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Wisconsin Badgers 2026 Offseason

Timothy A said:
Zajac with a hatty against the Krauts today. Listed as a 4th line W, played 17 shifts. They must have been rolling 4 lines all game long. 4 goals so far at the U18 worlds on 8 shots.
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Zajic is by far the freshman I am most intrigued by for next year. Was a top player on the u17 team last year with 24 goals and 38 points, and considered a fringe 1st/2nd rounder in some early draft projections. Down year production wise this year with just 11 goals and 23 points, but seemed to still show some solid flashes - I saw him at a NTDP vs Capitols game and wasn't blown away by any means, but he played pretty responsible defensively, had a few big hits, made crisp passes and some nifty offensive plays. I think he's listed as sub 6 feet but he plays kind of long and lanky. I imagine he'll still get taken as a later round pick in the draft, especially with what seems like a decent U18's so far.

As I mentioned, I'm really curious to see what the production could be like next year. I believe he'll be the youngest on the team by a little bit. I think there's a chance things really click and he could have a big year next year. I also think there's an equally likely chance he is mainly a healthy scratch next year and doesn't produce at all.
 
WiscTJK said:
Sounds more and more like this proposal on age / eligibility is going thru. Clock starts at age 19 or HS Graduation, whichever comes first and you have 5 years of eligibility / 5 years of potential playing (not restricted to 4 years of play with 1 red shirt year anymore).

Edit: Here's a good article on it for hockey: https://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2026/04/24_College-Hockey-Bracing-For.php
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Whatever happens, at least the rules are the same for everyone. It is a kick in the teeth to the later developing players.
 
I thought the roster for next year would be set, but apparently 05 forward Talan Blanck from the Minnesota Wilderness of the NAHL has committed, Not sure if this will just be a 27th guy depth move or if there will be a corresponding move for roster space.
 
UW student and hockey fan said:
I thought the roster for next year would be set, but apparently 05 forward Talan Blanck from the Minnesota Wilderness of the NAHL has committed, Not sure if this will just be a 27th guy depth move or if there will be a corresponding move for roster space.
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I think they would be over the allowed roster limits. Plus this guy is 20. He likely only has 2 - 3 years if the 5 years after graduation thing goes forward and what year he graduated.... Maybe someone else isn't coming back....

EDIT 2 years as he looks to have graduated Fond du lac in 2023. that would be 2028 with 5 years, assuming they don't grandfather any of these guys in. Just blows for these late bloomers.
 
UW student and hockey fan said:
Zajic is by far the freshman I am most intrigued by for next year. Was a top player on the u17 team last year with 24 goals and 38 points, and considered a fringe 1st/2nd rounder in some early draft projections. Down year production wise this year with just 11 goals and 23 points, but seemed to still show some solid flashes - I saw him at a NTDP vs Capitols game and wasn't blown away by any means, but he played pretty responsible defensively, had a few big hits, made crisp passes and some nifty offensive plays. I think he's listed as sub 6 feet but he plays kind of long and lanky. I imagine he'll still get taken as a later round pick in the draft, especially with what seems like a decent U18's so far.

As I mentioned, I'm really curious to see what the production could be like next year. I believe he'll be the youngest on the team by a little bit. I think there's a chance things really click and he could have a big year next year. I also think there's an equally likely chance he is mainly a healthy scratch next year and doesn't produce at all.
Click to expand...
He scored again today but USA was eliminated. He picked up a rebound at the goaline and went around the back of the net and stuffed it in.
 
WiscTJK said:
Sounds more and more like this proposal on age / eligibility is going thru. Clock starts at age 19 or HS Graduation, whichever comes first and you have 5 years of eligibility / 5 years of potential playing (not restricted to 4 years of play with 1 red shirt year anymore).

Edit: Here's a good article on it for hockey: https://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2026/04/24_College-Hockey-Bracing-For.php
Click to expand...
This is so clearly a football move, and to uniformly apply this without obvious exceptions for sports like hockey that have a completely different system in place (juniors you can play up to age 21) would be devastating to the landscape. Will we adjust, maybe, but I wouldnt be shocked if college hockey lost a few teams as a result of it or the level of competition goes down because suddenly that mid level D3 guy is going to a low level D1 school and guys they used to get were going to mid level D1 schools. This may also have an unintended negative consequence to the juniors system, cause kids will be pulled sooner and the quality of play at that level will also decline. This is really bad business all around for the hockey world, but NC$$ doesnt care because it has no clear negative impact on basketball and football, which is what is driving this. Never mind the making eligibility up to 5 years, which completely changes the balance of how you can distribute schollies.

Also, this could be even worse to the Women's game on two fronts. The extra year of eligibility will create more people staying and less roster spots to fill, or you will be cutting (or "strongly encouraging transfer") players cause you need to make space for a new player. The opposite side is if you wind up taking a year for red shirt which is common or focus on international competition (though that seems to be mostly gone cause of PWHL, so as long as that is around, this is probably fine) and you are taking years of eligibility away from a smaller sport that does not actually benefit the athletes of that sport.
 
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