Committed Recruits Update Thread

Sam Rinzel one of the finalists for “Youth Hockey Hub’s” boys high school player of the year.

https://www.youthhockeyhub.com/news_article/show/1211403

Whether it is college or pro, there is an ego factor with talent evaluators (and coaches) that they can somehow take/mold a raw player with the prototypical physical tools into something special. It isn't just a Gopher thing though. Personally, I feel like even when these situations do pan out, you don't tend to get the most of it (on the college level) because these guys end up leaving right after they start to pay dividends.

[media] https://twitter.com/mikemorrealeNHL/status/1497231829379817472?t=vaKT4ph4thSWTvhQCSD-4Q&s=19 [/media]

Big night for Team USA Gopher recruits. Two goals for Chesley. Goal and an assist for Cooley. Pair of assists for Snuggerud.

Brody Lamb potted a goal for Green Bay.

He feels like like they are going to have a really good team, surely got some reassurances from big players they're staying? Knies? Faber? Lacombe or Johnson possibly?

Kurth with another goal and assist. He has now 25 goals, 1 behind the league leader. He is also now 2nd in the league in points behind teammate and Ohio St recruit Halliday.

Mittelstadt continues to be 2nd in goals by a defenseman and 2nd in total points by a defenseman only behind former Whioux recruit Miller.

Interestingly Heisenberg now has Cal Thomas listed as coming in 2023.

Mittelstadt’s 22 points on the PP, including 11 PPG, can only bode well for the future of the anemic Gopher PP.

Its kind of a guessing game, i would expect him here next year, but maybe they got some good info that they made the switch.

It’s kind of the set up, not really lacking talent.

Kurth has 25 goals and 37 assists in 44 games. This projects to 35-52-87 for full USHL 62 game season. When was the last time the Gophers had an incoming recruit that was 35-52-87 as an 18 year old in the USHL?

Cammy ?

Kloos :good2:

Pitlick

Kurth has 4 inches and 50lbs on him

And the fact he isn’t getting talked about around here a whole lot more!

Long time Gopher Fan, first time poster!

This reference has been made on a few other posts, but I think an important thing to remember is Motzko finds value in having an older roster. A lot of the Don teams near the end were extremely top heavy and struggled to maintain status quo when we’d have early exits. Some on here are suggesting that many of the veteran bottom 6 holdovers from this year’s roster will transfer, but I’m not so sure. I’m guessing a couple may end up leaving, but Bob would more than likely value experienced players than a projected bottom 6 freshman. Excited about the future of this club!

Agreed. It’s really only been Bonin21 throwing names out there but still I bet we keep Sorenson and Perbix and there’s no way Brodzinski leaves I just don’t seat that one at all.

The only two names I've thrown out are Brodzinski and Perbix. Brodzinski is not a bottom six guy and I don't see a spot for him in next year's top six if Lucius and Knies are back. I put Perbix' name out there because he may also have trouble finding ice time if those guys are back. They both have ties to SCSU. No names beyond that. Honestly, I would probably miss Perbix more than Brodzinski. I don't know what people are seeing in his game besides a good shot.

I understand the "top six" is really "top nine" in college hockey. And if all the big guns are here I'm not sure Brodzinski even has a spot in the top nine.

Knies - Cooley - Snuggerud

Pitlick - Huglen - Lucius

Broz - Nelson - Brodzinski/Nevers/Kurth/Cruz Lucius

Sorenson - Perbix - Brodzinski/Nevers/Kurth/Cruz Lucius

Personally I see 12 goals

How many forwards could put up 12 goals playing with two 100 point scorers + power play time?

You put Schmidt with Sammy and Mac and you think he gets 12 goals / 24 points? I completely agree that Bryce is a pretty meh player but if his one strength is scoring goals, keep him.

I mentioned to my neighbor in the seat next to me this past weekend that Brodzinski is not a top six forward. In his Junior season, he is being outplayed by the freshmen forward corps.

He would have value as a returning upperclassman but not if it means sitting an incoming freshman who has a high ceiling.

I asked how many forwards could put up the numbers. Obviously Schmidt is the least likely and would not be in contention to replace him.

Bingo

Bottom line if Bob preaches about getting older and gaining experience then he’s not walking away from a Senior 12+ goal scorer

Getting older means bringing in freshman classes that are older on average than the typical 18.5ish they have been coming in at.

