So who will be named team captain next season?
Aloha!
Captain… the biggest thing imo is who’s going to be goalie.
Souliere is done, right? So just Airey and what's in the pipeline?
Captain… the biggest thing imo is who’s going to be goalie.
Souliere is done, right? So just Airey and what's in the pipeline?
They're gonna need to get someone in the portal. You're not doing the Lucia thing of just having one goalie capable of getting D1 minutes at a time. Doesn't have to be someone who will be the starter over Airey, just someone who can play.
Well, good news is, my expectations for next season are lower than this year with the anticipated losses. So maybe we'll acheive them.
@jwg What are the expected losses?
Forwards
Out of eligibility: Nevers, Huglen, Michel
Expected to sign: Snuggerud
Possible early departures: Wood (I'd put this one as more likely than not), Moore (he should come back imo but Chicago is trying to ramp up a rebuild)
Back: Clark, Falloon, Hendrickson, Lamb, J Mittelstadt, Pahlsson, Zeimer, Kurth
Defense
Out of eligibility: Koster
Expected to sign: Rinzel (I don't know honestly if this is going to work out best for him, but expect he's gone)
Possible early departures: Chesley (hard to say on this one; Caps seem to like him so could see him gone)
Back: Thomas, L Mittelstadt, Whipple, Gruba; Rud and Begley I'd assume are back but you really hope they're not playing meaningful time
Goalies
Out of eligibility: Souliere
Back: Airey
so in short, on forward you're losing a bunch of your high end talent and not really replacing it except internally in hoping guys get better. There are some interesting Fr coming in but no one that is likely to be a gamebreaker from the get go a la Cooley but some possible Zeimers in there.
D core brings back a couple of rocks but no real offensive threat/mover.
Goalie a big question and absolutely needs a portal add again
It's different now in that you aren't as dependent on the Fr given what can be there in the portal, but Bob hasn't gone as hard after these guys. There's also the CHL guys. It could be a very dynamic offseason. Who comes in for Fr will be very dependent on if there's unexpected guys back or leaving
Great write up. Thank you.
And...woof....
So who will be named team captain next season?
I'm leaning Luke Mittelstadt and Oliver Moore (if he returns). Ryan Chesley is presently a Captain
From what I’ve seen of Airey I think you need to plan on at least trying to find someone better. If Airey develops and improves then that’s a good problem to have but I wouldn’t just assume that’s gonna happen either.Captain… the biggest thing imo is who’s going to be goalie.
Souliere is done, right? So just Airey and what's in the pipeline?
They're gonna need to get someone in the portal. You're not doing the Lucia thing of just having one goalie capable of getting D1 minutes at a time. Doesn't have to be someone who will be the starter over Airey, just someone who can play.
As far as next year I just assumed Snuggy, Moore, and Rinzel are gone but I guess it’s not impossible the last two stay another year.
edit: Wood leaving early would be kinda weird, I don’t think that would work out very well for him but I could be wrong
Two glaring stats from this year (from the NCAA page) that absolutely need to addressed.
1- Faceoff Percentage - .482 - 46/50 teams
2 - PK Percentage - .765 - 50/50 teams
“When your best friend is the son of God, you get tired of losing every argument.”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
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This year's team was good yet flawed and lost in a toss-up tournament game against a quality team. It sucks but it happens. The big regret would be the 22/23 and 24/25 teams may be the most talented teams we see in this stretch and neither closed it out.
Should be an interesting offseason. I am not saying Motzko is on the hot seat but pressure is building to bring home number six, especially given he has indicated he has no desire to coach forever. Curious if it leads to more aggression this summer.
The forward core of Kurth, Lamb, Ziemer, Moore (should he return) should be solid as long as this year's freshman take a step and next year's freshman can take on significant roles. Defense looks lean assuming you lose Rinzel and Chesley. Gruba assuming the offensive role he did in the USHL would be massive.
Quality goalie in the portal a must. Let a transfer and Airey battle for job. Cannot hand the keys to Airey without resistance, though he could certainly emerge as a junior.
Two glaring stats from this year (from the NCAA page) that absolutely need to addressed.
