Prospective Recruits

[beastandco]

Something to watch in the coming weeks is if Carter Bear signs his ELC. If he stays unsigned, the possibility of him coming to UND for 26/27 stays alive. 

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

5 hours ago, beastandco said:

There might be more players than we realize that do not make it to campus. I would be surprised if Pilgrim makes it unless he waits until he ages out of juniors. We will likely go hard after a couple of forwards in next year’s transfer window as we only have Menghini for that class. Hopefully we do not lose any underclassman forwards to the portal that are in our top 9. 
 

If we can get one or two of DuPont, Carels, Rudolph, or Lin that would be a win. It will be a busy summer/fall for Bryn on the recruiting trail for defenseman. I believe we only have Lindberg on our committed list for defenseman. There will be lots of turnover after this year for defenseman as a few guys will turn pro.

In the current era, we should expect to lose a draft pick to the portal on an annual basis. Sometimes they'll be top 9/4. Honestly, in the no year off penalty era, only Boisvert was a big loss.

[scpa0305]

12 hours ago, beastandco said:

Something to watch in the coming weeks is if Carter Bear signs his ELC. If he stays unsigned, the possibility of him coming to UND for 26/27 stays alive. 

26/27? Why not 25/26…school?

[nascar99]

27 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

26/27? Why not 25/26…school?

School credits needing to be completed plus the Achilles injury meaning he'll miss 1/4-1/2 of the season 

[siouxforce19]

37 minutes ago, nascar99 said:

School credits needing to be completed plus the Achilles injury meaning he'll miss 1/4-1/2 of the season 

It doesn’t seem like he’s going to miss that much of the season. He’s already skating. Read an article where he says he’s at 80 percent. 

[scpa0305]

Just now, siouxforce19 said:

It doesn’t seem like he’s going to miss that much of the season. He’s already skating. Read an article where he says he’s at 80 percent. 

I’ve read that as well. 

[beastandco]

9 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

I’ve read that as well. 

Schloss had said in his weekly column that Bear has informed NCAA teams that he will return to juniors. My guess is that he signs his ELC and takes the 95k signing bonus instead of keeping his NCAA eligibility.

[atxsioux]

I’m not exactly sure where schloss is taking that info from. If he’s taking it from the combine interview in June that’s when bear said he was going to return to Everett. I’m not sure what he’s said since Detroit drafted him. Wouldn’t be completely shocked if Detroit has mentioned the ncaa to him. After scoring as much as he did last year they could definitely lean towards wanting to see him take a step up in challenge. (Granted if he’s not elligible as we think ncaa isn’t an option for 2025-2026)

[beastandco]

2 minutes ago, atxsioux said:

I’m not exactly sure where schloss is taking that info from. If he’s taking it from the combine interview in June that’s when bear said he was going to return to Everett. I’m not sure what he’s said since Detroit drafted him. Wouldn’t be completely shocked if Detroit has mentioned the ncaa to him. After scoring as much as he did last year they could definitely lean towards wanting to see him take a step up in challenge. (Granted if he’s not elligible as we think ncaa isn’t an option for 2025-2026)

“Manitoban and left winger Carter Bear, who went No. 13 overall to Detroit, has indicated to NCAA teams that he intends to play for Tri-City in the WHL this season. Bear's uncle, Darren, played college at UND. He overlapped with Jackson for one season.“

Here is the quote from Schloss this week. Things could obviously change but it looks like he is returning to juniors. 

[scpa0305]

2 hours ago, beastandco said:

Schloss had said in his weekly column that Bear has informed NCAA teams that he will return to juniors. My guess is that he signs his ELC and takes the 95k signing bonus instead of keeping his NCAA eligibility.

Read that too

[nascar99]

I find it to be a bold strategy for these CHLers to stay in junior, play their through their 19 year old season, and then jump into the A for their 20 year old season. Only a few of them seem to be elite enough to make that huge jump. Reschny is smart for taking on the new challenge of the NCAA instead of just stat padding and continuing bad habits in junior.

[beastandco]

2 hours ago, nascar99 said:

I find it to be a bold strategy for these CHLers to stay in junior, play their through their 19 year old season, and then jump into the A for their 20 year old season. Only a few of them seem to be elite enough to make that huge jump. Reschny is smart for taking on the new challenge of the NCAA instead of just stat padding and continuing bad habits in junior.

