Kurth is SUPER unexpected. This team is gonna look a lot different next season.
Kurth was fun to watch. Damn.
I don't blame Kurth at all. He made a huge progression in his game this year. Strike while the iron is hot. Good for him.
I was recently informed by a GPLer that I'm related to Airey
Boy the Kurth departure really stings. Team is totally reshaped.
🤬
Sure have opened up a lot of room for the Misa bros 😉
Congrats to Kurth. Tampa Bay dont have a lot of picks or high end prospects as they are in win now mode. So I reckon they did not want to risk losing Kurth in free agency if he had stayed his senior year.
The Gophers could have up to 12 new faces next season.
I was recently informed by a GPLer that I'm related to Airey
Well, this offseason will now be a huge huge huge one for Bob. I hope he has things under control.
Wow. With Kurth signing, that is now our top 5 scorers gone and 59.5% of our total scoring gone through graduation or early signing. If Chesley also leaves, that percentage jumps up to 64.3%.
Has Motzko had a more important offseason in regards to replenishing the roster since he became our coach? I feel like he hasn't.
Has Motzko had a more important offseason in regards to replenishing the roster since he became our coach? I feel like he hasn't.
I can't imagine so. Player retention has been one of his strengths. Going to need to get creative this summer.
I lost zero sleep over the loss of Pitlick. I'm sure he would have been a help on the ice, but either you are all in or not. He chose to see if he could get a deal after the Aug 15th deadline and by the time he couldn't find one, Bob and the team had moved on. His advisor should have had an idea on what was available for him and could have avoided the whole situation.
Agreed. The team also finished 3rd in the nation in scoring and scored half a goal more a game without Pitlick than with him, finished higher in the conference, higher in the pairwise, higher power play percentage and had less goals against. Snuggerud-Moore-Pitlick scored 103 points last year while Snuggerud-Moore-Ziemer scored 107 points. Wood also essentially replaced his points one for one himself. Pitlick was also a turnover machine some nights and was constantly in Bob’s doghouse. Having a guy come back who isn’t bought in to take minutes from Ziemer, Hendrickson, Pahlsson etc. isn’t ideal either when they’re clearly going to need those guys to step up big time next year with all the losses.
It wouldnt have hurt to have him but there’s no guarantee that Rhett scores 40 points here and he doesn’t really solve any issues that this team had. He’s another speedy perimeter player whose point totals dropped off drastically in the later part of the year. I don’t really think he’s the difference in winning the Notre Dame series or what have you.
Damn didn’t see the Kurth news until I hit post, congrats to him he earned it.
Reminder that almost all of these higher end guys hitting the portal already know where they’re going. Ludtke for example.
Reminder that almost all of these higher end guys hitting the portal already know where they’re going. Ludtke for example.
And since we haven’t heard any rumors or rumblings yet, that means we’re not it?
That one smarts. Didn’t see Kurth leaving.
Interesting discussion on revenue sharing on KFAN’s Pair and a Spare podcast the other day. They project Gopher Football will receive 75% of the revenue share, and men’s basketball receiving 15% to 18% in revenue share.
Still leaves several millions of dollars to be disbursed between women’s basketball, volleyball, and men’s hockey. With NIL, this is just another advantage this program has coming their way.
I have no idea if these players have any interest in transferring, but with Jeff Jackson retiring how about Cole Knuble and Danny Nelson (both sophomores) to soften the blow of our top five players leaving
I have no idea if these players have any interest in transferring, but with Jeff Jackson retiring how about Cole Knuble and Danny Nelson (both sophomores) to soften the blow of our top five players leaving
Continuity in South Bend with an elevated assistant to HC. Nelson family also with a lot of ties to the program. Would not count on much attrition for the Irish.
So we’re at 10 gone:
- Nevers
- Huglen
- Souliere
- Michel
- Koster
- Moore
- Snuggerud
- Rinzel
- Wood
- Kurth
I’m guessing that 10 becomes 13. I assume Chesley signs and a portal entrant or 2. Big off season, look forward to what tBob has up his sleeve because some news of additions would be welcome against the many departures.
I would like to think Bob had a pretty good idea who was leaving before the end of the season. With that being said, I would like to think the feelers have been out and contingency plans are in place.
The doom feeling is starting to be replaced with hope and excitement!
Good Lord has Bob lost the room? I didn't have any thoughts like that before but...
