Prospective Recruits

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

https://www.tsn.ca/chl/whl/article/exceptional-dupont-leading-silvertips-in-whls-biggest-stage/

[siouxfaninseattle]

1 hour ago, SuhakiYeahYeah said:

 

 

Does Brad know something he is not sharing with us?

[brianvf]

6 minutes ago, siouxfaninseattle said:

Does Brad know something he is not sharing with us?

If he knew that DuPont was coming to UND, I doubt he would "break" the news like that.
Probably more that he just knows that DuPont is going NCAA-route for next year...and we can hope/dream that UND is the destination.

But who knows.  Ha!    

[ChadR]

We don't have room for Carels & Dupont right?

So who is our target out of those 2?

[brianvf]

5 minutes ago, ChadR said:

We don't have room for Carels & Dupont right?

So who is our target out of those 2?

I'd take both.  And we do have room, for sure.
Not ideal to have four FR dmen, but they'd all be very highly talented and would be really fun to watch.

I figure this for replacements:

Liv --> DuPont
Wiebe --> Carels
Strath --> MacKenzie
Zmolek --> Boser
Jubenvill --> Lindberg

[atxsioux]

9 minutes ago, ChadR said:

We don't have room for Carels & Dupont right?

So who is our target out of those 2?

The only big fish that doesn’t have a jamb packed blue line on the right side is Michigan really from what I see

So I see it as either he goes to Michigan but if he decides they aren’t a fit we have as legit a shot of landing him as the other blue bloods 

(im assuming he doesn’t entertain any blue blood East of the State of Michigan)

[I Ranger]

54 minutes ago, brianvf said:

I'd take both.  And we do have room, for sure.
Not ideal to have four FR dmen, but they'd all be very highly talented and would be really fun to watch.

I figure this for replacements:

Liv --> DuPont
Wiebe --> Carels
Strath --> MacKenzie
Zmolek --> Boser
Jubenvill --> Lindberg

Schloss all but confirmed on his last Pod that the last two D spots will be freshman. I think DuPont is going where he can get paid and that is MIchigan or Penn St. Michigan being more likely if you ask me. 

[brianvf]

2 minutes ago, I Ranger said:

Schloss all but confirmed on his last Pod that the last two D spots will be freshman. I think DuPont is going where he can get paid and that is MIchigan or Penn St. Michigan being more likely if you ask me. 

I think we have a better shot at DuPont than we did McKenna.
From what I've heard, DuPont cares less about $ and more about who will better prepare him for the NHL.
That still leaves quite a few blueblood schools and could certainly see UM being one of his final options like you said.  Would be great if we're in the conversation at least.

[brianvf]

Everett and DuPont win the WHL finals tonight and advance to the Memorial Cup.  Everett's first title in 23 years.
Prince Albert and Rudolph's season is over now.

[ChadR]

Where’s is Rudolph headed

[scpa0305]

15 hours ago, brianvf said:

I'd take both.  And we do have room, for sure.
Not ideal to have four FR dmen, but they'd all be very highly talented and would be really fun to watch.

I figure this for replacements:

Liv --> DuPont
Wiebe --> Carels
Strath --> MacKenzie
Zmolek --> Boser
Jubenvill --> Lindberg

DuPont and Carels wouldn’t be like normal freshman. Both are extremely seasoned and ridiculously high high end. Learning curve sure but for them, that would be like a game, maybe two. Carels is top 4 immediately and he would progress very nicely throughout the season. DuPont is a savant, he’d be top 4 as well, QB of the PP. 

The bigger issue is who all plays on the PP? If there’s no room they’ll go elsewhere.

[scpa0305]

14 hours ago, I Ranger said:

Schloss all but confirmed on his last Pod that the last two D spots will be freshman. I think DuPont is going where he can get paid and that is MIchigan or Penn St. Michigan being more likely if you ask me. 

Maybe but he’s also only coming for a year I would assume. $ wouldn’t be the biggest factor in that scenario. Especially after the McKenna deal, I’m assuming the next guy would like less of the attention.

[tnt]

1 hour ago, scpa0305 said:

DuPont and Carels wouldn’t be like normal freshman. Both are extremely seasoned and ridiculously high high end. Learning curve sure but for them, that would be like a game, maybe two. Carels is top 4 immediately and he would progress very nicely throughout the season. DuPont is a savant, he’d be top 4 as well, QB of the PP. 

The bigger issue is who all plays on the PP? If there’s no room they’ll go elsewhere.

Would it be safe to say both our power play pairings at the point would most likely be defensemen in that scenario.  To your point, who wouldn’t be a part of that mix if you had offensive talent like Verhoeff, MacKenzie, Carels, DuPont and Laurila?  