1- Faceoff Percentage - .482 - 46/50 teams
2 - PK Percentage - .765 - 50/50 teams
50 teams? Last night the announcing crew was saying 64 teams. Where did the other 14 teams go?
Also, if Moore signs with Chicago, I don't see the first number getting better next year (unless, perhaps, they hire Jaxon Nelson to come in and work with our centers on faceoffs).
Tact is the ability to step on a man's toes without messing up the shine on his shoes - Harry S Truman
Two glaring stats from this year (from the NCAA page) that absolutely need to addressed.
1- Faceoff Percentage - .482 - 46/50 teams
2 - PK Percentage - .765 - 50/50 teams
50 teams? Last night the announcing crew was saying 64 teams. Where did the other 14 teams go?
Also, if Moore signs with Chicago, I don't see the first number getting better next year (unless, perhaps, they hire Jaxon Nelson to come in and work with our centers on faceoffs).
Sorry, I didn't see there was a 2nd page of stats.
Regardless, both need a lot of improvement.
“When your best friend is the son of God, you get tired of losing every argument.”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
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@greyeagle small detail. there are 64 teams currently but yes both those rankings are bad and problematic
@gopher6 - Per a suggestion I updated the title for this thread for clarity and to make it easier when a season thread for 2025-2026 is started later this year. Thanks for starting!
Now I'm going back to being grumpy.
“When your best friend is the son of God, you get tired of losing every argument.”
― Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
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Face off percentages…if Moore does leave. I don’t see how that number could get worse. He loses a lot of draws from what I’ve noticed. Guessing we could get an incoming player to have better numbers. Not saying Moore is a bad player and we wouldn’t miss him but from a face off standpoint we wouldn’t be losing much in my opinion.
Players leaving - for some reason my gut says Lamb could go. I hope he’s back as he’s going to be a key player as far as returners.
Wood - I’m guessing Nashville is scratching their heads. He’s big but doesn’t play like it.
sorry to be negative but needed to vent after the last couple of showings by my favorite team 
Yea, Wood is an enigma to me. Didn't have the impact I expected and am curious to see what he does.
@jwg He definitely doesn't play to his physical stature, that's for sure. He's the Joe Mauer of Gopher hockey.
Haha I realize every one of my posts the past 24 hours are ult-negative. I guess I'm a little petulant while suffering another day-after Gopher hangover. 
It happens once a year with regularity.
Face off percentages…if Moore does leave. I don’t see how that number could get worse. He loses a lot of draws from what I’ve noticed. Guessing we could get an incoming player to have better numbers. Not saying Moore is a bad player and we wouldn’t miss him but from a face off standpoint we wouldn’t be losing much in my opinion.
Players leaving - for some reason my gut says Lamb could go. I hope he’s back as he’s going to be a key player as far as returners.
Wood - I’m guessing Nashville is scratching their heads. He’s big but doesn’t play like it.
sorry to be negative but needed to vent after the last couple of showings by my favorite team
brody would really surprise me. the Rangers will want to sign Perrault for sure. Maybe they want to bring in Lamb as well, but he's not an NHL guy right now and would envision they'd rather have him stay here and play PP1 and PK minutes as a senior leader. He really disappeared in the back half of the year this year. Was really hoping we'd see more the jump like we saw with Kurth this year out of Lamb but those 2 would be very large senior leaders to have back next year.
@jwg He definitely doesn't play to his physical stature, that's for sure. He's the Joe Mauer of Gopher hockey.
That may be the best analogy ever... Wood may be more Minnesotan than the Minnesotan. I now imagine him skating and politely yelling out, "ope sorry, going to scootch right by you there..."
@jwg He definitely doesn't play to his physical stature, that's for sure. He's the Joe Mauer of Gopher hockey.
That may be the best analogy ever... Wood may be more Minnesotan than the Minnesotan. I now imagine him skating and politely yelling out, "ope sorry, going to scootch right by you there..."
i mean, he is canadian after all 
I think arguing Bob doesn't use the portal is an incomplete observation given he hasn't really had to yet to a large degree, and when he did he absolutely scored with Wood and Souliere.
