Committed Recruits Update Thread

https://twitter.com/coreypronman/status/1362535474615574531

Lucius with a goal in his 1st game back.

[media] https://twitter.com/USAHockeyNTDP/status/1362926465134772227 [/media]

You always beat me to it. It is uncanny.

[media] https://twitter.com/USAHockeyNTDP/status/1362928472751017985 [/media]

[media] https://twitter.com/FargoForce/status/1362964312667652096 [/media]

Another good night for Gopher recruits.

[media] https://twitter.com/FargoForce/status/1362969662741430275 [/media]

Here is an update on some of the Gopher recruits in the USHL. I did not include some of the players who have only played a handful of games.

Broz--- 33 points -- 14 goals 19 assists in 33 games. Currently 8th in the league in points

Pinoniemi --- 28 points --- 7 gioals and 21 assists in 29 games. 14th in the league in points

Kurth --- 22 points --- 10 goals and 12 assists in 28 games *Currently 3rd in the USHL among rookie scorers

Pitlick --- 22 points --- 7 goals and 15 assists in 27 games

Braccini --- 20 points --- 9 goals and 11 assists in 33 games

Huglen --- 20 points --- 8 goals 12 assists in 18 games

Knies --- 14 points --- 4 goals and 10 assists in 23 games

Chesley --- 9 points --- 4 goals and 5 assists in 13 games * vs USHL teams (27 points total on the under 17 team in 27 games)

Miller --- 9 points --- 3 goals and 6 assists in 18 games

Cruz Lucius --- 9 points --- 2 goals and 7 assists in 15 games * vs USHL teams ( 29 points on the under 17 team in 29 games)

Broz is quietly having a good year. Pinoniemi has shown growth since a very poor 2020 USHL season. Kurth could develop into a monster player. Knies is having a disappointing year due to missing games because of "injury". Will be interesting who comes in next year.

Just speculating:

The special eligiblity rules may throw a curveball im departures but I am assuming the Seniors (McManus/Reedy/Munson) depart. Also under the impression one of Ranta/McLaughlin/Walker/Meyers departs and at least two seems a more likely bet. Wild Card departure always possible. At least four new freshmen forwards seems a safe bet and I feel the first five are pushing to be here. In rough order of how I feel their odds of being here next year are:

Chaz Lucius: A lock given two years in NTDP plus expected draft capital. Could be a Top 6 player right away.

Rhett Pitlick: Two productive USHL years and his skating and playmaking will likely be needed to replace departing talent. Seems a lock. Also been drafted already.

Matthew Knies: An odd scoring output this year but looks likely to have decent draft capital and he scored at a high level last year. Scouting reports also indicate he can contribute as more than a scorer. May be natural fit to assume Ranta's power forward role.

Tristan Broz: Two years of excellent production at a young age and a Motzko recruit. 19 by fall, so not forcing him at a real young age.

Aaron Huglen: Clearly relatively healthy after long layoff and another forward with versatile skills to play up and down lineup. Hard to fathom him waiting another year.

Garrett Pinoniemi: The first real question IMO. Having a strong second season but still has a ways to go physically and is undrafted. Could see him going either way. Is 20 this summer, however. May want to get his career moving.

Connor Kurth: If I am not mistaken, he is a Junior in high school so only acceleration would make him eligible. Draft eligible this fall and figures to be picked in the middle rounds. Still seems logical he spends another year in Dubuque.

Jake Braccini: Solid start in USHL for a recruit we kind of figured may look elsewhere with Motzko in town. Still, too many forwards ahead of him to think he arrives before 2022.

Joe Miller: Drafted, and playing for a loaded Steel team but giving him a full, healthy year in the USHL looks most likely.

Nate Warner: Back in action in NAHL. Seems further away from campus than ever. Still seems a viable decommit.

Charlie Strobel: Apparently back on ice, though not back in lineup. Near lock to spend another year in USHL.

