Prospective Recruits

[nascar99]

7 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

We need to grab the right kids no matter where they’re from. Tons of good west cans, tons of good MN’s etc

Would like to be more than just Western Canadians and Minnesotans/North Dakotans. Would like to dip into the Ontario, Illinois, & California pool. Michigan, New England, Quebec/Maritimes if you can get them as well

[tnt]

12 minutes ago, nascar99 said:

Would like to be more than just Western Canadians and Minnesotans/North Dakotans. Would like to dip into the Ontario, Illinois, & California pool. Michigan, New England, Quebec/Maritimes if you can get them as well

Would guess we will get guys from all over, and many will end up playing in the CHL. Some years there will be local guys from Moorhead, or the surrounding area, sometimes there won’t be as many local guys with high end skill.  
1982 team had 17 Canadians sprinkled with some local guys.  I think there will be local guys that can play a role most years, then you take where the talent leads you.  Don’t be blinded where they are from like Minnesota.  

[beastandco]

15 minutes ago, brianvf said:

He'd be the last one of the Big 4 D from the CHL.
Need to snag at least one.

I would almost add Giorgos Pantelas in that group as well. I haven’t seen a lot of talk about him going to the NCAA. He would be a nice get. 

[Sioux90]

3 hours ago, Johnny Five said:

I think the high-high end Canadian thing is going to be an interesting follow the next few years.  McKenna and Verhoeff have been highly ranked for quite some time for their age group....it's hard to argue whether this year helped, hurt or was indifferent too be honest.  There was a time McKenna was "falling" and Verhoeff was "trending" as the 1, then it kinda flipped again.  Now it seems McKenna is the consensus 1 and Verhoeff could be D 2-3, which is still awesome. 

But what if they had stayed and crushed up north?  Hard to say.  McKenna allegedly got a huge bag from Penn State, but none of those high end NHLers to be really wanna open a book, do they?  None of those guys take school too serious....

But many I've read already have Carels over Verhoeff.  I'd have to go back and see if that was the case a year ago, but if Carels goes top 3 I can't imagine he'll want on anyone's campus, the big show is his dream, unless someone throws a McKenna bag at him.  

The changing landscapes of college hockey.

NHL scouts are able to look past the numbers. Everyone knows that college hockey is superior to Major Juniors.

[yzerman19]

The best of the best US kids ain't going CHL...they will still do NTDP.  I'm actually scared that this board is going so hard WHL...yes, you can win a chip, but....

[.357]

25 minutes ago, beastandco said:

I would almost add Giorgos Pantelas in that group as well. I haven’t seen a lot of talk about him going to the NCAA. He would be a nice get. 

Interesting how a Quebec kid like him wound up in the WHL (Brandon Wheat Kings) instead of the QMJHL.

[brianvf]

3 minutes ago, yzerman19 said:

The best of the best US kids ain't going CHL...they will still do NTDP.  I'm actually scared that this board is going so hard WHL...yes, you can win a chip, but....

It's not like the board is advocating for 100% WHL or anything close to that.  We're just pulling for the team to snag a couple of the remaining high-end pieces from the WHL to boost the team for next year.
None of our four portal transfers played in the WHL (and only Malinoski is Canadian).
Only one of our current six incoming freshmen is Canadian and played in the WHL (MacKenzie)...the other five are all US and played in the USHL.

We're still gonna be a team that pulls from all over...just trying to finalize the roster with a couple WHL studs.
 

[nascar99]

3 minutes ago, .357 said:

Interesting how a Quebec kid like him wound up in the WHL (Brandon Wheat Kings) instead of the QMJHL.

Quebec born, raised and played all of his minor hockey in Western Canada

[scpa0305]

1 hour ago, nascar99 said:

Quebec born, raised and played all of his minor hockey in Western Canada

It’s either residency 3-4 years or maybe his dad played in the WHL. 

