I’d love to have Chase Clark, goalies are at a premium right now and we already have one of ours in the portal
https://x.com/mikemcmahonchn/status/1906698178713268446?s=42
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Not to mention I’d hate to have all of the pressure on one freshman in net.
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Fair I didn’t see the goalie. He’d definitely be a good add
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#HelpShika
Bentley goalie Connor Hasley has excellent numbers (I think he entered after McMahon posted that tweet) and Gibson Homer/Kevin Riedler could also be good options for us…although we’ve never landed a transfer from another NCHC school
Here are McMahon’s rankings of the top 7 netminders in order based on CHIP. Note that MSU’s backup is in the portal (he’s a stud) because Augustine just told the Red Wings he’s heading back to MSU next year. Landing any of these kids would be a bonus.
| Player | School | League |
|---|---|---|
| Lawton Zacher | Brown | ECAC |
| Connor Hasley | Bentley | AHA |
| Chase Clark | American Int’l | AHA |
| Gibson Homer | Arizona State | NCHC |
| Tyriq Outen | Long Island | IND |
| Luca Di Pasquo | Michigan State | B10 |
| Kevin Reidler | Omaha | NCHC |
Back to lurking.
Of all the kids on your list, it would seem to me we should chase Chase. The rest will likely have their pick of offers but MU with a new team is maybe a step up from American International?
Ps, all that posting just to land one stinky pun. Oh it’s work alright, but that’s what I do.
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Wonder if Outen follows Riley to Ferris State.
Add Max Prazma (St. Thomas) and Nikita Volsky (LSSU).
Neither played a minute last season, but Volsky was .931 in limited action in 2023-24.
Goalie Patriks Berzins from Maine is in the portal, he played for the Tri City Storm
(Also oddly similar to Bruveris)
Edit: Plus D Aiden Dubinsky from UMD, also played for the storm
It’s sounding like right now the coaching staff is targeting CHL kids moreso than portal kids. Definitely expect a handful on next year’s roster.
The OHL, QMJHL and WHL are all a few games into the first round of the playoffs, so as teams are eliminated it will be interesting to see where players on those teams go.
There’s a concern among players in those leagues that if they commit to U.S. colleges, their current teams may retaliate by benching them, cutting their ice time or trading them, so many don’t want to sign until their seasons end.
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@Bonk Having some familiarity with the WHL - Everett and Seattle mostly - I’m pretty certain numerous mid to top level Major Junior players are just biding their time until their teams finish before announcing a commitment to a D1 US program. The elite among Major Junior players still have their sights set on a direct trip to the AHL or the show itself.
Appreciate your insight into what’s going on as this transition takes place!
I’m guessing the infusion of Canadian players into US D1 rosters is going to be more significant than many are anticipating. And it’s probably going to push a lot of D1 caliber US players to D3 programs, already experiencing an increase in Canadian players on their rosters.
A couple NESCAC programs I’m quite familiar with have shifted away from taking most players directly from prep to filling rosters from older kids coming from the Junior A Ontario league and the BCHL.
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So,.is this change in the college hockey recruiting landscape help, hurt, or is a net neutral to Miami trying to climb out of our hole?
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The current college landscape for all sports pushes the needle in favor of coaches who can recruit and quickly build cohesion through sizeable roster changes year-to-year. I think Noreen fits that description, so I’d call it a net win. Whether those players are coming from the CHL or transferring from other NCAA programs, I’m not sure it matters much. I do think Miami is setup well to land high-caliber hockey players and Noreen has shown he can.
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@Cincykid3 It gives US colleges access to the top tier of Canadian junior hockey talent they never had access to before because the NCAA considered CHL (Major Juniors) players to be professionals. The purpose of the CHL has always been to develop the best Canadian hockey prospects for the Canadian National Teams and for careers in the NHL. The league provided scholarships to players to Canadian universities at the conclusion of their juniors careers. USports Hockey (Canadian college hockey)is not considered to be on an even par with US college hockey.
Excited for things to get rolling. Need more players to get excited for lol
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Thanks for the primer, Nescadad!
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Well said.
Cincy – There are a ton of new variables now and I’ll take the coaching staff that is willing to adapt and outwork everyone over one that’s complacent and reactionary.
The biggest early surprise is the volume of players being taken from the CHL. Miami may have a third of its roster next season consisting of kids that weren’t NCAA eligible a year ago.
I’m seeing very few if any U.S. kids going the other way to play Canadian juniors.
The level of play in Division I is going to be incredibly high.
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Yeah, you’re right on both counts.
Having D-1 American kids lose out on roster spots is obviously a major down side. That’s why I think there should be an import cap (the CHL has one on goalies for sure and I think skaters as well; the USHL definitely has one), as the NCAA should largely be a springboard for American kids, just as the CHL is primarily comprised of Canadian kids. But a cap will never happen, as we’ve seen the NCAA has no spine.
I agree the elite Canadians will choose to remain in Canada, but there are 60 teams in those leagues with a lot of very good players so I see the second, third and fourth lines and 3-6 defensemen on each D-1 team improving greatly.
But who knows: After two seasons of playing in small-town Canada, maybe a lot of first- and second-rounders playing in the CHL will decide an American college campus is a better setting than cold, slower-paced small-town Canada.
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It’s funny we were so excited to hire this new coach because of his connections in the USHL and all the top players we could bring in from that and his (+Nies) work with the up and coming US national team players. Yet now it seems even more important that they have the ability to be at the forefront of this push to get CHL recruits (which I think they are).
When I was looking through all the portal entries a lot of the players stats weren’t jumping off the page for me so I don’t mind that we’re focusing more on the CHL side of things, it’s just not as fun because we can’t speculate as much (Cameron Korpi just entered the portal…played great in net with the storm) since we don’t know who in the CHL is interested in leaving. We’ll just have to wait until their seasons are over and they feel free to commit to see which schools really took advantage of this new rule. Given the numbers we’re hearing from Bonk it sounds like that might be us.
Plus the big names in the portal knew where they were headed weeks (or months) ago when they allegedly received big phat checks.
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Oxford certainly beats Prince Albert!