Gopher Hockey Recruiting

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Vegoe seemed pretty sure Cullen will be the only first rounder on the team next year. So ya, don't expect any miracles and watch all the big hitters left get divided between the usual suspects.
 

bonin21 said:
Vegoe seemed pretty sure Cullen will be the only first rounder on the team next year. So ya, don't expect any miracles and watch all the big hitters left get divided between the usual suspects.
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i dunno. would be the only one from the US for sure. he most certainly did not rule out the CHL guys and has said Larson has been putting in a bunch of times up there.

Kind of an interesting hypothetical. Obviously the top tier of guys are all crazy good players, but if they're all 1 and done, do you want Smith (assuming fully healthy) who is 20 and more developed or a guy who's a D-1 like Dupont who will be a 1st rounder but you may only get that year out of him where his impact may be less (similar to Verhoeff this year or what say Levi Harper maybe would have been)

If you get them for additional years (like what PSU will get out of Smith, who was very up and down this year and what UND is hoping to get out of Verhoeff but TBD for now pending who drafts him), obviously changes the calculus.

Obviously they've been up at Everett watching Smith and Dupont as well as. Would surprise me if they haven't at least talked to Rudolph from PA while being up there watching Casey. Tons going to be under the radar up there given CHL programs and their media aren't happy about losing top guys so they're keeping it under the radar. Bummer Penticton didn't have any of those guys there as they seem much more open to having US guys for a year.



Lot will be hurry up and wait as Veegs alludes to with the draft and what their pro teams want players to do. Assume you're going to see a ton more steam after the draft and you're also going to have some guys who may have committed who make their pro roster and decide not to come to college at all (similar to what we saw last year). I'm at least encouraged they have said Larson is getting up there an awful lot.

Last part on Veegs comments (post drinking which made him and Jupe quite entertaining haha) about Smith and that you don't spend a roster slots on a guy like him who is hurt or that Denver and/or Michigan don't have room, I just don't think that's going to be the case for any of these teams in that they won't make room for them. Same as we have multiple roster slots right now. Think the comments on the 1st rounder thing were more off hand about the roster we currently have rather than insight on CHL recruiting.
 
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upnorthkid said:
i dunno. would be the only one from the US for sure. he most certainly did not rule out the CHL guys and has said Larson has been putting in a bunch of times up there.

Kind of an interesting hypothetical. Obviously the top tier of guys are all crazy good players, but if they're all 1 and done, do you want Smith (assuming fully healthy) who is 20 and more developed or a guy who's a D-1 like Dupont who will be a 1st rounder but you may only get that year out of him where his impact may be less (similar to Verhoeff this year or what say Levi Harper maybe would have been)

If you get them for additional years (like what PSU will get out of Smith, who was very up and down this year and what UND is hoping to get out of Verhoeff but TBD for now pending who drafts him), obviously changes the calculus.

Obviously they've been up at Everett watching Smith and Dupont as well as. Would surprise me if they haven't at least talked to Rudolph from PA while being up there watching Casey. Tons going to be under the radar up there given CHL programs and their media aren't happy about losing top guys so they're keeping it under the radar. Bummer Penticton didn't have any of those guys there as they seem much more open to having US guys for a year.



Lot will be hurry up and wait as Veegs alludes to with the draft and what their pro teams want players to do. Assume you're going to see a ton more steam after the draft and you're also going to have some guys who may have committed who make their pro roster and decide not to come to college at all (similar to what we saw last year). I'm at least encouraged they have said Larson is getting up there an awful lot.

Last part on Veegs comments (post drinking which made him and Jupe quite entertaining haha) about Smith and that you don't spend a roster slots on a guy like him who is hurt or that Denver and/or Michigan don't have room, I just don't think that's going to be the case for any of these teams in that they won't make room for them. Same as we have multiple roster slots right now. Think the comments on the 1st rounder thing were more off hand about the roster we currently have rather than insight on CHL recruiting.
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Agree, I think he was strongly alluding that the odds are we’re gonna get at least one CHL guy with the amount of effort being put in up there.
 




bonin21 said:
Meh, that's another 3C for next year as a freshman at best.
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Not saying he’d be a world beater, but exactly what evidence suggests he can only be a 3C at best his freshman year? Plenty of freshman prove to be top 6 options who aren’t highly touted/drafted. If we can’t get one of the top guys left out there, I’m taking a 19 year old who was top 5 in scoring in the USHL every day of the week.
 

cheeseburgerphil26 said:
Not saying he’d be a world beater, but exactly what evidence suggests he can only be a 3C at best his freshman year? Plenty of freshman prove to be top 6 options who aren’t highly touted/drafted. If we can’t get one of the top guys left out there, I’m taking a 19 year old who was top 5 in scoring in the USHL every day of the week.
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Undrafted, small, older player in the USHL. Top 2C in a STACKED Big Ten? You think he's gonna have a bigger impact than Ludtke (or Clark would have)? Doubtful.
 

bonin21 said:
Undrafted, small, older player in the USHL. Top 2C in a STACKED Big Ten? You think he's gonna have a bigger impact than Ludtke (or Clark would have)? Doubtful.
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Many freshman who take on that role have that profile. Just this year Karabela on Ohio State thrived as a freshman center in the Big Ten. Same size, decent junior production, older junior player coming in. But right, if we can’t get the few top options left we probably shouldn’t go after the top 5 USHL scorer at center because he isn’t drafted.
 

cheeseburgerphil26 said:
Many freshman who take on that role have that profile. Just this year Karabela on Ohio State thrived as a freshman center in the Big Ten. Same size, decent junior production, older junior player coming in. But right, if we can’t get the few top options left we probably shouldn’t go after the top 5 USHL scorer at center because he isn’t drafted.
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He's drafted and 5'11" with four years of CHL experience and coming in at 21 not 20. Just saying the probability of this kid hitting like Karabela is VERY low. He was an absolute find. For every one of those you get a bunch of misses, too.
 



bonin21 said:
He's drafted and 5'11" with four years of CHL experience and coming in at 21 not 20. Just saying the probability of this kid hitting like Karabela is VERY low. He was an absolute find. For every one of those you get a bunch of misses, too.
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They’re basically the same size. Karabela was just one example off the top of my head with a comparable profile, but this happens all the time in college hockey. Obviously there are plenty of misses, just like there are many highly drafted misses in college too.

