RPI 2023 Off-season: We March Fourth Into the Off-season

[Ralph Baer]

Mahshie and Walsh in the transfer portal

Not unexpected, but i still hoped we would keep Mahshie.

[engineerhockeyfan]

The portal might be great for the individual player, but it is a train wreck for schools like ours.
We basically become a feeder program for the top schools.
Recruit a kid who blossoms in his first two years and wave good bye.
Also, how do you build a program when you lose half of your players each year.
I will be here rooting for the engineers as long as I'm alive, but I cannot see how we get better under these circumstances. And no coach can change that.
Sorry for the depressing post.

[Wicked Slappaahs]

The portal might be great for the individual player, but it is a train wreck for schools like ours.
We basically become a feeder program for the top schools.
Recruit a kid who blossoms in his first two years and wave good bye.
Also, how do you build a program when you lose half of your players each year.
I will be here rooting for the engineers as long as I'm alive, but I cannot see how we get better under these circumstances. And no coach can change that.
Sorry for the depressing post.

We all share your sentiment....but at least everyone is in the same boat. The haves and have nots......a tale as old as time ! Adapt or die as they say....

[Wicked Slappaahs]

This thread is only fun when there are about 50% sarcastic postings. But obviously having a sense of humor about anything these days is just a bit more rare.

I resent your remarks Doc and am personally offended.................... HA HA

[DrDemento]

I resent your remarks Doc and am personally offended.................... HA HA

Love the response. But then again, I laugh at things a lot. Sometimes it is just the way I am and other times it could be the Thorazine!

[DrDemento]

The portal might be great for the individual player, but it is a train wreck for schools like ours.
We basically become a feeder program for the top schools.
Recruit a kid who blossoms in his first two years and wave good bye.
Also, how do you build a program when you lose half of your players each year.
I will be here rooting for the engineers as long as I'm alive, but I cannot see how we get better under these circumstances. And no coach can change that.
Sorry for the depressing post.

EHF- although the post is a bit of a downer, it is absolutely true. I had hoped this type of thing was just for the year or two after the shutdown from the pandemic. But I can how the successful programs would want it to be permanent.

[sezenack]

Agreed, and sezenack essentially predicted that both would enter the portal in his season wrap-up.

Yeah I felt like the writing was on the wall when we got commitments from Payant and McNeil, both overagers in junior

[sezenack]

I hoped it wouldn't happen because it hurts us for the coming year, but I don't see the departure of graduate transfers as a negative indicator for the program as a whole. I loved RPI but I went to a different school for my grad degree and I can see how graduating closes one chapter in a player's life and make him want to look at a different opportunity. Just like last season when I was most concerned by the departures of Kjellberg and Dubinsky, the biggest red flag to me will be if we develop a pattern of transfers with undergraduate eligibility.

Absolutely agree with this. Not worried about guys not using their 5th years, but it will be worrying if we start losing key underclassmen

[sezenack]

The portal might be great for the individual player, but it is a train wreck for schools like ours.
We basically become a feeder program for the top schools.
Recruit a kid who blossoms in his first two years and wave good bye.
Also, how do you build a program when you lose half of your players each year.
I will be here rooting for the engineers as long as I'm alive, but I cannot see how we get better under these circumstances. And no coach can change that.
Sorry for the depressing post.

The only players who we have lost that we wouldn't normally lose were Dubinsky and Kjellberg. Take a look at their numbers this year to see how that worked out for them. Normally these seniors would be graduating and leaving anyways, but COVID gave them an extra year.

The portal also works both ways. We tend to get talented players who are barely playing at top programs. We had success with Gornall, Zieky, and Walsh doing this. The jury is still out on Agnew, Strom and Budy who are still at RPI.

Sometimes we even benefit when Atlantic Hockey guys want to move up leagues like Heidemann (not going to count Addamo because his program got cut). But Atlantic Hockey teams can benefit when guys like Nick Bowman and Danny DiGrande want more ice time than they got with us. Both played key roles for Canisius. Or you can take a look at someone like Casey Carreau who left BC to go to Niagara or Eric Esposito who left UNH to go to Mercyhurst.

In summary, calling it a train wreck for us or even some lower teams than us isn't really accurate. We have benefitted a lot from it. I didn't even include Jake Lee or Anthony Baxter above. Losing 5th year guys isn't really a big deal because it's only one year, and you'd lose them normally anyways. Have to wait and see how it plays out this year, but I'm not too concerned about it right now

[Ralph Baer]

Yeah I felt like the writing was on the wall when we got commitments from Payant and McNeil, both overagers in junior

And being overagers in juniors means that they probably enter RPI with at least a year's worth of college credit. So they will graduate in 3 years, and if they turn out any good they will enter the portal at that time. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

[rpi82]

The only players who we have lost that we wouldn't normally lose were Dubinsky and Kjellberg. Take a look at their numbers this year to see how that worked out for them. Normally these seniors would be graduating and leaving anyways, but COVID gave them an extra year.

The portal also works both ways. We tend to get talented players who are barely playing at top programs. We had success with Gornall, Zieky, and Walsh doing this. The jury is still out on Agnew, Strom and Budy who are still at RPI.

Sometimes we even benefit when Atlantic Hockey guys want to move up leagues like Heidemann (not going to count Addamo because his program got cut). But Atlantic Hockey teams can benefit when guys like Nick Bowman and Danny DiGrande want more ice time than they got with us. Both played key roles for Canisius. Or you can take a look at someone like Casey Carreau who left BC to go to Niagara or Eric Esposito who left UNH to go to Mercyhurst.

In summary, calling it a train wreck for us or even some lower teams than us isn't really accurate. We have benefitted a lot from it. I didn't even include Jake Lee or Anthony Baxter above. Losing 5th year guys isn't really a big deal because it's only one year, and you'd lose them normally anyways. Have to wait and see how it plays out this year, but I'm not too concerned about it right now

Dubinsky is back in the portal.

[sezenack]

Dubinsky is back in the portal.

Yep, he went from 20 points, and a top 6 center who played on both special teams to a 4th liner with 5 points. Bet he regrets that choice

[troyboy]

I haven't been keeping up lately....Soooo everything is fine and the fact that we consistently lose our good players is just a "thing" !!!

[RPI fan 4 life]

Dubinsky is back in the portal.

Would he possibly return to RPI? Has any player ever transferred out and then transferred back?
He certainly would know the system…

[rpi82]

Good lord, we’ve become a depressing bunch. Let’s look at transfers that were real undergrads (non-grads with more than a year of eligibility) under Smith. We’ve lost DiGrande, Dubinsky and Kjellberg. We’ve gained Gormall, Zieky, Bear, Walsh, Agnew, Strom, Heideman and Budy (didn’t include Addamo because he didn’t use his 2nd yr). Yes, I skipped those that left purely because of the shutdown and not for hockey reasons, but is there anyone that wouldn’t make that hockey trade?