[nascar99]

17 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

It’s either residency 3-4 years or maybe his dad played in the WHL. 

Hometown listed as Victoria BC on the Dub website

[cberkas]

WHL=OHL>USHL>QMJHL

Depending on who you ask the OHL is better than the WHL and most would put USHL last. USHL looks better this year compared to the QMJHL to me. 

We want the best player and UND needs to get the best players, and they are going to be in the CHL more than they will be in the USHL.

 

 

[siouxfaninseattle]

1 hour ago, yzerman19 said:

The best of the best US kids ain't going CHL...they will still do NTDP.  I'm actually scared that this board is going so hard WHL...yes, you can win a chip, but....

Isn't that thee whole idea?

[brianvf]

It's gonna be a long couple months if most of these guys wait until after the draft to make their NCAA decisions.
For us as fans, I mean.    

[Johnny Five]

9 hours ago, Sioux90 said:

NHL scouts are able to look past the numbers. Everyone knows that college hockey is superior to Major Juniors.

I get that, but let's compare Verhoeff and Carels.  Where were they a year ago on draft boards and how can we really tell how it affected their draft position?  I guess that was my point regarding the high-high end players.   

[I Ranger]

11 hours ago, scpa0305 said:

Rudolph would be nice 

I sure hope we are in on him. I've read quite a few scouts believe he has the most upside of any of these D men including Reid. I have this weird feeling he might be the other DU silent commit which would just be gross! 

[Sioux90]

2 hours ago, Johnny Five said:

I get that, but let's compare Verhoeff and Carels.  Where were they a year ago on draft boards and how can we really tell how it affected their draft position?  I guess that was my point regarding the high-high end players.   

Verheoff came to UND to get better. He’s not interested in blowing up the stat sheet in weaker hockey. Draft position is irrelevant l, when you’re projected top 5

[AJS]

12 minutes ago, Sioux90 said:

Verheoff came to UND to get better. He’s not interested in blowing up the stat sheet in weaker hockey. Draft position is irrelevant l, when you’re projected top 5

I agree. The draft position conversation is really bizarre. If you go 3 vs 8 or 12 vs 22 doesn't matter at all. Entry level contracts are all the same. Talk about bad advice if someone doesn't challenge themselves because they might get exposed and drop a handful of spots. You're going to get exposed eventually. I would think the goal would be to put the player in the best possible scenario to succeed as fast as possible in the NHL. 

 

*Goes without saying this is if a player has nothing to prove at their current level*

[Brett0909]

12 minutes ago, Sioux90 said:

Verheoff came to UND to get better. He’s not interested in blowing up the stat sheet in weaker hockey. Draft position is irrelevant l, when you’re projected top 5

Tough to be sure about this. Verhoeff had several interviews where he was talking about how driven he was to become the number one overall pick. Making statements like it’s irrelevant is too simple, they all care about where they get picked to various extents and the teams definitely distinguish and have different expectations between a number one and number five overall. I’m not saying I agree with it, but if Gavin had fallen out of the top five, there’d be a lot of kids and advisors thinking twice about exposing weaknesses in the NCAA in their draft year.

Net-net, the projected number one is still expected to go first and Keaton was generally expected to go in the top five, and still is. So it would seem to be a generally positive outcome for the NCAA as it didn’t significantly alter their path - while I think it is broadly recognized that both players will be more ready for the next level than they would be if they stayed in the CHL.

[atxsioux]

15 minutes ago, Brett0909 said:

Tough to be sure about this. Verhoeff had several interviews where he was talking about how driven he was to become the number one overall pick. Making statements like it’s irrelevant is too simple, they all care about where they get picked to various extents and the teams definitely distinguish and have different expectations between a number one and number five overall. I’m not saying I agree with it, but if Gavin had fallen out of the top five, there’d be a lot of kids and advisors thinking twice about exposing weaknesses in the NCAA in their draft year.

