2026-27 University of North Dakota Hockey Season

[.357]

8 hours ago, beastandco said:

Schloss said on his podcast this morning that UND doesn’t have any silent commitments. I wouldn’t expect any of these names to be committed unless they take a visit after the season. For reference, Ryan Lin committed about 10 days after his season ended. It’s a safe bet that he visited Denver in that time frame before officially committing.

Mildly surprising & somewhat hard to believe that a major school like UND wouldn't already have a marquee CHL name or two lined up by now, effectively leaving UND with just hoping they get a biggie at a later date...

With all those talented CHLers/internationals crossing over to the NCAA, figure UND has to be a lock for at least one of them, F &/or D.* Doesn’t make sense to leave it all to chance until after the CHL playoffs. Unless the coaching staff is satisfied for the most part with the talent that is already committed. Like @AJSsaid, it seems like UND is missing one elite forward scorer, especially to make them competitive with a strong B1G Conference next year.

*Basing this opinion on the smoke during the WJC that Carels was coming in. Plus that WHL prospects game (or whatever that was) a couple months ago that had the UND logo next to Carel's name on the roster. Hard to believe that was a mistake. 

 

[tnt]

3 minutes ago, .357 said:

Mildly surprising & somewhat hard to believe that a major school like UND  wouldn't already have a marquee CHL name or two lined up by now, effectively leaving UND with just hoping they get a biggie at a later date...

With all those talented CHLers/internationals crossing over to the NCAA, figure UND has to be a lock for at least one of them, F &/or D.* Doesn’t make sense to leave it all to chance until after the CHL playoffs. Unless the coaching staff is satisfied for the most part with the talent that is already committed. Like @AJSsaid, it seems like UND is missing one elite forward scorer, especially to make them competitive with a strong B1G Conference next year.

*Basing this opinion on the smoke during the WJC that Carels was coming in. Plus that WHL prospects game (or whatever that was) a couple months ago that had the UND logo next to Carel's name on the roster. Hard to believe that was a mistake. 

 

Yeah, didn’t Chris Peters on that podcast say that UND was tied to more than one player during World Juniors?  With that much smoke you would think there would be some fire.

[brianvf]

3 minutes ago, tnt said:

Yeah, didn’t Chris Peters on that podcast say that UND was tied to more than one player during World Juniors?  With that much smoke you would think there would be some fire.

Maybe Schloss doesn't have accurate info on it?  
Should be an interesting couple weeks once these CHL teams seasons start winding down.

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

12 minutes ago, tnt said:

Yeah, didn’t Chris Peters on that podcast say that UND was tied to more than one player during World Juniors?  With that much smoke you would think there would be some fire.

One was the Swiss guy who signed in NLA for next year.

[farce poobah]

32 minutes ago, brianvf said:

Maybe Schloss doesn't have accurate info on it?  
Should be an interesting couple weeks once these CHL teams seasons start winding down.

Maybe Schloss is holding his cards close to the vest.

After all, if he says we have silent commits, then they aren't silent anymore.

[hockeytherapy13]

39 minutes ago, brianvf said:

Maybe Schloss doesn't have accurate info on it?  
Should be an interesting couple weeks once these CHL teams seasons start winding down.

Better ask Tyler Young now 

[Username Taken]

7 minutes ago, farce poobah said:

Maybe Schloss is holding his cards close to the vest.

After all, if he says we have silent commits, then they aren't silent anymore.

If he confirmed there was a silent commit, that would  pretty much confirm Carels, and I doubt he wants that distraction at this point in his season. UND should be able to out recruit itself from where it was a year ago coming off a frozen four trip and the players they have returning. 

[I Ranger]

11 hours ago, tnt said:

Yeah, didn’t Chris Peters on that podcast say that UND was tied to more than one player during World Juniors?  With that much smoke you would think there would be some fire.

I'm 100% with you here. I just can't believe that all the rumors of UND having guys lined up for months and nothing comes to fruition! Would be very bizarre if true. 

[nascar99]

35 minutes ago, I Ranger said:

I'm 100% with you here. I just can't believe that all the rumors of UND having guys lined up for months and nothing comes to fruition! Would be very bizarre if true. 

Things eventually came to fruition last year. Important to not forget that Jackson has alluded to striking out on certain guys that they pursued (would assume this would include Martone, as well as guys like Kindel, Bear, Cootes, & Lakovic who signed pro; potentially McQueen who committed to Providence College late) before finding others to build the 2025-26 Team.

Trusting that Chyzyk/Jackson have had Plan A, B, C, D, & E ready for 3+ months for the 2026 Offseason

[nascar99]

 

[scpa0305]

1 hour ago, I Ranger said:

I'm 100% with you here. I just can't believe that all the rumors of UND having guys lined up for months and nothing comes to fruition! Would be very bizarre if true. 

CHL guys can’t commit until after their seasons are over. This has been widely known. 