And to be honest, even Boser saw pp time with Arizona State, but that wouldn’t mean much with the above talent.  Makes me wonder if they truly are going for two big names or if they have a seasoned older stay at home defenseman waiting in the wings, although why wouldn’t they have announced that already if their season ended?  Definitely keeps us on the edge of our seats, much like it would be next year if they did land two big names on defense.

 

 

[scpa0305]

11 minutes ago, tnt said:

Would it be safe to say both our power play pairings at the point would most likely be defensemen in that scenario.  To your point, who wouldn’t be a part of that mix if you had offensive talent like Verhoeff, MacKenzie, Carels, DuPont and Laurila?  

And to be honest, even Boser saw pp time with Arizona State, but that wouldn’t mean much with the above talent.  Makes me wonder if they truly are going for two big names or if they have a seasoned older stay at home defenseman waiting in the wings, although why wouldn’t they have announced that already if their season ended?  Definitely keeps us on the edge of our seats, much like it would be next year if they did land two big names on defense.

 

 

They could be going with 2 for sure, and what I should have added above is that they all should be on the pp. The pp should have the most skilled guys regardless of position. I’d roll two pps like last year and have 2 D on both…carels, DuPont, Verhoeff and Laurila. This is assuming DuPont and Carels are an option.  
 

Side note, I don’t believe we’re in on Rudolph but who knows. I could see Carels or DuPont and another solid frosh. Not one of those big 3 but a tier down. 

[tnt]

9 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

They could be going with 2 for sure, and what I should have added above is that they all should be on the pp. The pp should have the most skilled guys regardless of position. I’d roll two pps like last year and have 2 D on both…carels, DuPont, Verhoeff and Laurila. This is assuming DuPont and Carels are an option.  
 

Side note, I don’t believe we’re in on Rudolph but who knows. I could see Carels or DuPont and another solid frosh. Not one of those big 3 but a tier down. 

DuPont looks so effortless in his skating.  He can do a quick pinch at the point, yet because of his elite skating can recover quickly if he doesn’t get there before the opposition.  He would help force our power play to move the puck fast, as he is either moving the puck fast, or circling himself. 
 

That said, if the talk of Carels waiting until the draft to decide whether to turn pro or go to college it would suggest he would be a one and done possibly. With the same possible of DuPont and Verhoeff and Emery probably leaving after next year, that would be a lot to replace.  
 

Although if a big NHL ready body like #1 overall Owen Power can stay two years, like Jake Sanderson, you never know, although Covid had a bit to do with that.

[tnt]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7125603/2026/05/16/liam-markus-ruck-twins-2026-nhl-draft-sedins/
 

Sounds like the Rucks are waiting until after the draft to decide whether to go NCAA.  Says they will talk it over with their agent, which might mean they could require a bit of NIL, which may be why UND didn’t wait, and possibly already know a destination should they decide to go NCAA.

[brianvf]

2 hours ago, tnt said:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7125603/2026/05/16/liam-markus-ruck-twins-2026-nhl-draft-sedins/
 

Sounds like the Rucks are waiting until after the draft to decide whether to go NCAA.  Says they will talk it over with their agent, which might mean they could require a bit of NIL, which may be why UND didn’t wait, and possibly already know a destination should they decide to go NCAA.

You have to figure that they'd head to the NCAA...they've shown to be too good for the WHL level but not quite good enough to jump right to the NHL.
Is there a blueblood NCAA school that has two top 6 forward spots still open/available at this point?

[tnt]

34 minutes ago, brianvf said:

You have to figure that they'd head to the NCAA...they've shown to be too good for the WHL level but not quite good enough to jump right to the NHL.
Is there a blueblood NCAA school that has two top 6 forward spots still open/available at this point?

I wouldn’t be surprised if Penn State could push off a few recruits to make room.

[Godsmack]

13 minutes ago, tnt said:

I wouldn’t be surprised if Penn State could push off a few recruits to make room.

Any insight as to why JJ Wiebusch left Penn State? 

[burd]

Ann there, above even the Ledgies, are the Cloudies, whose fathers before were convinced they were getting commits from both Wayne Gretzky and Ray Bourque. 

[brianvf]

19 minutes ago, burd said:

Ann there, above even the Ledgies, are the Cloudies, whose fathers before were convinced they were getting commits from both Wayne Gretzky and Ray Bourque. 

We were getting Crosby though if he went NCAA. 

[cberkas]

22 minutes ago, burd said:

Ann there, above even the Ledgies, are the Cloudies, whose fathers before were convinced they were getting commits from both Wayne Gretzky and Ray Bourque. 

I do have special wristbands for them, come with two free drinks 

[burd]

6 minutes ago, cberkas said:

I do have special wristbands for them, come with two free drinks 

NIL for Cloudies and Ledgies?  

[cberkas]

15 minutes ago, burd said:

NIL for Cloudies and Ledgies?  

A free poster of their favorite player or player they wanted to commit to UND