COMMITTED UND Recruits

[nascar99]

34 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

Seems like a solid get, lead EDM in pt/gm from the point. Undrafted kid that may go in his final year of eligibility with a big year (EDM should be good this year). Sounds like he defends hard. Will most likely play 4 years at UND assuming he pans out.

I think he's probably a 3 year guy unless he generates zero pro interest prior to his senior year, and thus would spend all 4 years. If he pops off and is a beast right away at UND, then he's a 2 year guy, which would be a good problem to have in the short term because high end play from MacKenzie would result in greater success in 2027 and 2028.

[siouxfaninseattle]

38 minutes ago, petey23 said:

Bob is his father and Doug is his uncle.

Hosers

[brianvf]

 

[.357]

From the sound of things, this may be the last year for Livanavage & Wiebe; based on how close they were to leaving this spring. If that is the case & they do end up signing after the 25-26 season, that would leave 2 D spots open for 26-27. With MacKenzie & Lindberg filling these 2 openings, that doesn't leave any room next year for DuPont or Carels; unless they would go with 9 D perhaps. 

Edit: Unless Zmolek is a senior this year.

[burd]

6 minutes ago, .357 said:

From the sound of things, this may be the last year for Livanavage & Wiebe; based on how close they were to leaving this spring. If that is the case & they do end up signing after the 25-26 season, that would leave 2 D spots open for 26-27. With MacKenzie & Lindberg filling these 2 openings, that doesn't leave any room next year for DuPont or Carels; unless they would go with 9 D perhaps. 

Edit: Unless Zmolek is a senior this year.

If they get either of those two, I guess that's a good problem to have.  

[brianvf]

4 minutes ago, .357 said:

From the sound of things, this may be the last year for Livanavage & Wiebe; based on how close they were to leaving this spring. If that is the case & they do end up signing after the 25-26 season, that would leave 2 D spots open for 26-27. With MacKenzie & Lindberg filling these 2 openings, that doesn't leave any room next year for DuPont or Carels; unless they would go with 9 D perhaps. 

Edit: Unless Zmolek is a senior this year.

I would guess we’ll have anywhere from 2-4 D openings next season. Livanavage, Wiebe, Zmolek, and Emery. 
Zmolek could use another medical redshirt for next year, but will he want to? Hard to say. Emery might get pressure to sign just because he’s a 1st rounder. 
That’s not even taking into account if someone like Strathmann or Jubenvill transfer out if they don’t get much playing time this year due to our stacked defense. 

[nodakgirl93]

4 minutes ago, .357 said:

From the sound of things, this may be the last year for Livanavage & Wiebe; based on how close they were to leaving this spring. If that is the case & they do end up signing after the 25-26 season, that would leave 2 D spots open for 26-27. With MacKenzie & Lindberg filling these 2 openings, that doesn't leave any room next year for DuPont or Carels; unless they would go with 9 D perhaps. 

Edit: Unless Zmolek is a senior this year.

Yeah I'm a little confused with this commit vs someone like Carels. But maybe Carson hasn't made a decision yet. UND isn't the only school he follows on Instagram so probably not a done deal yet. 

[tnt]

11 minutes ago, nodakgirl93 said:

Yeah I'm a little confused with this commit vs someone like Carels. But maybe Carson hasn't made a decision yet. UND isn't the only school he follows on Instagram so probably not a done deal yet. 

We do need a mix of guys to mix in with the one or two year players, and this guy seems to fit the bill.  Sounds like a little bigger Stecher type, and I would take that in a heartbeat.  

[atxsioux]

9 minutes ago, tnt said:

We do need a mix of guys to mix in with the one or two year players, and this guy seems to fit the bill.  Sounds like a little bigger Stecher type, and I would take that in a heartbeat.  

Ya think he can fit the role of whatever the team needs from him. It'll be a fight to get into the lineup likely his first/2nd year but I think he'll be understanding of that and definitely assuming that's what the coaching staff laid out to him.

 

Seems so far this staff knows its a risk with depth players leaving but if you're going to have depth players they better be damn good and able to step in (The days of just having a depth guy to have one seem to be over - For example sake, number 10 IMO is an example of that old thinking)

[SuhakiYeahYeah]

 

 

[.357]

Was a little underwhelmed when the MacKenzie news first came out, but after researching this young man he seems like a very solid get. Strong skater, high intensity, enjoys going into the tough areas, loves the small-town UND vibe. The exact kind of player you want wearing the Kelly green; as opposed to an expensive mercenary who may just be going the motions during his one & only collegiate year. Like @tnt mentioned, sounds very much like a bigger version of Stecher. Maybe a 3-4 yr player depending on his trajectory. Perhaps he flies under the UND radar without Chyzyk on staff. 

He didn't generate any interest from any B1G or Hockey East teams, which is unsurprising, because it seems like many traditional hockey powers fall into a trap of assigning value to a player relative to his draft status; leading to a myopic outlook which can miss out on players of MacKenzie's caliber. Appears to be another W for the coaching staff.

[brianvf]

Agreed.  I think it's a solid pickup.