I’m not sure why you’re arguing that you wouldn’t want to take a shot on someone with that production in the case that we don’t get any of the top options. That’s the only point I was making. Not every single top 6 player is going to be a draft pick every year. He would be a solid fallback option and gives you another player who has that potential at the least.
 

Are you saying you take him over Souch? For me, it's no different so you take the guy already vetted by the coach.
 

bonin21 said:
Are you saying you take him over Souch? For me, it's no different so you take the guy already vetted by the coach.
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No I probably wouldn’t, was just throwing out another similar secondary option. Souch isn’t necessarily guaranteed to commit here either. Would be fine with either in that scenario though
 

cheeseburgerphil26 said:
No I probably wouldn’t, was just throwing out another similar secondary option. Souch isn’t necessarily guaranteed to commit here either. Would be fine with either in that scenario though
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I think the coach is seeing if they can pull off a miracle and find a 1C and 2C somehow, but then will call Souch if they can't. I expect Souch on the roster. He has no reason to call him yet.
 



bonin21 said:
I think the coach is seeing if they can pull off a miracle and find a 1C and 2C somehow, but then will call Souch if they can't. I expect Souch on the roster. He has no reason to call him yet.
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I dunno if a miracle, but you 100% wait until the draft and where guys end up to see what their agents want them to do. There are still multiple chl guys who will in that spot post draft and may be told to look at college for the next step
 

Luca Jarvis to Spokane in the dub for next year. Super interested to see what kind of leap he makes.
 




Smith - Murr
Whipple/Loftus - Henricks
Whipple/Loftus - Rombach/Lofgren

Crazy how much Larson revamped this d core, he clearly came in knowing what priority #1 was this offseason. It’s possible he isn’t done with it but this is better than I thought it would be, and will have players competing for their spots every week.
 

Assume this means that’s the writing on the wall for phillips
 

He's probably done on D. They won't be able to afford one of the big hitters. Probably Carels UND, Dupont MSU/UM/PSU, Rudolph MSU/UM/PSU.

Phillips is bad at hockey so nothing lost there. Laylin can come next year as a transfer or out of one more year of USHL if he progresses.

D is tournament ready. F is not because of no 1C or 2C.
 

bonin21 said:
He's probably done on D. They won't be able to afford one of the big hitters. Probably Carels UND, Dupont MSU/UM/PSU, Rudolph MSU/UM/PSU.

Phillips is bad at hockey so nothing lost there. Laylin can come next year as a transfer or out of one more year of USHL if he progresses.

D is tournament ready. F is not because of no 1C or 2C.
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I’ll be curious how many of these guys actually come play college. DuPont is still an underager. One or more dominoes goes one way and it ramps it up for the others. Said this elsewhere, but getting some chl guys certainly helps for future recruiting classes.

Agreed they need one more high end forward to finish the classes out as well as that Phillips is only coming in if it’s as an extra
 

He replaced the entire top 4 :LOL:
What a pathetic team that was.

Whipple and Rombach can be your third pair.
 

bonin21 said:
He replaced the entire top 4 :LOL:
What a pathetic team that was.

Whipple and Rombach can be your third pair.
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I like Whipple better than Loftus. And tbf, they graduated 2/4. That said, massively improved d core
 

upnorthkid said:
I like Whipple better than Loftus. And tbf, they graduated 2/4. That said, massively improved d core
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I know we like the potential we've seen from Whipple, but he had two points last year and five in his career.
 

bonin21 said:
I know we like the potential we've seen from Whipple, but he had two points last year and five in his career.
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And I’ll take the eye test over the box score watching especially for a defensemen. If he keeps playing like that and improving he should be very solid.
 

bonin21 said:
I know we like the potential we've seen from Whipple, but he had two points last year and five in his career.
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I am perfectly fine if he gives us 2 points but plays shutdown and joins the rush when it makes sense (as he did last year; we just were really ugly scoring 5v5 and connecting on this). Smith and Murr will your main point getters.
 

I'm not saying he's bad. I'm predicting he starts the year on the third pairing.
 

cheeseburgerphil26 said:
Bang! Tarin Smith official. Hopefully that means the injury isn’t too bad. Never was buying any of the extra rumors that were being thrown around about him.
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He got surgery now instead of after Everett's season..he wanted to return for the finals/Memorial Cup but the offer was rescinded if he waited until the end of the season. Good kid, great get. I'm glad it worked out for both sides. A one year rental totally worth the price. Good to see the Gophers get in the game.
 

bonin21 said:
I'm not saying he's bad. I'm predicting he starts the year on the third pairing.
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Him, Loftus, and Lofgren very well might be fighting for the second pair minutes all year. I’m not going to say Rombach can’t have a big leap and maybe compete as well but the focus is on the other 3 right now.
 

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