If any of Walker/McLaughlin/Meyers go, they are fools. They are not ready. This disappear a ton against opponents way weaker than what they'd face in the AHL. Ranta is gone, of course.

Pitlick, Broz, Knies, and Lucius signed LOI. Broz, I guess is the one that could get bumped for Huglen but if they bump him I could see him going elsewhere to play right away. Knies is not having the year he should based on what used to be a first round draft projection, but seems fairly locked to come in.

I don't see anyone else coming in besides those five or some new commit. If the seniors go, maybe they can bring in all five.

I think the posts above are pretty accurate, I've been expecting:

Forwards:

Out: McManus, Reedy, Munson, Ranta

In: Pitlick, Lucius, Knies, Broz...with Huglen next in line if someone else leaves.

Defense:

Out: Rossini, maybe Denman, maybe Johnson although I think he probably stays one more year.

In: Mittelstadt could come in in a pinch but they're not really replacing anyone who played. They can roll with 9, maybe would bring in another depth guy if Denman leaves.

Goalie:

Out: LaFontaine

In: Transfer? New commit?

I say bring in Lucius, Broz, Knies, Pitlick and Huglen. Plus a full year of Schmidt. I see the Gophers losing Reedy, McManus, Munson, Ranta and 1 more guy. I would love to see an upgrade on the 4th line, so added competition is good. Pinoniemi would be the wild card for me if they wanted to add depth. It also will depend on what happens in the tourney. I could see an "unfinished business" attitude from some of them to come back for another run.

The little Lucius with a goal tonight

[media] https://twitter.com/USAHockeyNTDP/status/1363301387136868353 [/media]

Knies with 2 goals tonight for Tri City

He definitely reads this board and was irate.

[media] https://twitter.com/USAHockeyNTDP/status/1363587178043957248 [/media]

Charlie Strobel back in the Waterloo lineup this weekend for the first time since November.

Scott Wheeler's midseason top 64 draft prospects update-- Of note-- Chaz Lucius at #13, Tristan Broz @ #59, Matthew Knies was honorable mention

Lucius did not move since last ranking, but he said the more he plays this year, it will be likely he moves up. Broz was not ranked the last time.

Michigan has 3 out of the top 5.

It would have been nice to have Jack Peart in our pipeline.

[media] https://twitter.com/scottcwheeler/status/1367116667013234691 [/media]

https://twitter.com/jsnuggerud/status/1367504866084610049?s=21

Big one! But wait, he is not allowed to commit until 8/1/21...

Unless he is accelerating and is now already an 11th grader. Either way, nice pickup.

I could be wrong, but I believe if there was contact and an offer was made before the new rule went into effect they can still commit to that offer at any time.

I thought I read that somewhere.

This was tweeted 47 minutes ago and "Univ. of Minnesota" has already been added to his Elite Prospects profile for 2022-2023.

Would that mean he is a junior?

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/623832/jimmy-snuggerud

Answer here

https://twitter.com/YouthHockeyHub/status/1367510446354407424

If Pichora were to decommit at some point all but Knies in the pipeline are Minnesotans. :dup:

Save the non-Minnesotans for the stars not role players.

I have seen several folks dub Snuggerud as the best defensive forward on the U-17's. Can skate. Competes. Reasonable offensive upside. Nice add.

Should be a four-year player and a probable captain as well...

Great signing.

Dave Snuggerud is a great guy. He taught both of my kids in middle school.

Snuggy went to Hopkins. Therefore his kid will be a stud too. Just ask Kloos.

Hammy wrote:

Snuggy went to Hopkins. Therefore his kid will be a stud too. Just ask Kloos.

Are you even allowed here anymore?

We're really doing this again?

Every fan is allowed to approach their fandom however they want.

I'm more excited to see a pipeline of all MN. There are others that feel the same. And there are many more that don't care.

The Gophers and UMD have the same MN player ratio now with UMD going up over time. All MN teams can still win championships.