Now just still need to finalize this last forward spot.  The more time that passes, the more that I think that the staff is just waiting out the last 1-2 blue chipper forwards.  If one commits to UND, then great...if not, then they already have an older transfer waiting in the wings to sign (similar to how the Young announcement arrived just hours after the Martone --> MSU news was revealed).

[Username Taken]

I like the suspense of not having a damn clue who is committing. Could be a top pick. Could be an under the radar guy. Nobody has any idea until the name is dropped. It does make for an entertaining off-season. 
 

I’ll take a lineup of top talent mixed in with under the radar guys that have a chip on their shoulder and feel they have something to prove. Ones of the Stetcher and Caggiula mold. Show those flashy hot dogs what it means to play Sioux hockey. 

[nascar99]

5 minutes ago, Username Taken said:

I like the suspense of not having a damn clue who is committing. Could be a top pick. Could be an under the radar guy. Nobody has any idea until the name is dropped. It does make for an entertaining off-season. 
 

I’ll take a lineup of top talent mixed in with under the radar guys that have a chip on their shoulder and feel they have something to prove. Ones of the Stetcher and Caggiula mold. Show those flashy hot dogs what it means to play Sioux hockey. 

I would love for Zakreski to be anything close to Caggiula

[cberkas]

 

[brianvf]

Heil starts off the WJSS with a nice performance against Finland.
Swanson was also on Team White and on their first PP unit.

Team Blue is up next against Sweden.  Zellers and Emery are on that team.

 

[brianvf]

Zellers on the top PP unit for Team Blue.
Mooney from UMN has had a nice game with a goal and nice assist.

[nascar99]

1 hour ago, brianvf said:

Zellers on the top PP unit for Team Blue.
Mooney from UMN has had a nice game with a goal and nice assist.

Zellers is going to be so good. Everyone has slept on him to some extent because he was at Shattuck in his DY (Shattuck stats are hard to contextualize & project out), then went to Green Bay for his D+1. He didn't get the DY hype train because he wasn't playing & dominating junior, nor was he in normal MN HS at a place like Maple Grove, where he'd have a big hype machine. Additionally, the USHL (especially for D+1 guys) doesn't get as much attention as it has deserved.

[brianvf]

Hopefully Reschny accidentally puts Boisvert over the boards.

 

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

By the holiday break he should already be someone opponents have to keep an eye out for.

After every goal in opposing arenas (other than NTDP) he taunts the crowd; opposing fans won't like that.

[burd]

6 hours ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

By the holiday break he should already be someone opponents have to keep an eye out for.

After every goal in opposing arenas (other than NTDP) he taunts the crowd; opposing fans won't like that.

HIs teammates seem set him up on shots they could have taken (and not just the eng).

[scpa0305]

13 hours ago, nascar99 said:

Zellers is going to be so good. Everyone has slept on him to some extent because he was at Shattuck in his DY (Shattuck stats are hard to contextualize & project out), then went to Green Bay for his D+1. He didn't get the DY hype train because he wasn't playing & dominating junior, nor was he in normal MN HS at a place like Maple Grove, where he'd have a big hype machine. Additionally, the USHL (especially for D+1 guys) doesn't get as much attention as it has deserved.

I was at the WJSS yesterday…Zellers had a ton of chances but was a bit snake bit. Some slight criticisms….not overly hard on pucks (fairly one dimensional) and his vision is not high end. Some of the early PPs he was forcing his own number as opposed to making plays based on what the pk structure was giving him. One viewing but that’s what I noticed. With the goalie pulled they yanked him for Mooney, which kind of had to happen. Mooney may have been the most dominant player on the ice along with Stenberg.

while I’m at it. Emery looked solid, Heil was very impressive although Finland didn’t have many grade A looks. Swanson was fairly non existent but I noticed some nice slick passes. 

[dden3]

1 hour ago, scpa0305 said:

I was at the WJSS yesterday…Zellers had a ton of chances but was a bit snake bit. Some slight criticisms….not overly hard on pucks (fairly one dimensional) and his vision is not high end. Some of the early PPs he was forcing his own number as opposed to making plays based on what the pk structure was giving him. One viewing but that’s what I noticed. With the goalie pulled they yanked him for Mooney, which kind of had to happen. Mooney may have been the most dominant player on the ice along with Stenberg.

while I’m at it. Emery looked solid, Heil was very impressive although Finland didn’t have many grade A looks. Swanson was fairly non existent but I noticed some nice slick passes. 

He can be McLaughlins replacement if he's not hard on pucks. That's typical Swanson. He needs to be challenged for his icetime. 

[fightingsioux4life]

15 minutes ago, dden3 said:

He can be McLaughlins replacement if he's not hard on pucks. That's typical Swanson. He needs to be challenged for his icetime. 

Well, maybe this new regime will emphasize that.

[The Sicatoka]

1 hour ago, fightingsioux4life said:

Well, maybe this new regime will emphasize that.

It'd be nice if it took more than a stiff breeze or a harsh glance to get a puck off a stick.