2025-26 University of North Dakota Hockey Season

[tnt]

3 hours ago, stoneySIOUX said:

Lol bruh, he's barely 18. Maybe a little bit of grace?

Yeah, if he went elsewhere, he could have paid a tutor to do all his work.  We should be thankful he is a down to earth person who is looking to develop his game, and not to get a big payday before he turns pro.

[Fratt Mattin]

23 minutes ago, tnt said:

Just like Denver so far, I think UND is wanting them to be a fit for the program first, then will pay enough to make their time here more comfortable, but by no means a way for them to get rich with a signing bonus.  

Denver is 100% the model. We’ll be fine as long as we get the right guys and find enough money to retain them and supplement them with a few blue chippers

[siouxfaninseattle]

2 hours ago, stoneySIOUX said:

Lol bruh, he's barely 18. Maybe a little bit of grace?

I think a little bit of grace is warranted. ☺️

[TwamleyShuffle]

5 minutes ago, siouxfaninseattle said:

I think a little bit of grace is warranted. ☺️

As a Professor, I am simply impressed he didn’t have chat gpt make the entry. Props to him! 

[nascar99]

2 hours ago, jk said:

Not 18 until June.  He would be a young HS senior had he not accelerated.

Average age HS senior in Canada. The school year grouping is the birthyear (Jan 1-Dec 31), thus all 2008s graduate HS in 2026, all 2009s graduate in 2027. Verhoeff is in the middle

[nascar99]

10 hours ago, ChadR said:

His fighting/boxing obsession is weird. If wants to make it in the NHL, stick to being a skill guy.

It's mildly weird, but he also grew up in a boxing/MMA/UFC gym as his dad runs one in Quebec

[nascar99]

19 hours ago, hockeytherapy13 said:

 Jax said that another school offered Verhoeff about 3x what we offered for NIL. But KV still wanted to come to UND which says a lot about the program and maybe even more about the character of KV. Loved the whole interview with Jax but that was a beauty of a nugget. 

Guessing that was Michigan (Verhoeff said it came down to North Dakota and Michigan at the end of his recruitment)

[MGsioux]

5 hours ago, Walsh Hall said:

I just did a little checking.  Jost was the 10th overall pick and is currently 28 years old.  The average 10th overall pick since 1975 played 550 games in the NHL and the median being around 400 games (Selanne and Corey Perry and the best 2).  Oddly enough, Jost has played exactly 550 games.  His points, 160, are in about the 40% percentile so he'll likely end up around average for a 10th overall pick.  He's no hall of famer, but he's nowhere near a bust.

This is great info. Thanks for sharing 👍 

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

5 hours ago, Fratt Mattin said:

On the one hand, this is an awesome testament to the program’s prestige and reputation. On the other, you never want to hear you’re being outbid by that much. Kids like Keaton will be the exception, not the rule 

We’re going to get outbid by bigger schools. That’s just the reality. UND is going to spread what dollars they do have across multiple recruits.

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

2 minutes ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

We’re going to get outbid by bigger schools. That’s just the reality. UND is going to spread what dollars they do have across multiple recruits.

Get creative with the offerings. Subsidizing an insurance policy covering future earnings gives a sense of security and will go a long way to win over parents.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

6 minutes ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

Get creative with the offerings. Subsidizing an insurance policy covering future earnings gives a sense of security and will go a long way to win over parents.

Is that any different from what bigger schools could do as well?  Couldn't you also argue the athlete themselves could subsidize their own insurance policy(and then some) on future earnings with the extra $100-200k extra they're getting from another school. I honestly think we're not going to be in the running for guys that are only looking for the highest bidder... I also don't think that's a bad thing

[fightingsioux4life]

We always have been......and always will be.......a BLUE BLOOD program in this sport. NIL be damned.

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

33 minutes ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

Is that any different from what bigger schools could do as well?  Couldn't you also argue the athlete themselves could subsidize their own insurance policy(and then some) on future earnings with the extra $100-200k extra they're getting from another school. I honestly think we're not going to be in the running for guys that are only looking for the highest bidder... I also don't think that's a bad thing

It's intended to be something to help sell that this is the best path to the next level. Rates compared to future earnings could be made "better" than they're get on the open market, which has a psychological effect.

