Prospective Recruits

[beastandco]

8 minutes ago, nascar99 said:

Roobroeck has been heavily tied to Michigan in the rumor mill for months but that has cooled down. Naurato & staff may have pivoted away from him for now. Would imagine Roobroeck ends up somewhere in the NCAA, but likely goes somewhere east of Lake Michigan.

Are most of the blue bloods in a similar spot as UND with a couple of spots open? I know Minnesota has one roster spot open but I’m not sure about other schools.

Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, BU, BC, and Denver seem to be connected to every player. Not every player can go to these schools. I assume they all are nearly full at this point, minus one or two roster spots. If there still is a lot of players coming over, UND’s chances of landing some of these guys have to be high, right?

 

[ChadR]

I hope we are in on Carson Carels for 2026-207.

[nascar99]

10 minutes ago, beastandco said:

Are most of the blue bloods in a similar spot as UND with a couple of spots open? I know Minnesota has one roster spot open but I’m not sure about other schools.

Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, BU, BC, and Denver seem to be connected to every player. Not every player can go to these schools. I assume they all are nearly full at this point, minus one or two roster spots. If there still is a lot of players coming over, UND’s chances of landing some of these guys have to be high, right?

 

I think we'll see Denver land a couple more big ones for this year or next, they've been quiet since getting Epperson. I also believe Arizona State will make some noise and is a natural landing spot for Dub guys.

 

The obvious puzzling mystery is Wisconsin. Thought they'd be more active in the CHL pool. Oliver Tulk is going to be awesome off the bat for the Badgers, but they need more. I guess Hastings really hates young players and/or doesn't have enough connections in the Canadian minor/major junior hockey world to win some recruiting battles. Wisconsin has been down bad for awhile, so it might not be appealing for a lot of guys.

[beastandco]

14 minutes ago, ChadR said:

I hope we are in on Carson Carels for 2026-207.

I believe we are in the mix on him. I think he’s the guy that Schloss talked about in his recent pod.

If you don’t listen to the pod, Schloss stated that a 2008 born player told his agent that UND is where he wanted to go to school. Carels fits the birth year stated and is in Western Canada. He also follows UND on instagram, for what it’s worth.

Even though it’s early, I do think UND is heavily in the mix with DuPont. Schloss has name dropped him a couple of times recently and he doesn’t really do that if there is not any traction.

[nascar99]

9 minutes ago, beastandco said:

I believe we are in the mix on him. I think he’s the guy that Schloss talked about in his recent pod.

If you don’t listen to the pod, Schloss stated that a 2008 born player told his agent that UND is where he wanted to go to school. Carels fits the birth year stated and is in Western Canada. He also follows UND on instagram, for what it’s worth.

Even though it’s early, I do think UND is heavily in the mix with DuPont. Schloss has name dropped him a couple of times recently and he doesn’t really do that if there is not any traction.

DuPont feels like North Dakota, Denver, or Michigan. Maybe Boston University if they empty the NIL bag. If it's anyone besides those 4, I'd be shocked tbh.

[beastandco]

7 minutes ago, nascar99 said:

DuPont feels like North Dakota, Denver, or Michigan. Maybe Boston University if they empty the NIL bag. If it's anyone besides those 4, I'd be shocked tbh.

The only thing that worries me about UND’s chances of DuPont coming is that him and Verhoeff are both right shots. Obviously that is a good problem to have but there might be a road block there. They could be the two best defensemen in college hockey after this year and playing on the same team on the same side seems unlikely.

[siouxforce19]

53 minutes ago, ChadR said:

I hope we are in on Carson Carels for 2026-207.

I would be extremely surprised if we aren’t. 

[siouxforce19]

36 minutes ago, beastandco said:

I believe we are in the mix on him. I think he’s the guy that Schloss talked about in his recent pod.

If you don’t listen to the pod, Schloss stated that a 2008 born player told his agent that UND is where he wanted to go to school. Carels fits the birth year stated and is in Western Canada. He also follows UND on instagram, for what it’s worth.