I think what we are seeing is Canadian prospects taking the path of least resistance. Staying in juniors is a path that has already been paved. There also is the element of them stabbing their junior teams in the back as well as hockey Canada, which I understand. Victoria hasn’t handled the loss of Reschny and Verhoeff well. I don’t think they understand how much better college hockey is on and off of the ice. 

From what I have read online, it seems like a lot of the first rounders from this year’s draft are going back to juniors. That could also be Canadian media being out of touch or biased. 

 

 

[Big A HG]

Is he a buddy of Brad? 

[brianvf]

55 minutes ago, beastandco said:

From what I have read online, it seems like a lot of the first rounders from this year’s draft are going back to juniors. That could also be Canadian media being out of touch or biased. 

Yeah, will be real interesting to see who Bryn adds for the last 2 spots.
I thought we would have seen more action (for all of NCAA, not just UND) after the draft.  Maybe this will be a big week upcoming since the July 4th holiday interrupted our normal Friday recruiting festivities.    

[beastandco]

26 minutes ago, brianvf said:

Yeah, will be real interesting to see who Bryn adds for the last 2 spots.
I thought we would have seen more action (for all of NCAA, not just UND) after the draft.  Maybe this will be a big week upcoming since the July 4th holiday interrupted our normal Friday recruiting festivities.    

Between the draft, development camps, and 4th of July festivities, it is not surprising that there hasn’t been any new notable commitments. There hasn’t been any word on who UND is even after in the last month or so. Since they still have open spots and it’s July, I would expect to hear a commitment or two in the next couple of weeks. 

[nascar99]

1 hour ago, beastandco said:

I think what we are seeing is Canadian prospects taking the path of least resistance. Staying in junior is a path that has already been paved. There also is the element of them stabbing their junior teams in the back as well as hockey Canada, which I understand. Victoria hasn’t handled the loss of Reschny and Verhoeff well. I don’t think they understand how much better college hockey is on and off of the ice. 

From what I have read online, it seems like a lot of the first rounders from this year’s draft are going back to junior. That could also be Canadian media being out of touch or biased. 

 

 

They're taking the easy, simple route. Of course, there's nothing wrong going back to junior for another year if they don't sign their ELC and then go to the NCAA for their D+2 season. Additionally, many of them chose major junior over the NCAA when the routes were still split under the old rules, it's very possible they just aren't interested in taking classes & playing fewer games.

But as we always bring up, there's an allure to flights to playing in front packed rinks across the country for weekend series as opposed to 10-15 hour bus rides every other week from Moose Jaw to Langley to Spokane to Portland, etc, where the rinks don't have the same environment most of the time.

[nascar99]

3 minutes ago, beastandco said:

Between the draft, development camps, and 4th of July festivities, it is not surprising that there hasn’t been any new notable commitments. There hasn’t been any word on who UND is even after in the last month or so. Since they still have open spots and it’s July, I would expect to hear a commitment or two in the next couple of weeks. 

Could be a wild July and August, with blue bloods/contenders filling out the last 2 spots of their roster while also busy recruiting 2009 Canadians & late 2008/normal 2009 Americans for the August 1 first time eligible recruiting opening window.

[beastandco]

6 minutes ago, nascar99 said:

Could be a wild July and August, with blue bloods/contenders filling out the last 2 spots of their roster while also busy recruiting 2009 Canadians & late 2008/normal 2009 Americans for the August 1 first time eligible recruiting opening window.

Just read something about the Flyers’ assistant GM stating that he will talk to Martone about the college route within the next couple of weeks. Says he has a ton of offers, I’m sure UND is one of them. Penn State seems like the likely landing spot but stranger things have happened. Outside of Martone and McKenna, there might only be a couple of commitments. I still think we would’ve filled our roster with older CHL players already if we weren’t in on some of the top players from this draft.

[nascar99]

Ryder Ritchie (2006, 2024 Minnesota 2nd rounder, WHL) officially commits to Boston University. Not sure if the Terriers have anymore 2025-26 roster spots to fill but that's one domino down for the summer watch/checklist.