[nascar99]

Just now, scpa0305 said:

CHL guys can’t commit until after their seasons are over. This has been widely known. 

They obviously can, most of them who are going to be in the NCAA for the next year just have decided to not officially commit during the junior season because they fear the backlash from their junior team. It's such a new thing for CHLers to go NCAA, so CHL organizations are still bitter/pissed when guys are now moving up a level to the NCAA

[I Ranger]

54 minutes ago, scpa0305 said:

CHL guys can’t commit until after their seasons are over. This has been widely known. 

I get that but the fact that we may only have one forward roster spot available for such player is what I'm questioning? Again, was this our plan all along to only potentially bring in one at forward? Obviously hoping for a couple D as well! 

[nascar99]

Malinoski to North Dakota

 

[brianvf]

Malinoski added and Sandy removed.
Malinoski sounds like a good faceoff guy that can also score some goals.  Forward group gained experience with 2 SR's and 1 JR added via portal.
Four players remaining to finalize the roster. 
Here's where Chyz needs to earn his $...time to pull in a CHL elite forward and a couple of the remaining CHL dmen studs.
If they can do that, this team will be very good.

Forwards (14 of 15):
SR - Magnussen, Malinoski, Menghini
JR - Croal, Lindberg, Swanson
SO - Josephson, Kernan, Reschny, Zakreski, Zellers
FR - A.Schultz, B.Schultz, Simpson

Defense (6 of 8):
SR -
JR - Boser, Emery
SO - Laurila, Verhoeff
FR - Lindberg, MacKenzie

Goalies (2 of 3):
SR - 
JR -
SO - Spunar
FR - Heil

[brianvf]

https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/keaton-verhoeff-2026-nhl-draft-u-18-world-championship-scouting-report-north-dakota

Interview with Verhoeff while at the U-18 World Championship.
 

Quote

While the decision likely won’t be officially made until he’s drafted, many scouts think Verhoeff would be better off returning to UND for his sophomore campaign than turning pro. North Dakota is expected to challenge for a national title again, with Verhoeff projected to play heavy minutes.

 

[atxsioux]

2 hours ago, I Ranger said:

I get that but the fact that we may only have one forward roster spot available for such player is what I'm questioning? Again, was this our plan all along to only potentially bring in one at forward? Obviously hoping for a couple D as well! 

We have Cooper Simpson coming in to add some pretty instant offense as well. Think he’s getting overlooked a little bit. Love Strinden and James but if Simpson’s offense translates to college quickly he’s got more high end offensive ceiling than either of those guys on the wing.

[Siouxdaddy]

I believe Carels is a silent commit or at a very minimum a lock once we tour him. 90% sure he is coming on a visit this week. I know Schloss said we didn’t have any, but he’s always going to say that, especially about high profile potential ones. People gotta understand too Schloss can only say so much. If he leaks something he’ll burn a bridge. 

[jk]

About Malinoski and faceoffs, I was curious on his usage against Q a few weeks ago, and let's just say he had a rough game.  According to the box score, he was 1-15 in the dot.  He was fourth in TOI among forwards, so that's good.

[AJS]

31 minutes ago, Siouxdaddy said:

I believe Carels is a silent commit or at a very minimum a lock once we tour him. 90% sure he is coming on a visit this week. I know Schloss said we didn’t have any, but he’s always going to say that, especially about high profile potential ones. People gotta understand too Schloss can only say so much. If he leaks something he’ll burn a bridge. 

He’s playing in Game 6 tonight. Whenever his season ends I would think he’d schedule something shortly after, but would find it odd to have something already scheduled when his team is still playing. 

[scpa0305]

4 hours ago, nascar99 said:

They obviously can, most of them who are going to be in the NCAA for the next year just have decided to not officially commit during the junior season because they fear the backlash from their junior team. It's such a new thing for CHLers to go NCAA, so CHL organizations are still bitter/pissed when guys are now moving up a level to the NCAA

Well yes that is obviously true haha, I realize they are technically allowed to haha. My point was we’re probably going to add  F and D out of the dub…they will not commit/announce until the get knocked out, or after the draft even.

[scpa0305]

3 hours ago, I Ranger said:

I get that but the fact that we may only have one forward roster spot available for such player is what I'm questioning? Again, was this our plan all along to only potentially bring in one at forward? Obviously hoping for a couple D as well! 

As we haven’t really hammered the portal I’m assuming we’ll get a pretty good young F and another good young D. Both will be up in the lineup. I could see Carels and Belchetz…something like that 

[siouxweet]

We needed some finishers.  Do any of the incoming freshmen or portal pick ups fill this need?

[gfhockey]

So no chippaz coming in?

[brianvf]

26 minutes ago, siouxweet said:

We needed some finishers.  Do any of the incoming freshmen or portal pick ups fill this need?

Simpson is one of the best finishers in the USHL.  Two years in a row bringing in one of the best scorers in the USHL.