You don’t really have an appreciation for what 6”5 or 6”6 on skates is until you watch him in person. It’s crazy. Plus he can skate too. Crazy to think he might be 6”7 by the time he’s on campus.
You don’t really have an appreciation for what 6”5 or 6”6 on skates is until you watch him in person. It’s crazy. Plus he can skate too. Crazy to think he might be 6”7 by the time he’s on campus.
Usually larger defenseman like this take longer to develop as they adjust to that frame and fill out and improve skating skills. I would expect him to be a little more raw when he hits campus and be more than a 1 year player even if he were a 1 rd pick.
If he were to come in as a beast of a Defenseman on Day 1, that would just be icing on the cake....eater (Wayzata qualifies)
Colton Parayko (6'6") and Joe Colborne (6'5") are the two biggest skaters I've seen, it was crazy to see the area they could cover with their wingspan and stick length. Kind of crazy to think Mace'o could be bigger than either one of them.
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You don’t really have an appreciation for what 6”5 or 6”6 on skates is until you watch him in person. It’s crazy. Plus he can skate too. Crazy to think he might be 6”7 by the time he’s on campus.
Usually larger defenseman like this take longer to develop as they adjust to that frame and fill out and improve skating skills. I would expect him to be a little more raw when he hits campus and be more than a 1 year player even if he were a 1 rd pick.
If he were to come in as a beast of a Defenseman on Day 1, that would just be icing on the cake....eater (Wayzata qualifies)
The NTDP should help a lot with that development. Perfect spot for Maceo to land for the next 2 years.
Colton Parayko (6'6") and Joe Colborne (6'5") are the two biggest skaters I've seen, it was crazy to see the area they could cover with their wingspan and stick length. Kind of crazy to think Mace'o could be bigger than either one of them.
This will sound like a lazy comparison for reasons I won't even mention but Mace'o kind of reminds me of K'Andre Miller. Miller is around the same size and also switched between forward and D in high school before heading to the program.
There will undoubtedly be early departures from this group. Pipeline on defense looking fairly full though. For 2025-2026:
Seniors
Mittelstaedt
Chesley
Thomas
Juniors
Rud
Begley
Rinzel
Sophomores
Whipple
Yakesh
Freshman
Phillips
I am sure the staff would take on someone like Hensler but wonder if they exercise patience on the back-end otherwise.
You would expect one or more of Chesley, Rinzel, and Whipple to leave early for the NHL. If they could land Hensler, I doubt they'd hesitate. They'll likely need more D, but they can be selective.
There will undoubtedly be early departures from this group. Pipeline on defense looking fairly full though. For 2025-2026:
Seniors
Mittelstaedt
Chesley
Thomas
Juniors
Rud
Begley
Rinzel
Sophomores
Whipple
Yakesh
Freshman
Phillips
I am sure the staff would take on someone like Hensler but wonder if they exercise patience on the back-end otherwise.
You would expect one or more of Chesley, Rinzel, and Whipple to leave early for the NHL. If they could land Hensler, I doubt they'd hesitate. They'll likely need more D, but they can be selective.
The thought of possibly rolling into a Frozen Four with a D corps of Mittelstadt-Chesley, Rinzel-Whipple and Phillips-Thomas has me excited.
Chesley strikes me as a guy who will sign after his junior year. The guy is very physically mature plus NTDP players typically are focused on signing NHL deals as quick as possible. He reminds me of Ryan Lindgren a little.
This year will be a big year for his development. He’ll be thrust into all the roles Faber was in last year but I think he’s up for the challenge.
Chesley strikes me as a guy who will sign after his junior year. The guy is very physically mature plus NTDP players typically are focused on signing NHL deals as quick as possible. He reminds me of Ryan Lindgren a little.
This year will be a big year for his development. He’ll be thrust into all the roles Faber was in last year but I think he’s up for the challenge.
I’ve mentioned this a few times but I really like Chesley’s game. I thought he was great last year while still having room to improve. Very solid defenseman who can jump into the rush if need be but whose forte is undoubtedly the grit and sandpaper he plays with on the backend. What’s note to like? Also, has an absolute cannon of a slap shot. I agree that he will be put into a bigger role this but he is also very much up to the task.
