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Prospective Recruits


dagies

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He'll be a good addition. Just wondering...why doesn't it seem like we land the tier I recruits? It's so much fun watching the past tier I guys on the NHL package even if they were two and done? Any ideas? Obviously a team needs a good mix of guys and it's worked good for us in the past....but we've also had tier I guys to balance it out too???

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I think Knight will come in before Mattson. I think Mattson would do wonders at the DI level with a year in juniors under his belt.

I actually think Fink should come in next year. In all likelihood, he'd be riding the bench much of the time, which means he'll have plenty of time to heal up for injury and get used to the system.

I'm glad stats don't determine DI worthiness or I'm afraid I'd have to ask what Fink's upside is. His junior career, again statistically, has been rather subpar.

Mattson was 57th on the NHL CSS mid-term rankings - Knight was not ranked. I don't see why Knight would come before Mattson.

Last season Fienhage was ranked higher by CSS and drafted higher than McWilliams and Gleason and ended up coming this year.

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Mattson was 57th on the NHL CSS mid-term rankings - Knight was not ranked. I don't see why Knight would come before Mattson.

The CSS rankings are all about pro potential. Pro potential doesn't necessarily tell us who is the most ready for the college game now. One potential factor is that Knight has been playing in the AJHL, a much higher level of hockey than the Minnesota High School League. The player's preference (or tolerance for waiting) can also be a factor in the decision. In the end, I'm confident that the coaching staff makes excellent decisions about who to bring in, and when.

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Nice job, this is the player I knew about. I found it interesting that they could still delay him until 2010, since he turns 20 in May I didn't think he would be qualified for an extra year in juniors.

Has this guy been mentioned as a possibility in this thread before? Or is he completely out of the blue?

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He'll be a good addition. Just wondering...why doesn't it seem like we land the tier I recruits? It's so much fun watching the past tier I guys on the NHL package even if they were two and done? Any ideas? Obviously a team needs a good mix of guys and it's worked good for us in the past....but we've also had tier I guys to balance it out too???

By "tier I" do you mean "high-end" talent? While the Sioux haven't recruited a Zach Parise or Jonathan Toews for a few years, I think you will be pleased with the quality of many of the incoming recruits over the next few years. Derek Forbort, currently an 11th grade defenseman at Duluth East High School, has the potential to be a first-round draft pick some day.

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Has this guy been mentioned as a possibility in this thread before? Or is he completely out of the blue?

I believe completely out of the blue. I'm sure the coaches have seen him over the years, and perhaps he's a late bloomer. Whether it's by design or has just worked out that way, the team has certainly gotten older over the last few years.

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He'll be a good addition. Just wondering...why doesn't it seem like we land the tier I recruits? It's so much fun watching the past tier I guys on the NHL package even if they were two and done? Any ideas? Obviously a team needs a good mix of guys and it's worked good for us in the past....but we've also had tier I guys to balance it out too???

It would be interesting to know how many of the elite prospects the Sioux have been after that we have missed out on lately. It's hard to know who is going to be great, regardless of the hype, but the odds of a high-end recruit flopping I would guess would be a lot less. Hopefully this guy will turn out to be a diamond in the rough, as I don't remember his name being circulated around here, nor the guy from Winnipeg. I guess we just need to have faith that the coaches know talent and who will be willing to sacrifice for the team better than we do, but it certainly was nice to have a guy like Oshie with high skills and the dedication to the concepts of the team.

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By "tier I" do you mean "high-end" talent? While the Sioux haven't recruited a Zach Parise or Jonathan Toews for a few years, I think you will be pleased with the quality of many of the incoming recruits over the next few years. Derek Forbort, currently an 11th grade defenseman at Duluth East High School, has the potential to be a first-round draft pick some day.

Yes..high end talend is what I meant. It's fun to watch the Zajac's, Oshie's, Stafford's, Toews, Parise plus the many defensemen along with the past Sioux. These were all high end people. It'll be exciting to see Mattson, Cichy, Kristo next year but of these I think only Kristo is top end. I could be wrong. The flip side is being loaded with top end talent and being all about me....not about the team. Next year should be great with our freshman class growing up and the new boys!!

