COMMITTED UND Recruits

[I Ranger]

5 minutes ago, tnt said:

Beyond Carels, don’t know how much room you have for another defenseman with MacKenzie and Lindberg coming in.  Assuming we lose Wiebe, Livanavage and Zmolek.  Emery could go, but would be wise to stay.  Need to keep some experience on the back end, as we know that there is a bigger learning curve for defensemen.

Yes I think the staff has been planning all year for those three to be gone. I sure hope its Carels and then an elite forward. Like mentioned, just no room for another D unless an unexpected departure. 

[beastandco]

50 minutes ago, brianvf said:

Carels was one that I mentioned specifically when he said that.  He just smiled but didn't confirm either way.
He knows, just didn't want to tell me names. 

Yes for this fall.

Based off speculation, I would be really surprised if Carels was not one of them. Cam Robinson stated about 2 weeks ago that there are whispers around the World Juniors of a player(s) outside of McKenzie that will be going to UND. The list of unsigned or uncommitted guys at that tournament is relatively small, especially when you only consider players playing in the CHL. Carels is the only one with significant connections to UND. 
 

I anticipate they add a forward as well, preferably a right shot winger. Mathis Preston recently got traded in the WHL. From a distance, that looks like it was a deal that was made knowing that he is gone next year or that would potentially keep him in the WHL.

 

[nascar99]

14 minutes ago, tnt said:

Beyond Carels, don’t know how much room you have for another defenseman with MacKenzie and Lindberg coming in.  Assuming we lose Wiebe, Livanavage and Zmolek.  Emery could go, but would be wise to stay.  Need to keep some experience on the back end, as we know that there is a bigger learning curve for defensemen.

I expect Jubenvill and/or Strathmann to leave in the portal

[gfhockey]

1 hour ago, brianvf said:

Heard from a source close to the team today that a couple big name CHL guys have "silent commits" to UND that will be announced after their seasons are over.  

I love sources 

[siouxfaninseattle]

4 minutes ago, nascar99 said:

I expect Jubenvill and/or Strathmann to leave in the portal

I hope not but could see Jubenvil leaving. Both are developing nicely.

[cberkas]

With what is going on with the Rangers Emery could be traded. 

[nodakgirl93]

1 minute ago, nascar99 said:

I expect Jubenvill and/or Strathmann to leave in the portal

I really like Strathmann so I hope not. I think we can expect to lose Liv, Wiebe, and Zmolek and bring in MacKenzie, Lindberg and then Carels or another high end D? Remember you need a good mix of 1-2 year players and 3-4 year players. If Jubenvill leaves for playing time you probably find a depth add somewhere. I think another year for Emery would be good. 

[The Sicatoka]

My (foggy) crystal ball sees the need this fall for:

1 or 2 goalies
3 or 4 defensemen
4 to 6 forwards

[tnt]

9 minutes ago, nascar99 said:

I expect Jubenvill and/or Strathmann to leave in the portal

If so, you lose a lot of development and are starting from scratch, albeit with very talented players.  Think of us a couple years ago with a very young defensive crew.  Not a great recipe for a National Championship team with one or two upperclassmen.

[southpaw]

Don't assume Livanavage will leave. There are people close to him who want him to stay. 

He's also pretty smart in knowing what his future will likely be: maybe 3-4 seasons bouncing between NHL and AHL before heading over to Europe.

[burd]

9 minutes ago, nodakgirl93 said:

I really like Strathmann so I hope not. I think we can expect to lose Liv, Wiebe, and Zmolek and bring in MacKenzie, Lindberg and then Carels or another high end D? Remember you need a good mix of 1-2 year players and 3-4 year players. If Jubenvill leaves for playing time you probably find a depth add somewhere. I think another year for Emery would be good. 

Emery will jump, IMO.  

[nodakgirl93]

2 minutes ago, southpaw said:

Don't assume Livanavage will leave. There are people close to him who want him to stay. 

He's also pretty smart in knowing what his future will likely be: maybe 3-4 seasons bouncing between NHL and AHL before heading over to Europe.

Liv was almost gone last year to a pro contract. And if Jax didn't get the job that would have made his decision even easier. 

[tnt]

7 minutes ago, southpaw said:

Don't assume Livanavage will leave. There are people close to him who want him to stay. 

He's also pretty smart in knowing what his future will likely be: maybe 3-4 seasons bouncing between NHL and AHL before heading over to Europe.

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.

[.357]

49 minutes ago, brianvf said:

Carels was one that I mentioned specifically when he said that.  He just smiled but didn't confirm either way.
He knows, just didn't want to tell me names. 

Yes for this fall.

The way he answered you sure sounds like Carels is one of them. During a recent interview, Carels was saying that the two players he models his game after are Heiskanen & Sanderson. That perked my attention as Sanderson may have been a major selling point for getting him to UND. Plus he's probably good buds with Verhoeff & both played well at the WJC when paired together.

If no forwards leave early or transfer, there would be 4 openings. B. Schultz & Simpson are supposed locks, with A. Schultz probably coming. Would be nice to have one that is a heavy forward who can replace Rickwood. If Tyson Gross of SCSU enters the portal, UND should be all over him. 6'3", 194 lb right-shot C, winning 62% of his faceoffs & tied for 8th in national scoring (13 g, 18a). In non-technical terms, a beast...But that would be a longshot as every major program would be offering him top dollar; more likely it'll be a CHLer of Suvanto's caliber. Bottom-6 may be too crowded next year for O'Neill or Sanderson. 

[tnt]

18 minutes ago, burd said:

Emery will jump, IMO.  

He seems really invested on being a leader on this team.  Nobody would surprise me, but I think he knows he could benefit by another year with more responsibility.

