2025 Transfer portal

[.357]

2 hours ago, NoDak Hockey Nation said:

I think you’re confused bud

[RhettRingers]

14 minutes ago, beastandco said:

Is there any other guys you know of? I feel like a guy like Carter Bear would make sense for both sides. He’s Winnipeg kid but likely won’t be able to play until after Christmas. 
 

Was supposedly coming to UND, then the injury happened then we fired our coach. His girlfriend goes to University of Manitoba, and he wanted to get closer to home. Unsure what his plan is. If he does choose the college route I was told it was UND. He may stay in the dub though. I was told he isn't academically eligible also. Lots of the GM/Owners of these major junior teams don't want their superstars to leave unless it's for the NHL. Medicine Hat scheduled pre-season games next year in Whitehorse (McKenna's hometown)

[nascar99]

6 minutes ago, RhettRingers said:

Was supposedly coming to UND, then the injury happened then we fired our coach. His girlfriend goes to University of Manitoba, and he wanted to get closer to home. Unsure what his plan is. If he does choose the college route I was told it was UND. He may stay in the dub though. I was told he isn't academically eligible also. Lots of the GM/Owners of the major junior teams don't want their superstars to leave unless it's for the NHL. Medicine Hat scheduled pre-season games next year in Whitehorse (McKenna's hometown)

They're going to have to get used to the fact that the development pyramid has changed and the NCAA is above the CHL now

[RhettRingers]

2 minutes ago, nascar99 said:

They're going to have to get used to the fact that the development pyramid has changed and the NCAA is above the CHL now

100% is. Still a business through and you want to keep that top end talent for as long as you can.

[.357]

59 minutes ago, beastandco said:

If NIL was not a thing and the CHL had opened 5-10 years ago, I would absolutely think UND would be in the running for guys like McKenna and Misa. These guys will get more money individually than UND has in its entire hockey NIL budget just to play one year.

Very well may be true, but my question is why UND was a co-finalist with MI for McKenna last month if they can't afford him in the first place. 

[fightingsioux4life]

6 minutes ago, RhettRingers said:

100% is. Still a business through and you want to keep that top end talent for as long as you can.

They don't own these kids. And if they start treating them like that, some of them won't go to the CHL at all.

[nascar99]

10 minutes ago, .357 said:

Very well may be true, but my question is why UND was a co-finalist with MI for McKenna last month if they can't afford him in the first place. 

I think McKenna expressed some interest in UND at that time

[RhettRingers]

1 minute ago, fightingsioux4life said:

They don't own these kids. And if they start treating them like that, some of them won't go to the CHL at all.

I think you will see more American born players go the Major Junior route. Already saw it with a local kid. 

[fightingsioux4life]

Just now, RhettRingers said:

I think you will see more American born players go the Major Junior route. Already saw it with a local kid. 

I've been hearing that warning for years. College hockey is still here and puts more players into the NHL than ever.

[nascar99]

11 minutes ago, RhettRingers said:

100% is. Still a business through and you want to keep that top end talent for as long as you can.

Understandable. And the "meet us half way" solution is keeping most of the CHLers in junior through their 18 year old season, but then head to the NCAA for their 19 year old season. Porter Martone has nothing left to prove in the O. Ben Kindel, Jackson Smith, and Cole Reschny might benefit from spending their 18 year old season back in the Dub, but they most definitely should play a year or two in the NCAA at some point before pro.

[RhettRingers]

Just now, fightingsioux4life said:

I've been hearing that warning for years. College hockey is still here and puts more players into the NHL than ever.

Yeah now they can do both...

[nascar99]

Just now, fightingsioux4life said:

I've been hearing that warning for years. College hockey is still here and puts more players into the NHL than ever.

Now kids can go CHL to NCAA. Jackson Smith can play another year in the Dub and then go to North Dakota or Denver in 2026-27. That's the best of both worlds. CHL owners/GMs have to get used to the fact that they can't "own" their players like property any longer.

[fightingsioux4life]

1 minute ago, RhettRingers said:

Yeah now they can do both...

So will that result in older, more experienced players in NCAA hockey?

[RhettRingers]

1 minute ago, fightingsioux4life said:

So will that result in older, more experienced players in NCAA hockey?

Yeah. I'm agreeing with you that they will ultimately play NCAA. I think all of these guys want to experience the college life for a year or two.