Starting to wonder where lamb’s head is at. It can’t feel the best seeing guys go that all had what it took and still came up short. I’m just hoping the guys to keep it rolling are in a good place mentally. As fans it’s just a concern but I’m probably overthinking.
Good Lord has Bob lost the room? I didn't have any thoughts like that before but...
I hope that statement is filled with sarcasm
I was recently informed by a GPLer that I'm related to Airey
I would like to think Bob had a pretty good idea who was leaving before the end of the season. With that being said, I would like to think the feelers have been out and contingency plans are in place.
The doom feeling is starting to be replaced with hope and excitement!
I am full doom at the moment. Would love some news to move me into hope and excitement.
Curious as well as to what Motzko already knew vs was blindsided by re departures. I gotta assume he knew Moore and Rinzel were gonna leave (Snuggy goes without saying) but IDK about Wood or Kurth. Wood being a first rounder who had a good year in theory isn't surprising but I didn't really expect it either (perhaps that was unreasonable on my part). Kurth I kinda figured would stay for year four but I get it, he did a good job of developing the other parts of his game and from a TB perspective they don't wanna lose him. Hopefully Chesley stays but at this point it's a huge roster overhaul regardless of what he decides. I gotta imagine Bob was aware of this possibility and has a plan but if not... yikes. I guess we'll find out soon enough.
It is why Motzko gets his paycheck. I would imagine Kurth is the only one you would not have a contingency plan for. Needless to say, a big, big offseason for Motzko and the program. He is smart enough to know he needs to adapt but we will see how he executes.
You have to assume any drafted Jr. will sign. Almost has to if the team has any pull.
Good Lord has Bob lost the room? I didn't have any thoughts like that before but...
I hope that statement is filled with sarcasm
Right, because I'm normally the over-reacting type to off the ice stuff.
My sarcastic detector has not been working at 100% since Friday. I think it needs new batteries.
I was recently informed by a GPLer that I'm related to Airey
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
Well that went well. Bob better have something big “recruits” laying in the weeds or next year will be more of Minnesota sports…. Mediocre
Howcome we don't hear speculation about Cal Thomas?
Howcome we don't hear speculation about Cal Thomas?
Theres so much high end talent on this team and recent years that he kind of is forgotten about. Probably our best defensive defenseman on the team this year. I think streakygopher said it a few pages ago, So much talent and so little to show for it.
This number of departures is frightening.
We had a team heavily laden with players signing NHL contracts one after another. You'd think that a team like that would be going to the Frozen Four and winning a national title. But this was a team that only won 4 or their last 10 games. Got sweep in the B1G tournament by the last place team. Lost to Massachusetts because they failed to show up for the 3rd period!
As I am writing this I am watching the Denver / BC regional final game. Two teams playing at a very high level of intensity. Playing very physical hockey and actually checking. Something I don't recall seeing the Gophers do for 3 periods in any game this season. Something is rotten in Dinkytown! I think Bob needs to think long and hard about what type of player he wants to rebuild the team with. This team was definitely an underachiever.
This number of departures is frightening.
I get the sentiment but of the 10 so far 5 are graduating and 4 are all 1st rounders that played either 2 or 3 years of college hockey. Don’t think you can really hope for much more than that. Kurth is also a drafted Junior and had a big year. Don’t think any should leave Bob scrambling.
The more I watch this tournament, the more it's obvious it's all about defense and goaltending. It doesn't have to be a trap the whole game, but the play in the defensive end has to be elite. Goals given up in their two game of all the Frozen Four teams:
BU: 3, 2
Penn St.: 1, 2
Denver: 1, 1
WMU: 1, 1
We gave up 3 goals in 8 minutes. No matter what recruits or transfers we get, the focus has to be on defense and goaltending. We can't keep lying to ourselves that we'll be able to turn it on in the tournament or hope that we outscore the other team. We have to get better at not allowing the other team chances throughout the whole game.
There goes kurth… going to need to hit the portal hard.
https://twitter.com/TBLightning/status/1906428955298840990
So much for Kurth is definitely coming back talk lol.
If Chesley goes, things are looking bleak unless Bob knows about some guys lined up that have just stayed quiet.
Posted this in game thread, but want to mention in here because I think it’s important:
Goaltending has been an Achilles heel for this team in the recent past, and needs to be fixed this offseason.
Close was a stud coming off of a Richter LaFontaine season I just don’t see it the same way at all.
Souliere was solid but was lacking “it”. Goalie is one of the biggest holes going into next season though and will definitely need to be addressed.