Net-net, the projected number one is still expected to go first and Keaton was generally expected to go in the top five, and still is. So it would seem to be a generally positive outcome for the NCAA as it didn’t significantly alter their path - while I think it is broadly recognized that both players will be more ready for the next level than they would be if they stayed in the CHL.

 

I think your NCAA program will be under a watchful eye whenever you get a top prospect. UND did absolutely zero this year to harm Keaton's draft stock and I'd say if you polled NHL scouts etc they'd overwhelmingly agree with that sentiment.

 

Penn State on the other hand. I'd guess there are some questions after this year from NHL team's about sending their prospects there. Pretty fair to say he wasn't challenged by coaching to at least improve in the slightest his off the puck game. If he had at least done that some it would be limiting questions about his status at number 1 (granted he's still likely to go #1)  

[The Sicatoka]

Draft order also depends on the draft order of the teams and those teams' needs. 

[yzerman19]

11 hours ago, siouxfaninseattle said:

Isn't that thee whole idea?

I don't believe its that simple.  We didn't win a chip with Parise, Toews, Oshie, Zajac, Stafford...but boy those teams were fun to watch, and I kept following those players as they all had great careers in the NHL.  It is for this reason that I believe college hockey has something that the NHL does not...you get to watch stars grow from kids to men.  

I agree that you don't ignore pieces to the puzzle that happen to play in the CHL...No debate that there are many talented kids up there. I was just poking fun at the dub focus of late.  Not discounting it, just having fun.  

Its such an entertaining debate...the top end US kids that are torn between NTDP and CHL...I think the US program won every kid they wanted this year, only exception might be Dozark. 

[yzerman19]

11 hours ago, cberkas said:

WHL=OHL>USHL>QMJHL

Depending on who you ask the OHL is better than the WHL and most would put USHL last. USHL looks better this year compared to the QMJHL to me. 

We want the best player and UND needs to get the best players, and they are going to be in the CHL more than they will be in the USHL.

 

 

NTDP obviously is the exception in the USHL if you count them as such.  The debate is raging on all of this, especially with the new AAA development league in the US.  American players are going to risk all their standing with USA hockey if they cross the border to play...

[tnt]

1 minute ago, yzerman19 said:

NTDP obviously is the exception in the USHL if you count them as such.  The debate is raging on all of this, especially with the new AAA development league in the US.  American players are going to risk all their standing with USA hockey if they cross the border to play...

Other than Sanderson and Kleven, UND’s success pulling a big name from the NTDP hasn’t been great, and you could argue that Sanderson was due to us getting to him before he became the elite name.  We certainly will get players from there, like we are doing, but we may have to supplement them with elite guys from elsewhere.

[Big Green]

1 hour ago, yzerman19 said:

I don't believe its that simple.  We didn't win a chip with Parise, Toews, Oshie, Zajac, Stafford...but boy those teams were fun to watch, and I kept following those players as they all had great careers in the NHL.  It is for this reason that I believe college hockey has something that the NHL does not...you get to watch stars grow from kids to men.  

I agree that you don't ignore pieces to the puzzle that happen to play in the CHL...No debate that there are many talented kids up there. I was just poking fun at the dub focus of late.  Not discounting it, just having fun.  

Its such an entertaining debate...the top end US kids that are torn between NTDP and CHL...I think the US program won every kid they wanted this year, only exception might be Dozark. 

I'd trade those guys for another NC.  It's all about building a National Championship team, not about bringing in guys we can watch in the NHL after they leave.  It would be nice to do both, but the ultimate goal is plan and simple build a national championship team. 

As a MN Wild fan I care much more about Brock Faber's success than Sanderson's.

 

[yzerman19]

obviously we all want to win, but the process is more important than an outcome that nobody can guarantee.  I want to watch young talented guys put it on display.  I don't want to watch older, transfer portal, grindaz teams.  Its like the old Jacques Lemaire left wing lock...you can win, but it isn't fun to watch.