Even though it’s early, I do think UND is heavily in the mix with DuPont. Schloss has name dropped him a couple of times recently and he doesn’t really do that if there is not any traction.

He’s been following UND on Instagram for a while, he came across my radar several months ago so I checked back then. Chyzyk also follows him on instagram, which I think is also a sign. 

[beastandco]

18 minutes ago, siouxforce19 said:

He’s been following UND on Instagram for a while, he came across my radar several months ago so I checked back then. Chyzyk also follows him on instagram, which I think is also a sign. 

Interesting, he also follows Bryn on instagram. After UND fills their last two forward spots, I think Carels could be the next domino to fall. He would be a great Livanavage replacement in a year. I believe he is eligible to commit at any time.

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

6 minutes ago, beastandco said:

Interesting, he also follows Bryn on instagram. After UND fills their last two forward spots, I think Carels could be the next domino to fall. He would be a great Livanavage replacement in a year. I believe he is eligible to commit at any time.

Bryn's following list is a good peek into who he is interested in. For instance, Dayne Beuker (longtime target) and Nolan Fitzhenry (would be a major coup).

[beastandco]

1 hour ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

Bryn's following list is a good peek into who he is interested in. For instance, Dayne Beuker (longtime target) and Nolan Fitzhenry (would be a major coup).

It’s interesting that him and Mikey Berchild follow each other. I wonder if he tried or has been trying to flip him.

[ChadR]

1 hour ago, beastandco said:

It’s interesting that him and Mikey Berchild follow each other. I wonder if he tried or has been trying to flip him.

He went to Breakaway Academy when Chyz worked there.

[Blackheart]

6 hours ago, siouxforce19 said:

I feel like he’s been pouring cold water on this for weeks. A lot of fans just aren’t listening. One of my friends asked me a few weeks ago about our chances with McKenna and I said “ as close to 0% as there is” and the comprehension of what I said did not go through at all. 

[southpaw]

Brad is the most knowledgeable college hockey reporter in the country with the best connections. If he says that last week there was no indication that McKenna was going to UND, then trust that was the case last week 😉

He also knows many more details than what he publishes so never assume you're getting all the details about players returning to their old teams or players not committing. 

[tnt]

2 hours ago, southpaw said:

Brad is the most knowledgeable college hockey reporter in the country with the best connections. If he says that last week there was no indication that McKenna was going to UND, then trust that was the case last week 😉

He also knows many more details than what he publishes so never assume you're getting all the details about players returning to their old teams or players not committing. 

I will say that he seemed totally oblivious to the problems within the program, as he was appalled that Berry was fired.  We have seen and heard after the fact how the program had become complacent and the reputation took a hit.  With the new staff the excitement level certainly has ramped up, now they need to show they can get back to the kind of personal accountability they had in the past.

[nascar99]

53 minutes ago, tnt said:

I will say that he seemed totally oblivious to the problems within the program, as he was appalled that Berry was fired.  We have seen and heard after the fact how the program had become complacent and the reputation took a hit.  With the new staff the excitement level certainly has ramped up, now they need to show they can get back to the kind of personal accountability they had in the past.

From the DM conversations I've had with Schloss, he knows more than he gives on about certain problems and as we've mentioned before, he has to toe the line to avoid losing scoops or even worse, getting canned.

 

Back to the McKenna discussion, I do wonder if programs not mentioned like Boston University and Boston College put out serious NIL offers for him.

[siouxforce19]

38 minutes ago, nascar99 said:

From the DM conversations I've had with Schloss, he knows more than he gives on about certain problems and as we've mentioned before, he has to toe the line to avoid losing scoops or even worse, getting canned.

 

Back to the McKenna discussion, I do wonder if programs not mentioned like Boston University and Boston College put out serious NIL offers for him.

Does everyone want the problems within the program just out there for public knowledge? I don’t think I do. So I understand why some things are not made public. If recruiting was already in a not great spot, I don’t think a report in the GF Herald on all the issues with the program would have helped, and that could have taken a lot of work to come back from. Others may have a different view on this. 