[burd]

BU just can’t continue to recruit all these high draft picks too much longer without winning a banner.  Sure, it takes all kinds on a team and banners are a game of chance, but . . . .

[nascar99]

28 minutes ago, burd said:

BU just can’t continue to recruit all these high draft picks too much longer without winning a banner.  Sure, it takes all kinds on a team and banners are a game of chance, but . . . .

Eventually, the high end talent that Boston University, Boston College, & Michigan bring in will end up leading to one of if not more of them ending their title droughts. I would say the same about Minnesota (who usually builds better all around rosters than the aforementioned 3), but they're going to be retooling for a bit after losing a ton from their roster & having some recruiting losses/issues.

This seems like it should be the year for Michigan State to get it done, considering the new talent they have coming in, the talent they have coming back, the elite goaltender (Augustine) who is back. If McKenna commits to the Spartans, it's absolutely national championship or bust for them. They're my favorite for 2026, even if they don't land McKenna.

[scpa0305]

48 minutes ago, nascar99 said:

Eventually, the high end talent that Boston University, Boston College, & Michigan bring in will end up leading to one of if not more of them ending their title droughts. I would say the same about Minnesota (who usually builds better all around rosters than the aforementioned 3), but they're going to be retooling for a bit after losing a ton from their roster & having some recruiting losses/issues.

This seems like it should be the year for Michigan State to get it done, considering the new talent they have coming in, the talent they have coming back, the elite goaltender (Augustine) who is back. If McKenna commits to the Spartans, it's absolutely national championship or bust for them. They're my favorite for 2026, even if they don't land McKenna.

Yeah…super super deep already.

[crb1]

7 hours ago, nascar99 said:

Eventually, the high end talent that Boston University, Boston College, & Michigan bring in will end up leading to one of if not more of them ending their title droughts. I would say the same about Minnesota (who usually builds better all around rosters than the aforementioned 3), but they're going to be retooling for a bit after losing a ton from their roster & having some recruiting losses/issues.

This seems like it should be the year for Michigan State to get it done, considering the new talent they have coming in, the talent they have coming back, the elite goaltender (Augustine) who is back. If McKenna commits to the Spartans, it's absolutely national championship or bust for them. They're my favorite for 2026, even if they don't land McKenna.

Unfortunately, this ushers in a new path to winning titles: money. Those who can throw money at players to build their roster will have the advantage. The days of recruiting high-end talent because athletes believed in a program or its development path are over—now it’s all about chasing the almighty dollar.
To me, we’re no longer watching athletes play for the love of the game or personal betterment. Instead, it’s become about pursuing the biggest money grab. Whether this is good or bad, here we are.

[burd]

3 hours ago, crb1 said:

Unfortunately, this ushers in a new path to winning titles: money. Those who can throw money at players to build their roster will have the advantage. The days of recruiting high-end talent because athletes believed in a program or its development path are over—now it’s all about chasing the almighty dollar.
To me, we’re no longer watching athletes play for the love of the game or personal betterment. Instead, it’s become about pursuing the biggest money grab. Whether this is good or bad, here we are.

Some truth to that, but BU (and others mentioned by nascar) has been recruiting a LOT of so-called chippahs for years based on factors other than cash.  

[.357]

5 hours ago, crb1 said:

The days of recruiting high-end talent because athletes believed in a program or its development path are over—now it’s all about chasing the almighty dollar.
 

Not necessarily. Reschny & Verhoeff are two examples of very high-end players who chose UND because they thought it was the best development arc for their transition to the NHL. They say as much in their interviews about that being the reason why they're coming here. Granted, their reasons may be different than a local boy like Strinden who has NoDak in his veins, but at least they're not whoring themselves out to the highest bidder. If it were all about money, these two would have wound up at Michigan or Penn St & not even considered UND. 

Landon Dupont is another very high-end player who could very likely end up at UND or DU, but it won't be because these two schools are outbidding teams in the B1G & Hockey East. Heck, even Michigan St. is building a juggernaut & they have publicly stated that they won't be throwing obscene amounts at players to lure them there. 

A player whose first concern is how much cash he'll get for going to a school is a huge red flag for coaches who are interested in him.