@jwg He definitely doesn't play to his physical stature, that's for sure. He's the Joe Mauer of Gopher hockey.
That may be the best analogy ever... Wood may be more Minnesotan than the Minnesotan. I now imagine him skating and politely yelling out, "ope sorry, going to scootch right by you there..."
I thought Barry Tallekson played too nice for his size back in the day. I clearly remember saying to myself more than once, come on condor just get pissed! Sometimes when I thought he was his game elevated to a whole nother level.
As far as Wood is concerned, he had career highs in goals, assists, points, plus-minus and cut his PIM down by 27. His point total would have lead the Gophers last year and was 3 less than Knies has 2 years ago. I'm sure his point production would have been more if he would have been on Snuggys line, but was still a point per game guy.
I was recently informed by a GPLer that I'm related to Airey
As far as Wood is concerned, he had career highs in goals, assists, points, plus-minus and cut his PIM down by 27. His point total would have lead the Gophers last year and was 3 less than Knies has 2 years ago. I'm sure his point production would have been more if he would have been on Snuggys line, but was still a point per game guy.
Fair. Maybe he got lost in us actually having a couple top end scorers this year vs. more by committee. Unsure. I guess I just expected more physical play and/or feeling like I heard his name more. It may not be anything he did or didn't do.
As far as Wood is concerned, he had career highs in goals, assists, points, plus-minus and cut his PIM down by 27. His point total would have lead the Gophers last year and was 3 less than Knies has 2 years ago. I'm sure his point production would have been more if he would have been on Snuggys line, but was still a point per game guy.
Fair. Maybe he got lost in us actually having a couple top end scorers this year vs. more by committee. Unsure. I guess I just expected more physical play and/or feeling like I heard his name more. It may not be anything he did or didn't do.
i don't think you're alone in that. 12 pts in his first 6 games with 27 in his last 33. 18 pts in 24 games in conference play and only 1 PPG despite playing a focal shooter role (Snuggy for example with 19G, 13Apts in 24 games). Think a lot of us had higher hopes he would look more dominant with his size and play that PF role we need (similar to what I keep hoping Lamb gets to and he just hasn't either). Still a good season. Maybe if he comes back he can have a leap next year like Snuggy did this year (21G, 13A last year to 24, 27 this year)
Here’s my humble opinion on players leaving vs staying:
Snuggy. Leaving
Chesley. Leaving, but probably should stay. He’ll spend 2 years at least in AHL.
Wood. Staying. I think he really likes it here and he gets the chance to be the star next year.
Rinzel. Staying. Chicago may let him marinate another year. His offensive game improved, but he still has a lot of work to do defensively. Coverages in the D zone particularly.
Moore. Staying.
Kurth. Staying.
Lamb. Staying.
Thomas. Staying.
Both Mitts. Staying.
I don’t think we have any surprise portal departures either.
@snowcool08 This would be an absolute best-case scenario. Hope it proves prescient.
Snuggerud gone
Chesley gone
Wood gone
Rinzel back
Moore back
Book it
@upnorthkid I agree with you guys. I think one of the things the Gopher's lacked was a PF with net front presence that can score goals. We didn't necessarily get banged around too badly, but you look at the teams having success and most of them have a mix with hard hitting/physical players who crash the net. We were almost over-stocked on high skill scorers and not enough of that Knies grease in the corners. Lamb started out getting a lot of goals in the hard areas, but he just disappeared mid-season.
Anyone see a scenario where Kurth would leave? I thought he was great toward the end of the year and fairly dependable all season. I really like how his game came along. I realize he's not high-end from an NHL perspective, but wondering if there are a lot of departures if that could influence him to sign? I don't claim to know the ins and outs of NHL contract, so have no idea if that plays any role in terms of Tampa wanting to sign him or have him wait.
Anyone see a scenario where Kurth would leave? I thought he was great toward the end of the year and fairly dependable all season. I really like how his game came along. I realize he's not high-end from an NHL perspective, but wondering if there are a lot of departures if that could influence him to sign? I don't claim to know the ins and outs of NHL contract, so have no idea if that plays any role in terms of Tampa wanting to sign him or have him wait.
hes not listed in any of Tampa’s top 10 prospect lists. Solid college player who’s going to be like a Nelson and be a depth ahl player. He’ll be back unless he just wants to sign an echl deal (which he won’t). Expect he’s back and wearing a letter
Here’s my humble opinion on players leaving vs staying:
Snuggy. Leaving
Chesley. Leaving, but probably should stay. He’ll spend 2 years at least in AHL.