[scpa0305]

32 minutes ago, .357 said:

Very well may be true, but my question is why UND was a co-finalist with MI for McKenna last month if they can't afford him in the first place. 

It was 1-2 articles. Not sure how close we actually were. We still don’t know McKenna will go to Michigan for sure. But I’d put it add +90%. I’m sure another program or two will jump in on the bidding war. 

[fightingsioux4life]

5 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

It was 1-2 articles. Not sure how close we actually were. We still don’t know McKenna will go to Michigan for sure. But I’d put it add +90%. I’m sure another program or two will jump in on the bidding war. 

Having the coaching change and the resultant disruptions doesn't help either.

[scpa0305]

Just now, fightingsioux4life said:

Having the coaching change and the resultant disruptions doesn't help either.

The big thing folks kind of miss on (as I’ve said a few times) is who’s he going to play with. $ talks, but linemates matter too. And yes, I realize Zellers is coming in and has received a ton of attention recently (all deserved)…..but he’ll be a freshman. Michigan has, at the very least, Michael Hage. They’re probably bringing in more too I’m assuming.

[fightingsioux4life]

8 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

The big thing folks kind of miss on (as I’ve said a few times) is who’s he going to play with. $ talks, but linemates matter too. And yes, I realize Zellers is coming in and has received a ton of attention recently (all deserved)…..but he’ll be a freshman. Michigan has, at the very least, Michael Hage. They’re probably bringing in more too I’m assuming.

And yet Michigan didn't even make the 16 team field this year.

[RhettRingers]

I would like to think the NCHC is the best conference to get guys ready for the NHL, I think the B1G and Hockey East are similar to Major Junior. So, if a kid really wants to challenge himself and get out of his comfort zone, he'd choose the NCHC. 

[nascar99]

1 minute ago, fightingsioux4life said:

And yet Michigan didn't even make the 16 team field this year.

Michigan is willing to be aggressive and go after every elite Canadian. They (along with North Dakota & to a bit lesser extent Denver) have rich history of Canadian talent in their program & thus have so many connections across the hockey world with Canadians, who know that Michigan sends guys to the NHL. They're also a brand name elite university in a great university town in a state that borders Ontario. The National Championship drought hasn't really hurt their high end talent recruiting, their problem is not having enough talented culture guys who stay 3-4 years.

This is the big issue for Minnesota: they've intentionally & quite publicly not recruited Canadians due to their tribalistic historical recruiting policies, so they have almost zero connections in the (minor) hockey world in Canada. And it has become a self fulfilling loop where Canadians don't consider Minnesota because Minnesota doesn't have/recruit Canadians and Minnesota doesn't recruit Canadians because they don't think Canadians will have serious interest in going to Minnesota. They're not in a good position at all to get good to great CHLers, but if they get someone like Lakovic and then more, they'll have proven me wrong.

[NoDak Hockey Nation]

1 hour ago, .357 said:

Yes. Because that was a serious comment and not me making fun of you for nerding out on how the law of NIL works.

[scpa0305]

11 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

And yet Michigan didn't even make the 16 team field this year.

Nope, not this year. Neither did we. 

[NoDak Hockey Nation]

1 hour ago, .357 said:

Very well may be true, but my question is why UND was a co-finalist with MI for McKenna last month if they can't afford him in the first place. 

No one reliable has actually said that UND was a finalist. They just said that they would be highly interested.

[.357]

13 minutes ago, nascar99 said:

I think McKenna expressed some interest in UND at that time

If UND was within a snail's breath of landing him, my guess is that Chyzyk would have a solid Plan B in place for another high-profile CHLer if McKenna fell through. That Cole Reschny kid would be ideal & he's from Saskatchewan, so no doubt he's well aware of UND.

And if I'm a future #1 overall pick who will be a multi-millionaire in 2 years, I'm not basing my choice in school A because they can give me $100k more in NIL than school B. I'm going to the place that will give me the best chance in succeeding at the next level. 

[beastandco]

1 hour ago, .357 said:

Very well may be true, but my question is why UND was a co-finalist with MI for McKenna last month if they can't afford him in the first place. 

I think McKenna is such a big name that the money received directly from the school or collective is not as much of a factor.

Gavin McKenna is a hockey superstar, not just college hockey superstar. He probably is getting well over 6 figures from endorsements alone. He probably has more financial freedom to make the best decision for his development compared to other CHL guys. UND is top notch in every other facet and if money is not his main focus, I would assume UND is or was heavily in the mix.