I agree I want mostly Minnesota kids. This ain't Moosejaw U.

High quality kids are coming from everywhere now, and let's grab them when we can. But get the best Minnesota kids.

Huglen has 2 Goals and 1 assist and Broz had 1 Goal and 4 assists tonight.

[media] https://twitter.com/FargoForce/status/1368013671964770305 [/media]

[media] https://twitter.com/FargoForce/status/1368008729040453636 [/media]

[media][ https://twitter.com/FargoForce/status/1368367162776256514/media ]

Casey who?

I'm as excited about next years potential incoming class as any one in the past few years. Lucius, Broz, Huglen, Pitlick, and Knies are a great batch. They will replace the 2nd line who will most likely leave ( McManus, Reedy, Ranta) and greatly improve the depth and the 4th line. The Gophers have been missing that 4th line that has the chance of creating offense the past few years.

Don't we have a policy here about having a 4th line that can't score?

Hammy wrote:

Snuggy went to Hopkins. Therefore his kid will be a stud too. Just ask Kloos.

Too bad they couldn't have worked out a way to get Oliver Bjorkstrand . . .

Now that RyJo is a goal scoring machine, I suppose he may leave for the pros, too.

If they only lose the seniors, Ranta, and one of the top six D they should be solid again next year. The key to success/failure will be as clear as the OL before every Vikings season: the goaltending.

I really hope that Ranta is not talked into moving on. I think he could really use another year of experience before he gets to the professional level. It isn't as if he is a 30 goal scorer at the NCAA D-1 level, in fact he has only scored 34 goals in three NCAA seasons, and has nothing to prove.

He's physically ready and can skate fast enough for any level. I'm totally fine with him starting his pro career.

Ranta could end up staying another year.

Of course he could. And that would be a "bonus year" for us. There are situations where fans feel a player is making the wrong decision and are sometimes wrong but often right. If he goes, no one will say he's making a bad decision.

Now if Meyers, Walker, or any of the other forwards leave, I will quickly tell you it probably isn't a good decision and they'll be spending at least two years in the AHL riding the bus when they could come back one more year for a shot at a title.

FWIW, The Athletic stated the vibes scouts were getting was Meyers would be back next year.

I'll never bedrudge a player for taking the opportunity to earn a paycheck playing hockey in their prime years. Also not going to fault them if returning to school for one more ride is their preference. The "right decision" is not the same for everyone.

Chris Peters has also has published a piece about this as well. He said that Meyers has drawn a lot of interest but has informed the coaches of his plans to return so they can plan ahead on incoming recruits. It shows what kind of team guy he is and why he has a letter on his sweater. For those who have twitter, Chris Peters is a good follow for college hockey info.

Luke Mittelstadt among the nominees for “Youth Hockey Hub’s” boys player of the year.

https://www.youthhockeyhub.com/news_article/show/1151315

The Athletic's Scott Wheeler looks at the 2022 draft with his top 22. It includes 2 Gopher recruits, Ryan Chesley, and Cruz Lucius. Snuggerud is listed as a keep your eye on player.

[media] https://twitter.com/TheAthleticNHL/status/1370057177965203456 [/media]

Here is a couple of quotes-- Lets hope the thought of both Lucius brothers playing together will keep Chaz here a year longer than expected.

Another good night for a few Gopher recruits. Braccini, Huglen, Pitlick, Kurth, and Miller with goals.

[media] https://twitter.com/FargoForce/status/1370211857143889920 [/media]

[media] https://twitter.com/FargoForce/status/1370214788052119560 [/media]

Kurth with a goal already tonight.

[media] https://twitter.com/fightingsaints/status/1370898817864847361 [/media]

Charlie Strobel picked up his first USHL point tonight.

Huglen with a goal and an assist today. Now has 30 points in 26 games. Plus, Snuggy gets one for USA

[media] https://twitter.com/USAHockeyNTDP/status/1371206795222474754 [/media]