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It would be interesting to know how many of the elite prospects the Sioux have been after that we have missed out on lately. It's hard to know who is going to be great, regardless of the hype, but the odds of a high-end recruit flopping I would guess would be a lot less. Hopefully this guy will turn out to be a diamond in the rough, as I don't remember his name being circulated around here, nor the guy from Winnipeg. I guess we just need to have faith that the coaches know talent and who will be willing to sacrifice for the team better than we do, but it certainly was nice to have a guy like Oshie with high skills and the dedication to the concepts of the team.

The way that recruiting has evolved, the hits or misses on elite guys take place a few years before they hit campus.

Based on what I've heard or read, they missed on Wilson and Nash for this year's sophomores, but ended up with Trupp, Frattin and Malone, who seem on their way to being very good college players who will be here longer than the first-rounders would have.

For this year's freshmen, I hadn't heard of any big misses. It's hard for me to argue with Gregoire, Hextall and Toews as at least upper-middle class recruits (although to be fair Hextall wasn't thought of that way at the time, at least by the internet gurus).

Next year's class includes Kristo and Cichy, who were quite top end guys at the time they committed. Although Cichy fell from grace a bit, going undrafted last year, he seems to be finding his form. If you include Mattson in this group, he's another near-elite guy.

The next group has Nick Mattson and Forbort, who are two of the top defensemen their age in the country. Where Parks, O'Donnell and White fit in I don't know.

It seems to me that there is a steady stream of elite or near-elite guys on the way. UND seems to balance their classes with about half top-end guys and half older four-year guys. You can also see a mix of small guys with world class skills and bigger kids who can skate but don't have the NHL hands. When you see a big kid with the NHL hands, you don't see them for long (Toews, Oshie, who probably graced the team with an extra year that most would not have).

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I was going to say that what I meant by elite player was someone that was a no-brainer even to the rubes that they are coming in right away. The problem with that thinking is that the example I gave in Oshie was one that some thought should go play a year of juniors. With that in mind, we probably have a good mix with players that have a good chance to make an immediate impact next year in Cichy, Kristo and possibly Danny Mattson, and for the following year with Forbort and Mattson. Perhaps it just seems out of whack because all the players that verballed recently are most likely to be role players, at least starting out, perhaps growing into other roles.

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I believe completely out of the blue. I'm sure the coaches have seen him over the years, and perhaps he's a late bloomer. Whether it's by design or has just worked out that way, the team has certainly gotten older over the last few years.

I knew when he visited, but before that completely out of the blue. Also, for the people commenting about the elite recruits, with the exception of some of the Shattuck guys (Parise, Stafford, Toews), UND has historically not brought in those types of players. Zajac and Oshie came up on the last minute and ended up getting drafted high, but they were not the 14-15-16 year old so called blue chip recruits that Michigan and Wisconsin seem to go after every year. I think the coaching staff has done a very good job in bringing in a mix of players. This year they could use some more skill in my opinion, but I think overall the coaches have done well recruiting.

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He'll be a good addition. Just wondering...why doesn't it seem like we land the tier I recruits? It's so much fun watching the past tier I guys on the NHL package even if they were two and done? Any ideas? Obviously a team needs a good mix of guys and it's worked good for us in the past....but we've also had tier I guys to balance it out too???

One of these days we will finally get good enough players to make it to the Frozen Four... ;)

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I knew when he visited, but before that completely out of the blue. Also, for the people commenting about the elite recruits, with the exception of some of the Shattuck guys (Parise, Stafford, Toews), UND has historically not brought in those types of players. Zajac and Oshie came up on the last minute and ended up getting drafted high, but they were not the 14-15-16 year old so called blue chip recruits that Michigan and Wisconsin seem to go after every year. I think the coaching staff has done a very good job in bringing in a mix of players. This year they could use some more skill in my opinion, but I think overall the coaches have done well recruiting.

You just listed 5 elites that we have had since the New Ralph opened. I don't see anyone at that level for the past 2-3 years (longer if you include the classes that have not come in yet). I'm not saying we don't have some great players, but I feel we need some top end (first rounders) in the mix. UND used to be a prefered school to top end talent because they felt they would develop most quickly under Blais (think Parise). I hate to see us get away from landing the blue chippers. Our past 4 years in the frozen 4 have been largely as a result of their contributions (Toews, Oshie). Think where we would have been without them. Again - I'm not putting down our current players or recruits, just wishing we would another Oshie or Toews soon. We need this type of talent. Tell me with a straight face that we would have had a couple of 4 year players instead of Oshie and Toews.

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