I agree with you, the goaltending prior to this year was "good enough" to contend. Close was a really solid and steady goalie, but he was not elite. Like one small step below that. That was a dream outcome after LaFontaine bailed.
It is why Motzko gets his paycheck. I would imagine Kurth is the only one you would not have a contingency plan for. Needless to say, a big, big offseason for Motzko and the program. He is smart enough to know he needs to adapt but we will see how he executes.
This goes to yours and other similar posts: what makes you believe this? What has he shown in the past several seasons that he will adapt or "has something up his sleeve"?
Maybe you are right, but the 2024-25 freshman class was average at best. The 2025-26 class is below that. And the following year about the same. We do not have a first or 2nd round NHL draft pick in any of these classes.
The next point is even more important: who is going to be the goal tender? We have not recruited a top level goal tender since Adam Wilcox in 2012. (Now, I will concede a point that we have had good luck on Canadien transfer goalies such as Robson and LaFontaine, and also a walk-on Canadian goalie in Justen Close who was a really, really lucky break). YOu can get good goaltending in the transfer, but that is also a crap shoot in you have to compete against everyone else and you also cannot get the position set up for the long term.
As I have said, several times, MInnesota MUST recruit the top players from Minnesota to be competitive. We will not get every top recruit, but we must get the bulk of them. Then you add on another top talent from elsewhere, a Vanek, or Haula, or Cooley to that group. But we are missing out on these top recruits.
And the problem is the window is closing. The new recruiting space is not just about NIL money, but it is about today's hype. Denver is one of the "hype" teams and with the hottest modern coach. That is why the unarguably top 2 MN talents from this commitment class went there. If the window closes, we will not be in the talent pipeline that brings even the best MN talent to the team.
You're absolutely right about goaltending, if your team plays a more open style like the Gophers or say Edmonton in the NHL you put a lot more pressure on your goalie to make big saves. That style of play is fun to watch and can still be effective but it's not gonna work when your goalie gives up soft goals like we saw in the last game or last year when Close had a rough game vs BU. He got outplayed in pretty much all of those Michigan/Cows games as well though I would argue the team did as a whole too.The more I watch this tournament, the more it's obvious it's all about defense and goaltending. It doesn't have to be a trap the whole game, but the play in the defensive end has to be elite. Goals given up in their two game of all the Frozen Four teams:
BU: 3, 2
Penn St.: 1, 2
Denver: 1, 1
WMU: 1, 1
We gave up 3 goals in 8 minutes. No matter what recruits or transfers we get, the focus has to be on defense and goaltending. We can't keep lying to ourselves that we'll be able to turn it on in the tournament or hope that we outscore the other team. We have to get better at not allowing the other team chances throughout the whole game.
I do think the Gophers can still play a more aggressive run and gun game that can be the antidote to some of this but they need high end talent to make it work. Even then it might not as we saw 2 years ago or even with BC today. If I had to guess BC is the most talented team in the tourney and probably deserved better but Denver did just enough to run out the clock and beat them. It's not lost on me that Denver just held a lead without much puck possession in the third and let the B1G refs work their magic when needed. I guess my point is, this team is trying to build more along the lines of a BC roster and play that type of game which I think is fine. But BC got Ryan Leonard to stay for a second year and to your point earlier they have an elite goalie. Their high end picks play like it too, for the Gophers that was true 2 years ago but this past year was more of a mixed bag on that front imo.
Another thing to keep in mind is that Motzko could've theoretically had guys like Lucius and Eiserman on this team, not to mention Cooley did leave kinda late after saying he'd stay. In theory that could've affected how they recruited around that time and caused some holes in the roster last year as well as this year. Motzko's vision for the team would be more fully realized if not for that type of stuff happening multiple times.
I love the idea that Bob misses on the top recruits and then cites Logan Cooley as an example. Chef’s kiss
He’s talking about the top in state recruits being missed in the more recent recruiting cycles. Cooley was an out of state recruit.
Give me the name of a player that he didn’t recruit that he should have. This is the same Bobby Brink and TJ Oshie nonsense all over again
It is why Motzko gets his paycheck. I would imagine Kurth is the only one you would not have a contingency plan for. Needless to say, a big, big offseason for Motzko and the program. He is smart enough to know he needs to adapt but we will see how he executes.
This goes to yours and other similar posts: what makes you believe this? What has he shown in the past several seasons that he will adapt or "has something up his sleeve"?
