in goals and points, as well as being on a team that won the championship, so I think most teams would take a player that has produced like that in a league where they actually play defense. He hasn’t played well in college, but that is the case with most players who were studs on their junior teams.   

I actually like Gruba, had a really nice 20 year old year. Could be a nice college upperclassman. 

[Prospective Recruits]

3 hours ago, nascar99 said:

I take Minnesota HS production & HS players in general with a massive grain of salt because there's a relatively large hype train that comes from MN HS Hockey that overinflates player quality. Many guys do in fact turn out & become great in the NCAA or even the NHL, but many do not. I remember Ryder Donovan, Nick Pierre, Blake Biondi, Max Strand, Jack Peart and many others being overhyped as recruits/NHL prospects simply because of their HS prestige/résumé. Teddy Townsend and Leo Gruba are two current Gophers that have been overrated simply because of them being damn good MN HS players.

100%

[Prospective Recruits]

1 minute ago, nascar99 said:

I generally take every player (especially in Minnesota) with a grain of salt until they start producing in junior, especially at younger ages in junior. Yes, junior production doesn't always translate, but it's certainly a good indicator when you can adjust from lower levels to a higher level and produce quickly.

Completely agree. At the bantam ages there are kids that grew early that dominate, others are late bloomers so simply playing high end aaa is an elite feat in itself. By juniors, they’re all grown for the most part, that’s when it matter the most.

[Prospective Recruits]

On 2/8/2026 at 12:22 AM, cberkas said:

Parker McMillian and Madden Daneault (his brothers are going to Merrimack) hope are on Bryn's short list

Both are very good. Both grew extremely early so that has a part in their gaudy stats. As far as McMillian goes, he already is about 6’2” so he may be the bigger prize.

when looking at the WHL rankings (for what’s they’re worth  ) remember, they’re missing a ton of great US players. The 2011 group out of MN is absolutely stacked.

[UND @ Duluth]

The penalties have killed us…but our lack of any sort of offense is concerning 

[UND @ Duluth]

My gut says sweep, brain says split 

[Prospective Recruits]

On 2/1/2026 at 2:06 PM, yzerman19 said:

 

I would assume he’ll be a top target among that birth year/class.

[Prospective Recruits]

17 hours ago, ChadR said:

What is the scouting report on Ayven Hontvet from Warroad? Is he a recruiting target?

He’s always been significantly bigger than everyone, even as a youngster. Even hit puberty before basically everyone. Really smart player, athleticism would be the biggest question mark. As someone else said…seeing him play Junior may be important.

[COMMITTED UND Recruits]

1 hour ago, Wilbur said:

Its going to take me a while to get used to the WHL commits.  I thought Jundt would have more success in Calgary.  Got some more time to grow as he's only an 08 I guess.

Tough league 

[COMMITTED UND Recruits]

45 minutes ago, .357 said:

Not doubting his high talent, but curious why other big schools weren't after him if he is so good, only UND & UMD.

I’m guessing it was fairly known where he wanted to go. Advisors do the work in the background 

[COMMITTED UND Recruits]

5 hours ago, beastandco said:

When doing his recruiting list this summer, Schloss was asking around about some of the defenseman on the NTDP U17 team. One scout said “You haven’t even asked about the best one yet.” That being Beck Thoreson. There is some room for interpretation on what exactly he meant by that.

Diego will probably be a lottery pick in 2027. Speculating about where Beck will get drafted is premature. A lot can happen over the next couple of years. He’s still an exciting get for the future.

Thoreson is a high ender for sure, I wasn’t doubting that for a second. And when it’s all said and done, he absolutely could be the top 09 dman. But as of today, it’s Diego. That’s fairly known actually. Again, things can change (and they do ). 
 

All in all, im glad we got a high ender that’s local!

[COMMITTED UND Recruits]

On 1/22/2026 at 5:09 PM, atxsioux said:

Think Schloss had 1 scout tell him that he thought Thoreson was the best D-man on the U-17 roster as well.

Like the highest ceiling or highest in his draft year? Diego Gutierrez is widely considered the top 09 dman. But, they are in two different draft classes.

[Prospective Recruits]

On 1/24/2026 at 6:28 PM, tnt said:

Watching Hockey Day in Minnesota, and very impressed with Maverick McKinnon.  For a freshman, he is very poised.  Be interesting to see how he does with Portland in the WHL next year.