The Brodzinski staying/leaving argument is dependent on a number of moving parts which makes it very difficult to predict. I think he could be fine in a third line role if the team has good center depth and he doesn’t need to carry the bulk of neutral zone play and transitioning. I also don’t think fourth liners necessarily need to be skill-less grinders like Romano and Ramsey and it makes a huge difference if that line can chip in every so often (see Perbix goal against PSU which was huge). I also see more upside in him than some of our depth guys.

The Luke M season is as impressive as Kurth in my opinion. With Mitchell Miller history maybe Luke has an outside shot at Defensemen of the year. Crazy that we have never had a USHL defensemen of year skate for Gophers.

Is the general thought about the incoming Mittelstadts that they were a package deal? Luke always seemed like the better prospect and John was recruited at the same time as him. John doesn’t seem to fit the mold of the normal Gopher prospect, but maybe the team is banking on him developing more at this level and being a solid, older depth player.

I have faith that tBob has a plan with what appears to be an abundance of forwards that are SCHEDULED to come in next year. Since NLI's have been signed, there may have to be a compromise between a player or two to defer them from coming in.( not a lot of options as some are out of Jr eligibility) As for Perbix and Brodzinski, Bob has a long relationship with both families, and even through he and Bryce appear to not be on the same page at times, it would be tough for me to see him tell them to find another team.

Brodz isn’t transferring to SCSU, the family’s relationship is with tBob. Only way Bryce isn’t back is Philly signing him & as a 7th round draft pick, that isn’t very likely. The kid has an elite shot, but unfortunately is an average skater (at best) which doesn’t help him playing on the enormous pond AKA Mariucci. Blake Biondi has similar attributes as a player (15 goals, 10 assists) but benefits playing home games on an NHL configured ice sheet

I'm totally fine if they're both back and don't think they hurt the team. They just may see their roles decrease and SCSU will lose tons of players so it would be more about going to a good team and having a bigger role. It's just a prediction of a possibility and most predictions do not come true.

I wish Brodzinski got a chance to have Walker's spot on the pp... I mean if you're going to play him on the pp, then put him in a spot to use the shot that we all talk about and have seen in action. I mean Walker has 1 power play point on the year... one.

He should be in the Ovy spot on the power play…opened up to shoot on the left circle. Putting him in front or behind the net makes no sense l☝️

New Thread...

I brought posts back to 1/1/21 in the old thread.

Might be a stupid question, but do Bartoszkiewicz or Boynton lose a year of eligibility for this year if they don't play? Neither have seen a second of ice time.

The best information that I can find is here:

http://web.archive.org/web/20080615043122/www.ncaa.org/wps/ncaa?ContentID=420

No they should be able to both take redshirt years and still be freshmen eligibility wise next season.

Boynton will enroll elsewhere as a freshman next year.

Source?

Would be smart to send El Barto back to juniors for another year and bring him in as the 21 year old freshman

I bet Grigals from Alaska goes to portal….bring him in.

Give Jaxson Stauber a call

Hey, I think the guys that filled in this season like Carl Fish and Colin Schmidt played pretty well. NOt saying they were first liners, but as a 7th D and 4th liner they acquitted themselves just fine.

Isn’t there a decent chance that Bob will utilize a second goalie next year? I feel like the reason he hasn’t over the past year or so was because we had a Richter award winner. And after Laf left we were desperate and had to rely on the only veteran option (which has worked out great so far). But I imagine Bob would want to give the top USHL goalie from last year a fair shot going into 22-23. Close will be a senior too so we’ll need some experience/depth at goalie behind him.

They will still have Bartoszkiewicz on the roster....

I still don't fully understand the negativity around Boynton. He was just sick and hurt to start the year, right? He put up good numbers in juniors, why would we not want him? Someone who knows more than I do please explain.

I don’t think any of us know exactly what’s going on there unless someone here has talked with Bob about it. This is also the coach that lucked into better goaltending because the one tanking the team left abruptly.

Goalies on the Gophers lately have been a crapshoot. It has been the one position that the staff has had problems lining up. The last 2 starters before Closer ( Laffer & Robson ) have come via transfer. We really don't know what we have other than what Closer has done this year. It would not shock me if Boynton left or if he stays. They have Geno Pichora in the pipeline, and though he has improved this year, he needs to play next year at a higher level to see what we have. I would love to get Carsen Musser in the pipeline as well for the future.

[media] https://twitter.com/USAHockeyNTDP/status/1499929204850372610 [/media]