[beastandco]

46 minutes ago, nascar99 said:

From the DM conversations I've had with Schloss, he knows more than he gives on about certain problems and as we've mentioned before, he has to toe the line to avoid losing scoops or even worse, getting canned.

 

Back to the McKenna discussion, I do wonder if programs not mentioned like Boston University and Boston College put out serious NIL offers for him.

I think a lot of internal problems come to light anyways because of how much of a spotlight there is on the hockey team in Grand Forks. I do think you have to read between the lines with some of the information that Schloss gives out. He will plant seeds on the scoops that he has. 
 

It’s surprises me that the Boston schools are reportedly not in the mix. Especially Boston University because players like Celebrini and Eichel went there for their draft years and dominated. Denver would make a lot of sense because he’ll be getting coached by an NHL caliber coach. There’s no way that the Boston schools haven’t kicked tires. McKenna probably just doesn’t have significant interest.

[atxsioux]

Pandolfo on the surface at least seems like a pretty solid coach. Funny enough that he’s had a similar start to Hak with his coaching career based on the frozen four results. Pretty crazy if he doesn’t end up considering BU imo 

[brianvf]

1 hour ago, beastandco said:

I think a lot of internal problems come to light anyways because of how much of a spotlight there is on the hockey team in Grand Forks. I do think you have to read between the lines with some of the information that Schloss gives out. He will plant seeds on the scoops that he has. 
 

It’s surprises me that the Boston schools are reportedly not in the mix. Especially Boston University because players like Celebrini and Eichel went there for their draft years and dominated. Denver would make a lot of sense because he’ll be getting coached by an NHL caliber coach. There’s no way that the Boston schools haven’t kicked tires. McKenna probably just doesn’t have significant interest.

The city of Boston would be a pretty big culture shock compared to his hometown or Medicine Hat. Maybe he prefers a smaller city feel. Hopefully at least if UND wants a shot. 

[nascar99]

Colin Grubb (2009, Minot, ND native, Shattuck St Mary's AAA) has taken an unofficial visit to North Dakota per Ryan Sikes of Puck Preps on Instagram. August 1 2025 commitment eligible.

[cberkas]

Mason West commits to Michigan State  

[cberkas]

Colton Roberts to CC

 

[Scratch]

On 6/18/2025 at 6:51 PM, nascar99 said:

From the DM conversations I've had with Schloss, he knows more than he gives on about certain problems and as we've mentioned before, he has to toe the line to avoid losing scoops or even worse, getting canned.

I used to think the same, but the past couple years listening to the podcast kinda changed my mind to think he is actually oblivious to problems. The way he scoffed at the suggestion of firing berry and ridiculed the masses who held that opinion as clueless twitter morons seemed genuine when he talked about it. Then he invented the "first round picks ensure teams wont win the natty" narrative once it became impossible to deny that Berry hadn't brought in a single talented player his first 4ish years as head coach. That seems beyond toeing the line to me, but I am admittedly jaded about Schloss so idk.

To add to the Dupont gossip, my cousins in BC (early twenties, best played 2 years in WHL) tell me the rumor is he's very likely to play college and UND and DU are the frontrunners. Also say kids out west still think of UND when they think of college hockey but Denver becoming more popular quickly, for obvious reasons. I was surprised that they said no one really talks about BU or BC still. I agree with the guy who mentioned the concerns about Verhoeff also being right shot D. Hopefully UND promises Dupont 1st PP and 28 mins a night from day one because based strictly by output compared to his same-age peers Dupont is arguably a better prospect than Crosby and McDavid. 

[beastandco]

I listened to Drew Shore’s podcast with Bryn Chyzyk as a guest. Bryn stated that UND has a roster spot open and a lot of the top prospects are waiting until after the draft to make their decisions. I believe it was recorded sometime early June before Gordon’s decommitment because he said “one roster spot open.”

I know this was talked about a lot but hearing it from him confirms that UND will probably be quiet until after the draft. He must have some traction on a player or two because it is a gamble to wait this late when players are committing left and right it seems like.