Maybe you are right, but the 2024-25 freshman class was average at best. The 2025-26 class is below that. And the following year about the same. We do not have a first or 2nd round NHL draft pick in any of these classes.
The next point is even more important: who is going to be the goal tender? We have not recruited a top level goal tender since Adam Wilcox in 2012. (Now, I will concede a point that we have had good luck on Canadien transfer goalies such as Robson and LaFontaine, and also a walk-on Canadian goalie in Justen Close who was a really, really lucky break). YOu can get good goaltending in the transfer, but that is also a crap shoot in you have to compete against everyone else and you also cannot get the position set up for the long term.
As I have said, several times, MInnesota MUST recruit the top players from Minnesota to be competitive. We will not get every top recruit, but we must get the bulk of them. Then you add on another top talent from elsewhere, a Vanek, or Haula, or Cooley to that group. But we are missing out on these top recruits.
And the problem is the window is closing. The new recruiting space is not just about NIL money, but it is about today's hype. Denver is one of the "hype" teams and with the hottest modern coach. That is why the unarguably top 2 MN talents from this commitment class went there. If the window closes, we will not be in the talent pipeline that brings even the best MN talent to the team.
Yes they missed on Berchild but like you said you’re not going to get them all and also Kvasnicka and Moe are/were in that same 26-27 class and would be right behind him in terms of top MN forwards.
It is why Motzko gets his paycheck. I would imagine Kurth is the only one you would not have a contingency plan for. Needless to say, a big, big offseason for Motzko and the program. He is smart enough to know he needs to adapt but we will see how he executes.
This goes to yours and other similar posts: what makes you believe this? What has he shown in the past several seasons that he will adapt or "has something up his sleeve"?
Until Bob turns in a poor or even mediocre team on the ice I have to believe in his ability to do it again. There are some legitimate knocks on Bob, but putting good teams on the ice has not been one of them.
That being said, this will be his toughest task yet.
It is why Motzko gets his paycheck. I would imagine Kurth is the only one you would not have a contingency plan for. Needless to say, a big, big offseason for Motzko and the program. He is smart enough to know he needs to adapt but we will see how he executes.
This goes to yours and other similar posts: what makes you believe this? What has he shown in the past several seasons that he will adapt or "has something up his sleeve"?
Maybe you are right, but the 2024-25 freshman class was average at best. The 2025-26 class is below that. And the following year about the same. We do not have a first or 2nd round NHL draft pick in any of these classes.
The next point is even more important: who is going to be the goal tender? We have not recruited a top level goal tender since Adam Wilcox in 2012. (Now, I will concede a point that we have had good luck on Canadien transfer goalies such as Robson and LaFontaine, and also a walk-on Canadian goalie in Justen Close who was a really, really lucky break). YOu can get good goaltending in the transfer, but that is also a crap shoot in you have to compete against everyone else and you also cannot get the position set up for the long term.
As I have said, several times, MInnesota MUST recruit the top players from Minnesota to be competitive. We will not get every top recruit, but we must get the bulk of them. Then you add on another top talent from elsewhere, a Vanek, or Haula, or Cooley to that group. But we are missing out on these top recruits.
And the problem is the window is closing. The new recruiting space is not just about NIL money, but it is about today's hype. Denver is one of the "hype" teams and with the hottest modern coach. That is why the unarguably top 2 MN talents from this commitment class went there. If the window closes, we will not be in the talent pipeline that brings even the best MN talent to the team.
Far too early to draw conclusions on the 2024-2025 freshmen. These were highly productive junior players and profiled as three or four year types. Oddly enough, Whipple lost steam over his draft year, yet was one of those big recruiting wins people are pining for.
Rombach, Phillips, and Moe could all be high picks (Round 2 or higher possible for Rombach and Phillips) so not as though these are future accountants.
The program will always be built around Minnesota players...has the state produced high-end talent the past few years? Even Berchild (a great recruit; do not get me wrong) lies on the 1st/2nd round fringe. This upcoming cycle could change that with Jarvis, Zimmerman, Wenkus, Schneider, Fitzhenry, Canada, etc. High miss rate there and it would be a black eye on the program.
I am not stating the program is perfect; far from. Seeing adjustments needed and actually making them work are two different things. Every coach has a shelf life outside of the truly elite. I just don't see Motzko as having become in over his head.
Well, at least there were no new reports of defections overnite.