Wood. Staying. I think he really likes it here and he gets the chance to be the star next year.
Rinzel. Staying. Chicago may let him marinate another year. His offensive game improved, but he still has a lot of work to do defensively. Coverages in the D zone particularly.
Moore. Staying.
Kurth. Staying.
Lamb. Staying.
Thomas. Staying.
Both Mitts. Staying.
I don’t think we have any surprise portal departures either.
If this is the case, the team is a portal goalie away from being extremely good next year (probably better than this year tbh). I don’t think we get this many guys back unless the NIL money is real hefty to make the contract less appealing
As expected, Snuggy has signed
Have heard mentions of us playing BC next season. Any idea who will be hosting?
Here’s my humble opinion on players leaving vs staying:
Snuggy. Leaving
Chesley. Leaving, but probably should stay. He’ll spend 2 years at least in AHL.
Wood. Staying. I think he really likes it here and he gets the chance to be the star next year.
Rinzel. Staying. Chicago may let him marinate another year. His offensive game improved, but he still has a lot of work to do defensively. Coverages in the D zone particularly.
Moore. Staying.
Kurth. Staying.
Lamb. Staying.
Thomas. Staying.
Both Mitts. Staying.
I don’t think we have any surprise portal departures either.
If this is the case, the team is a portal goalie away from being extremely good next year (probably better than this year tbh). I don’t think we get this many guys back unless the NIL money is real hefty to make the contract less appealing
Not sure we’ll be better losing Snuggy and Chesley. Which freshmen would fill those holes? Unless Bob has a couple studs from the CHL lined up and a goalie like this.
https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/817695/joshua-ravensbergen
Here’s my humble opinion on players leaving vs staying:
Snuggy. Leaving
Chesley. Leaving, but probably should stay. He’ll spend 2 years at least in AHL.
Wood. Staying. I think he really likes it here and he gets the chance to be the star next year.
Rinzel. Staying. Chicago may let him marinate another year. His offensive game improved, but he still has a lot of work to do defensively. Coverages in the D zone particularly.
Moore. Staying.
Kurth. Staying.
Lamb. Staying.
Thomas. Staying.
Both Mitts. Staying.
I don’t think we have any surprise portal departures either.
If this is the case, the team is a portal goalie away from being extremely good next year (probably better than this year tbh). I don’t think we get this many guys back unless the NIL money is real hefty to make the contract less appealing
Not sure we’ll be better losing Snuggy and Chesley. Which freshmen would fill those holes? Unless Bob has a couple studs from the CHL lined up and a goalie like this.
https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/817695/joshua-ravensbergen
a year older of zeimer Moore and rinzel with anchor senior defensemen and Kurth, lamb, and wood. It’s the added year of so many guys specifically the 3 I mentioned who are going to be drastically better next year if they’re playing college hockey. Then your usual development of the other freshmen and sophomores who played a ton this year. That’s a huge amount of experience and talent back
wood Moore zeimer
kurth Clark lamb
hendrickson Pahlsson Mooney
Fallon Mitts freshman forward
rinzel gruba
mitts Thomas
whipple freshman D
that is a stacked lineup that can hurt you through 3 lines but moreso play a tighter defensive game with size and physicality, especially on D. If rinzel was here next year, very much expect a Lacombe kind of year. Moore to me would be similar to the jump we saw with Meyers. It’s there for both those 2, it’s just the polishing
Note: I do not think we have all these guys back. Just addressing my thought to the poster who listed this as the the returners and how I’d view that lineup as a goalie from being a top 5 team easily
We need to get an elite goalie if we truly want to be a contender. And we need someone to fill the scoring void left by Snuggerud and I'm just not seeing that in the pipeline. Mooney is uber-talented and a lot of fun to watch, but he's still a bit of a wild card with his size. Fact is, we've missed out some high-end prospects as of late, which is perplexing since a lot of them are Minnesotans and should have been shoe-ins as future Gophers. Would love to see that change over the summer but losing in the first round doesn't exactly help with recruiting or flipping previous commitments.