Chesley strikes me as a guy who will sign after his junior year. The guy is very physically mature plus NTDP players typically are focused on signing NHL deals as quick as possible. He reminds me of Ryan Lindgren a little.
This year will be a big year for his development. He’ll be thrust into all the roles Faber was in last year but I think he’s up for the challenge.
I’ve mentioned this a few times but I really like Chesley’s game. I thought he was great last year while still having room to improve. Very solid defenseman who can jump into the rush if need be but whose forte is undoubtedly the grit and sandpaper he plays with on the backend. What’s note to like? Also, has an absolute cannon of a slap shot. I agree that he will be put into a bigger role this but he is also very much up to the task.
Theres so much untapped offense in his game. A stat I like to remind people of that blows my mind is that Ryan Chesley is 2nd all-time in goals by and NTDP defenseman. Here’s a list of some NTDP defensemen that scored less goals during their time at the Program than Chesley: Luke Hughes, Quinn Hughes, Charlie McAvoy, Seth Jones, Zach Werenski, Adam Fox, Jake Sanderson, Lane Hutson, etc.
Chesley strikes me as a guy who will sign after his junior year. The guy is very physically mature plus NTDP players typically are focused on signing NHL deals as quick as possible. He reminds me of Ryan Lindgren a little.
This year will be a big year for his development. He’ll be thrust into all the roles Faber was in last year but I think he’s up for the challenge.
I think Chesley is more skilled than Lindgren and I think if he continues to develop he could be a Hobey Baker level player his junior season.
The mention of Ryan Lindgren, it seems like a million years ago he was playing for the Gophers. But its only 5 years (his last season 2017-18. That seemed so hard for me to believe. I think this is part of the phenomena of watching college hockey though, and one of the aspects that makes being a fan special: they are on the team for just a flash in time, but the true fans know the names and have seen them play years before they play for the Gophers, and then many have professional careers for many years after.
For Ryan Lindberg, everyone knew of him as SSM, then two years of NTDP, his short two year career in MInnesota, and followed by 5 years and counting years with the Rangers.
Chesley strikes me as a guy who will sign after his junior year. The guy is very physically mature plus NTDP players typically are focused on signing NHL deals as quick as possible. He reminds me of Ryan Lindgren a little.
This year will be a big year for his development. He’ll be thrust into all the roles Faber was in last year but I think he’s up for the challenge.
I’ve mentioned this a few times but I really like Chesley’s game. I thought he was great last year while still having room to improve. Very solid defenseman who can jump into the rush if need be but whose forte is undoubtedly the grit and sandpaper he plays with on the backend. What’s note to like? Also, has an absolute cannon of a slap shot. I agree that he will be put into a bigger role this but he is also very much up to the task.
Theres so much untapped offense in his game. A stat I like to remind people of that blows my mind is that Ryan Chesley is 2nd all-time in goals by and NTDP defenseman. Here’s a list of some NTDP defensemen that scored less goals during their time at the Program than Chesley: Luke Hughes, Quinn Hughes, Charlie McAvoy, Seth Jones, Zach Werenski, Adam Fox, Jake Sanderson, Lane Hutson, etc.
I didn't know that about him.
He'll get his chance to fiddle with scoring this coming season after the departure of Johnson, Faber, and LaCombe.
Offensive defenseman. Getting a USHL tender at his age is really impressive.
Only the 3rd time the Stampede has done that.
Grimes becomes just the third Stampede player ever to be tendered by the Stampede, joining Jaxon Nelson (2016) and Cam MacDonald (2019). He will be on the Stampede roster next season and will be required to play in a minimum of 55 percent of the Stampede's games.
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Offensive defenseman. Getting a USHL tender at his age is really impressive.
Only the 3rd time the Stampede has done that.
Grimes becomes just the third Stampede player ever to be tendered by the Stampede, joining Jaxon Nelson (2016) and Cam MacDonald (2019). He will be on the Stampede roster next season and will be required to play in a minimum of 55 percent of the Stampede's games.
It means they give up their first round pick in order to sign the player and I believe the player has to play in certain percentage of their games barring injury, suspension, etc. I think teams can sign up to two tenders so potentially give up second round pick as well.
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