[atxsioux]

1 hour ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

Get creative with the offerings. Subsidizing an insurance policy covering future earnings gives a sense of security and will go a long way to win over parents.

(This isn’t happening obviously) But if they cut the football team the hockey team wouldn’t have to subsidize the football team’s expenses

[fightingsioux4life]

59 minutes ago, atxsioux said:

(This isn’t happening obviously) But if they cut the football team the hockey team wouldn’t have to subsidize the football team’s expenses

The time to eliminate FB was when we moved up to Division I. We have invested too much time, money and energy on new facilities to dump FB now.

[I Ranger]

9 hours ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

Is that any different from what bigger schools could do as well?  Couldn't you also argue the athlete themselves could subsidize their own insurance policy(and then some) on future earnings with the extra $100-200k extra they're getting from another school. I honestly think we're not going to be in the running for guys that are only looking for the highest bidder... I also don't think that's a bad thing

You are correct and Jax said as much during the interview on Game Notes. 

[Sioux90]

47 minutes ago, I Ranger said:

You are correct and Jax said as much during the interview on Game Notes. 

Guys that can be bought, don’t have the maturity or integrity, to win national championships. BU as an example.

[burd]

10 hours ago, fightingsioux4life said:

We always have been......and always will be.......a BLUE BLOOD program in this sport. NIL be damned.

😁. It’s both fun and ironic that we Nodaks should be playing the old money, blooded entitlement card, like British nobles ignoring the effects of hundreds of years of inbreeding, syphilis, and idleness to claim the right to rule.  And we all do it, to one degree or another.   It’s fun, who’s gonna stop us?

[Fratt Mattin]

12 minutes ago, Sioux90 said:

Guys that can be bought, don’t have the maturity or integrity, to win national championships. BU as an example.

This is true to an extent, but if the difference in dollars is great enough, even those “high character” guys who aren’t just going to choose the highest bidder will have no choice. We don’t expect pro athletes to take massive discounts, so I’m not sure why we’d expect college kids to do so

[nascar99]

1 hour ago, Sioux90 said:

Guys that can be bought, don’t have the maturity or integrity, to win national championships. BU as an example.

Boston University's problem was they were too young and their young talent they brought in was nowhere close to as dominant of young talent as they needed

[.357]

1 hour ago, Fratt Mattin said:

This is true to an extent, but if the difference in dollars is great enough, even those “high character” guys who aren’t just going to choose the highest bidder will have no choice. We don’t expect pro athletes to take massive discounts, so I’m not sure why we’d expect college kids to do so

Verhoeff choosing UND at 1/3 the rate of what Michigan offered is a "massive discount" as you put it; especially when that dollar difference is in the tens to low hundred thousands of dollars. He may be an outlier, but if UND continues to get bargain rates on CHL studs like Carels on down, it'll prove that not all elite players at this level require grossly-inflated NIL amounts. 

McKenna has had a pretty good year & appears to be trying (at times) to be a more complete player, but $700k is an obscene amount for someone at the collegiate level who isn't dominant shift-in/shift-out. 

 

[Fratt Mattin]

11 minutes ago, .357 said:

Verhoeff choosing UND at 1/3 the rate of what Michigan offered is a "massive discount" as you put it; especially when that dollar difference is in the tens to low hundred thousands of dollars. He may be an outlier, but if UND continues to get bargain rates on CHL studs like Carels on down, it'll prove that not all elite players at this level require grossly-inflated NIL amounts. 

McKenna has had a pretty good year & appears to be trying (at times) to be a more complete player, but $700k is an obscene amount for someone at the collegiate level who isn't dominant shift-in/shift-out. 

 

Yeah, I think as long as we can make a competitive offer there will always be guys who turn down the extra money in favor of a better program fit. I just think we need to at least be in the ballpark of what other schools are offering. It will be hard to get many guys to accept 1/3rd of what they could get elsewhere. I give Keaton a ton of credit for that