Not sure if anyone actually posted the Snuggerud signing. 3 years. Good luck Jimmy.
https://www.nhl.com/blues/news/blues-sign-snuggerud-to-3-year-entry-level-contract
Kind of ironic that after Wood transfers here the Gophers are out and Conn is still in.
We need to get an elite goalie if we truly want to be a contender. And we need someone to fill the scoring void left by Snuggerud and I'm just not seeing that in the pipeline. Mooney is uber-talented and a lot of fun to watch, but he's still a bit of a wild card with his size. Fact is, we've missed out some high-end prospects as of late, which is perplexing since a lot of them are Minnesotans and should have been shoe-ins as future Gophers. Would love to see that change over the summer but losing in the first round doesn't exactly help with recruiting or flipping previous commitments.
it would be by committee for Snuggy. If we dump more talent on offense, it’s probably going to take us changing styles
I enjoyed watching snuggy while he was here and wish him all the best. I think the Gophers had to rely on him too much this season and when they were down, Snuggy would go off script. That can do more harm than good.We need to get an elite goalie if we truly want to be a contender. And we need someone to fill the scoring void left by Snuggerud and I'm just not seeing that in the pipeline. Mooney is uber-talented and a lot of fun to watch, but he's still a bit of a wild card with his size. Fact is, we've missed out some high-end prospects as of late, which is perplexing since a lot of them are Minnesotans and should have been shoe-ins as future Gophers. Would love to see that change over the summer but losing in the first round doesn't exactly help with recruiting or flipping previous commitments.
it would be by committee for Snuggy. If we dump more talent on offense, it’s probably going to take us changing styles
I've mentioned before that he won't get away with that at the next level and should move on.
Minnesota probably needs a big get through the portal to improve scoring and could also use a proven goaltender.
Of all the Gophers down the stretch I felt Kurth gave a gritty, tough-out performance every night. He's been good this season and will be a big factor next year.
I enjoyed watching snuggy while he was here and wish him all the best. I think the Gophers had to rely on him too much this season and when they were down, Snuggy would go off script. That can do more harm than good.We need to get an elite goalie if we truly want to be a contender. And we need someone to fill the scoring void left by Snuggerud and I'm just not seeing that in the pipeline. Mooney is uber-talented and a lot of fun to watch, but he's still a bit of a wild card with his size. Fact is, we've missed out some high-end prospects as of late, which is perplexing since a lot of them are Minnesotans and should have been shoe-ins as future Gophers. Would love to see that change over the summer but losing in the first round doesn't exactly help with recruiting or flipping previous commitments.
it would be by committee for Snuggy. If we dump more talent on offense, it’s probably going to take us changing styles
I've mentioned before that he won't get away with that at the next level and should move on.
Minnesota probably needs a big get through the portal to improve scoring and could also use a proven goaltender.
Of all the Gophers down the stretch I felt Kurth gave a gritty, tough-out performance every night. He's been good this season and will be a big factor next year.
agree with all you said 100%
if somehow Rinzel returns for a 3rd season (it certainly didn’t hurt Faber) I think Rinzel could be a legitimate Hobey Baker contender. Moore needs to return for his 3rd year & I just don’t see why Chicago would be pushing to sign him (yet) there’s many aspects of his game that need development. Lamb & Kurth should have big years upcoming & hopefully Clark makes a jump too. Need to look for another veteran goalie in the portal. This team started fast and looked like a juggernaut early with their depth when they broke the drought at Amsoil & bitch slapped the Bulldogs in the process. But that Saturday loss to Michigan State where the 3rd period lead evaporated was unfortunately a portent of things to come in the 2nd half. Still a good season & a darn good team, but ultimately did not evolve close to 22-23 level (and at least part of that is on tBob). Will be a long wait until October for GPLers!I enjoyed watching snuggy while he was here and wish him all the best. I think the Gophers had to rely on him too much this season and when they were down, Snuggy would go off script. That can do more harm than good.We need to get an elite goalie if we truly want to be a contender. And we need someone to fill the scoring void left by Snuggerud and I'm just not seeing that in the pipeline. Mooney is uber-talented and a lot of fun to watch, but he's still a bit of a wild card with his size. Fact is, we've missed out some high-end prospects as of late, which is perplexing since a lot of them are Minnesotans and should have been shoe-ins as future Gophers. Would love to see that change over the summer but losing in the first round doesn't exactly help with recruiting or flipping previous commitments.