[tnt]

4 minutes ago, .357 said:

The way he answered you sure sounds like Carels is one of them. During a recent interview, Carels was saying that the two players he models his game after are Heiskanen & Sanderson. That perked my attention as Sanderson may have been a major selling point for getting him to UND. Plus he's probably good buds with Verhoeff & both played well at the WJC when paired together.

If no forwards leave early or transfer, there would be 4 openings. B. Schultz & Simpson are supposed locks, with A. Schultz probably coming. Would be nice to have one that is a heavy forward who can replace Rickwood. If Tyson Gross of SCSU enters the portal, UND should be all over him. 6'3", 194 lb right-shot C, winning 62% of his faceoffs & tied for 8th in national scoring (13 g, 18a). In non-technical terms, a beast...But that would be a longshot as every major program would be offering him top dollar; more likely it'll be a CHLer of Suvanto's caliber. Bottom-6 may be too crowded next year for O'Neill or Sanderson. 

I think Gross would either finish his career at St. Cloud or turn pro.

[beastandco]

11 minutes 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.

Out of all of the defenseman drafted in 2025, zero were below 6 feet. Jake is 5’10” and 175lbs. He will still have the majority of teams calling this offseason. If he thinks or is told he will be a full time NHLer next season, he is gone. If not, I think there is a serious argument for him returning. Earnings wise, UND could make a somewhat competitive offer to what he would be getting in the AHL.

[beastandco]

28 minutes ago, .357 said:

The way he answered you sure sounds like Carels is one of them. During a recent interview, Carels was saying that the two players he models his game after are Heiskanen & Sanderson. That perked my attention as Sanderson may have been a major selling point for getting him to UND. Plus he's probably good buds with Verhoeff & both played well at the WJC when paired together.

If no forwards leave early or transfer, there would be 4 openings. B. Schultz & Simpson are supposed locks, with A. Schultz probably coming. Would be nice to have one that is a heavy forward who can replace Rickwood. If Tyson Gross of SCSU enters the portal, UND should be all over him. 6'3", 194 lb right-shot C, winning 62% of his faceoffs & tied for 8th in national scoring (13 g, 18a). In non-technical terms, a beast...But that would be a longshot as every major program would be offering him top dollar; more likely it'll be a CHLer of Suvanto's caliber. Bottom-6 may be too crowded next year for O'Neill or Sanderson. 

Carels is local-ish as well. He is from about 3 hours away from Grand Forks. His sister plays a couple hours away at Jamestown. I would imagine that plays a role as well.

[Wilbur]

51 minutes 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.

Good post.  I think it goes to show the quality of d men that the current team has and that the pipeline of d men coming in are strong as well.

I kind of expect Liv to be gone regardless as a free agent that already has a lot of eyes on him come April when the season wraps up.  Hopefully its a Troy Stecher kind of situation where he has hung a green banner and now wants to take the next step in his life on the ice.  

[atxsioux]

I'll throw out a guess that the silent CHL commits are Carels and Preston. (Also Suvanto would be a nice 2C to fill in for Rickwood...)

[.357]

2 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.

At this point, too many "what ifs" to accurately gauge D line-ups for next year.

But like you said, it would be a big loss to lose Jubenvill, who could provide a lot of stability for a title run for the next couple of years with his experience. To prevent him from bolting, maybe guarantee him a minimum 6/7 role next year provided that Livanavage, Wiebe & Zmolek all leave. A junior/senior Jubenvill would be more valuable than a freshman/sophomore Lindberg come tournament time; unless Lindberg comes in as ready as Laurila, which is unlikely. Prioritize keeping the upperclass talent.

Capitalize on this relatively short window of having Špunar by having as many seasoned D in front of him as possible. Špunar being one of the backbones of this team who has the skill & poise to take this team deep...Can't afford to lose Jubenvill's experience, especially after UND has spent the last couple of years developing him & if it comes at the expense of a freshman D.

Note: am making the Jubenvill/Lindberg comparison because if Jubenvill leaves it may be because he would see himself as being possibly healthy-scratched in favor of a freshman. Would be nice to have Lindberg do another tour of juniors & come in '27 when he's even more mature & there's a lot more room for him in the line-up. 

[brianvf]

1 hour ago, atxsioux said:

I'll throw out a guess that the silent CHL commits are Carels and Preston. (Also Suvanto would be a nice 2C to fill in for Rickwood...)

Carels and Preston would be my “dream duo” as well. DuPont if Carels somehow falls thru. 

[brianvf]

2 hours ago, .357 said:

The way he answered you sure sounds like Carels is one of them. 

I hope so!

I see him again on Friday for pre-gaming before the ASU game. Maybe if he gets a few drinks in him, he’ll loosen up a bit with his responses. 

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

7 hours ago, nascar99 said:

Carson Carels has to be one of them. Would love Ryan Lin, Daxon Rudolph, Liam & Markus Ruck, Cameron Schmidt (2025 Dallas 3rd rounder, unsigned), Mathis Preston, even Chase Harrington.

Wouldn't assume North Dakota will be serious contenders for any high end OHLers or QMJHLers until it happens, but would love to add Ethan Belchetz, Xavier Villeneuve, Jack Nesbitt (2025 Philadelphia 1st rounder, unsigned)

Just saw Harrington pot two tonight, he's got a good shot.

[burd]

11 hours ago, brianvf said:

I hope so!

I see him again on Friday for pre-gaming before the ASU game. Maybe if he gets a few drinks in him, he’ll loosen up a bit with his responses. 

I hope you don’t loosen up a bit yourself and disclose that Wilbur has decided to stay another year. That news would have significant ripple effects.