I’ve heard he could go to Youngstown 

[COMMITTED UND Recruits]

16 minutes ago, Speed_Kills said:

Been hearing (not completely verified) rumors that he's debating decommitment and opening recruitment back up - even if he's asked to come in 2026-27. Would agree he will be playing somewhere else if it's not next year for sure.

Yeah, totally would make sense

[COMMITTED UND Recruits]

1 hour ago, tnt said:

Would be interesting to know if he would agree to that, or go play with his brother at CC.  I believe CC was one of the teams he was considering before committing to UND.  
If you’re not dominating at the current level, why rush it though.

There’s two other dmen on Fargo with more pts. And again, pts aren’t everything with dmen. But he’s fairly undersized, there’s no rush with anything. Wouldn’t be a terrible decision whatsoever. Depends on who we lose I suppose. As others noted, Strathmann could bolt potentially. Hope not.

[COMMITTED UND Recruits]

18 hours ago, tnt said:

If we don’t win a title this year, I can see him wanting to be a part of a championship team, knowing we would be contenders.  Would assume if he chose to do so we would lose someone, either a recruit or someone currently on the team.  You would possibly have pairings:

Liv - Verhoeff

Mackenzie - Emery

Strathmann/Laurila - Carels

Strathmann /Laurila - Lindberg

Jubenvil - Engels

Someone would certainly leave in that scenario.  Experience on defense is huge if you want a championship run, so Liv staying would be huge.  Hopefully it would be going for back to backs.

Lindberg could be pushed back a year tbh. Probably even should. Good player, but he could continue to get that offensive flair back. Come in more ready with a bigger role.

[COMMITTED UND Recruits]

1 hour ago, sioux24/7 said:

Has DuPont fallen off or something? I feel like I heard rumblings of him to UND a while ago but nothing now. 

Not at all…unlucky the first few weeks of the year. Humming along nice now.

[Prospective Recruits]

9 minutes ago, tnt said:

…and looking at him play, I would be surprised if he is really the 5’10”  that they have him listed as.

You could be right.

[NCHC Battle for 1st - DU @ UND]

3 minutes ago, Goon said:

UND’s Power Play is ranked third in the nation, and they're ranked third in goal scoring. 

PP has been good….last weekend was pretty bad. Just need to watch some film. Seasons been fun to watch, keep building for playoff time.

[COMMITTED UND Recruits]

11 minutes ago, beastandco said:

When looking at him as a sophomore, is he one of, if not, the best defenseman for this cycle?  He’s super young and two days from being a 2010. I don’t know how common or uncommon it is for a defenseman to be playing where he is at his age.

Well when you frame it like that…as of today…sure he towards the top. 10s have a ways to go, but to your point he’s a day or 2 away from being a 10. Time will tell. But great get for us nonetheless. Andy Schneider’s nephew 

[COMMITTED UND Recruits]

1 hour ago, beastandco said:

Maybe top 3-5 player in this cycle for Americans? Probably the best American defenseman

No Diego has that…Thorson is more of a project. Great long term get though. Legacy kid 

[COMMITTED UND Recruits]

On 1/17/2026 at 9:51 AM, nascar99 said:

It's not surprising he's further down the rankings: 2nd & 3rd time draft eligibles get pushed down because they were passed over in their first time draft eligible, which is the case with O'Neill. 

He'll go between the 5th & 7th rounds if he gets drafted in 2026, maybe in the 4th if a team really believes in his defensive acumen and truculence

Super athletic, doesn’t have the highest IQ which really limits nhl potential 

[Prospective Recruits]

Heard we got a good one 

[NCHC Battle for 1st - DU @ UND]

27 minutes ago, burd said:

Hard to do when they can't play a full 60, the power play is useless, and you can see clear evidence of a divided locker room.   Bad things are always there; some of us are just slow to acknowledge them.  To think that this team had me this close to being a happy person.  

 

Are you serious? Didn’t see any emojis 

[NCHC Battle for 1st - DU @ UND]

12 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

Stay hungry boys.  It happens.  

Turn the page. 

Bingo…tough loss to watch, not terrible on paper. Move on to next week. Assess the pp.