it would be by committee for Snuggy. If we dump more talent on offense, it’s probably going to take us changing styles
I've mentioned before that he won't get away with that at the next level and should move on.
Minnesota probably needs a big get through the portal to improve scoring and could also use a proven goaltender.
Of all the Gophers down the stretch I felt Kurth gave a gritty, tough-out performance every night. He's been good this season and will be a big factor next year.
https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/817695/joshua-ravensbergen
While it is clear the team is going to have to recruit players like this, but if they need to rely on Canadian players and the players filtering through the transfer portal it is going to change the entire brand image of this team.
Maybe it is just me, but one of the top reasons I am an avid Gopher hockey fan is that the team recruits the best Minnesota players and builds the team around them. We know these players. We have heard about them and seen them play since they were 14 years old, sometimes even younger. There is a historical pipeline that links these players with the Gopher players of the past.
Warroad. Grand Rapids. Edina. Stillwater. Duluth East. Eden Prairie. Would it be the same having a bunch of "North Vancouver BC" and "Niverville MB" be the bulk of the roster and winning the national championship?
Not to me I guess. The program would just become another mercenary sports program like football and basketball.
I think arguing Bob doesn't use the portal is an incomplete observation given he hasn't really had to yet to a large degree, and when he did he absolutely scored with Wood and Souliere.
yeah, that criticism rings hollow. I don't get it.
https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/817695/joshua-ravensbergen
While it is clear the team is going to have to recruit players like this, but if they need to rely on Canadian players and the players filtering through the transfer portal it is going to change the entire brand image of this team.
Maybe it is just me, but one of the top reasons I am an avid Gopher hockey fan is that the team recruits the best Minnesota players and builds the team around them. We know these players. We have heard about them and seen them play since they were 14 years old, sometimes even younger. There is a historical pipeline that links these players with the Gopher players of the past.
Warroad. Grand Rapids. Edina. Stillwater. Duluth East. Eden Prairie. Would it be the same having a bunch of "North Vancouver BC" and "Niverville MB" be the bulk of the roster and winning the national championship?
Not to me I guess. The program would just become another mercenary sports program like football and basketball.
Well we need a goalie so I through a name out there. Our goalies have been Canadians for the last 8 or so years anyway. Yeah the all Minnesota kids is nice and cool and all but it’s not exactly panned out with the grand prize in over 20 years. We’re way over due.
https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/817695/joshua-ravensbergen
While it is clear the team is going to have to recruit players like this, but if they need to rely on Canadian players and the players filtering through the transfer portal it is going to change the entire brand image of this team.
Maybe it is just me, but one of the top reasons I am an avid Gopher hockey fan is that the team recruits the best Minnesota players and builds the team around them. We know these players. We have heard about them and seen them play since they were 14 years old, sometimes even younger. There is a historical pipeline that links these players with the Gopher players of the past.
Warroad. Grand Rapids. Edina. Stillwater. Duluth East. Eden Prairie. Would it be the same having a bunch of "North Vancouver BC" and "Niverville MB" be the bulk of the roster and winning the national championship?
Not to me I guess. The program would just become another mercenary sports program like football and basketball.
Well we need a goalie so I through a name out there. Our goalies have been Canadians for the last 8 or so years anyway. Yeah the all Minnesota kids is nice and cool and all but it’s not exactly panned out with the grand prize in over 20 years. We’re way over due.
my $.02 but now with NIL we are waiting for a kid who grows up bleeding maroon and gold and wants to play here because he truly wants to, not because someone pays him to.
I have a friend whose son is a good MN goalie and fits that description. Hope it pans out. 