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CHL to NCAA Recruiting Megathread

cinnamoroll said:
Big Lipinski fan, like to see his success.

There’s a few guys I watched a lot last year or previous years due to being baby sharks-adjacent that have done well to start. Wisconsin’s Oliver Tulk has been similarly successful in the faceoff dot and contributing offensively, plus his teammate Blake Montgomery. CC’s Brandon Lisowsky had 13 shots on goal in their friday game but got goalied hard. Trembecky counts in this too. NoDak’s Keaton Verhoeff is exceptional, and Josh Zakreski was doing great but is now out long term with injury. Quinnipiac’s Markus Vidicek has been solid.

Some under the radar standouts beyond the guys getting weekly honors:
Lindenwood F Charles Savoie and Giovanni Morneau- dynamic USports transfers with 11 and 10 points respectively. they’re carrying the offensive load for a sneaky scary team. especially wanted to highlight them since they’re independent
Niagara F Marshall Finnie- brother of Red Wings’ rookie Emmitt, both having pretty good seasons
RMU F Bruce McDonald- extremely under the radar pick here, but he leads the team in points with 7
Bemidji State F Oliver Peer- USports transfer, leads Beavers in points, straight up just looks amazing
St Thomas F Nathan Pilling- tied for lead in nation for SHG with 2, including the first ever goal scored in the Tommies new barn
Miami F Kocha Delic- leads Miami in points
DU F Clarke Caswell- leads DU forwards in points
Omaha D Aidan de la Gorgendiere- USports transfer D, tied third in team points and logs a lot of key minutes
Providence F Jonathan Fauchon- QMJHL MVP getting rave reviews from coaches, teammates, second in points on team, tied 2nd in nation on PPGs
UML F Dalyn Wakely- tied for 1st on team in points, no goals yet
UNH F Félix Gagnon- a personal favorite, second on the team in points, monster on faceoffs. was convinced he’d fit the college game well and he has proven it
Northeastern F Jacob Mathieu- how bout those huskies? there’s a 4-way tie for the team scoring lead, Mathieu is the only freshman
Ohio State F Jake Karabela- tied for second on the team in points

I don’t have a ton of fancy stats (and my laptop is out of commission for a bit) so here’s some of the CHL defensemen who are used over 22 min TOI/g (ie have the trust of their coaches):
Bemidji State Hudson Thornton, 24:27, 10-2-5-7
St Lawrence Andrew Brown, 23:25, 8-0-3-3
BGSU Brayden Crampton, 23:00, 6-2-1-3
Omaha Marc Lajoie, 22:15, 6-1-1-2 (USports transfer)
Clarkson Matthew Mayich, 22:04, 8-1-1-2

and the CHL goalies of note:
Michigan Jack Ivankovic (duh)
Wisconsin Daniel Hauser
DU Quentin Miller
The 3 above are tied in nation shutouts with 2 along with 3 others
Penn State Joshua Fleming
NoDak Jan Spunar
UML Austin Elliott
Miami Matteo Drobac
RPI Nate Krawchuk

guys to watch for further growth (even if stats are a little spooky):
Bemidji State Max Hildebrand
Colgate Reid Dyck

This is a little messy and rambly but this was a fun overview personally, some of these guys I didn’t know about or didn’t realize how well they were doing
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Two guys for Maine that I would say have started slow but are gaining momentum each time they play is Jeremy Langlois(LD) and Miguel Marques(RW).

Langlois at time in his own end seemed lost and lacking of defensive instincts. He also turned the puck over several time at start of the year. However, he is turning it over less now and is playing better in his own end. He is chipping in offensively with 5 points so far. I would like to see him get a bit nasty and use his size to clear net front.

Marques was a bit timid coming out but is gaining more confidence. He likely needed time to adjust to the lack of time and space for the college game vs. major junior. Now though, he is showing confidence. For example, this past weekend he took 6 shots over the two games against BU. In the previous 5 games he had only taken 4 shots. So he is getting more comfortable out there. What we can say is he is leading the team in +/- with a +7. He had one very back turnover that gave Colgate guys a perfect assist on a goalie where he streaked in alone and buried it. He got benched for it. He responded this past weekend with solid defensive effort. He has made some extremely great passes. One this weekend was perfect cross ice pass through defenders to Fowler tape ant the far post and it happened so fast BU goalie could get lateral to cover and Fowler had a very open net to bury it into. He is getting more comfortable as time goes on and should be a dandy.
 
Justin Poirier is getting a lot of press right now. I saw this awesome shot by Simon French(photographer and filmmaker). It would make a nice present for his family at Christmas time.

574114403_2897428133785817_7107768765017631091_n.jpg
 
Nice article from Brad Schlossman on Omaha’s fascinating roster construction. Worth a read but TL;DR is that they have 7 USports transfers all contributing significantly and a big part of that is their coach having two massive USports connections. Gabinet coached in USports for 4 years and is the grandson of USports coaching legend and Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Clare Drake. He spent 26 years coaching U of Alberta, where 4 of Omaha’s transfers were playing.

For context, the other teams with multiple USports transfers are Bemidji State, Niagara, and Lindenwood with 3 each. Bemidji State’s leading scorer is a transfer, as are Lindenwood’s top 2 scorers (and the other transfer leads them in average TOI). Omaha’s top 6 scorers have 1 returner, 2 CHL freshmen, and 3 USports transfers.
 
HCA national monthly honors announced with some CHL names mentioned in consideration and one obvious pick:

Gavin McKenna is the rookie of the month, leading all rookies in scoring.
Listed on the runners up is Michigan Tech Teydon Trembecky, Miami Kocha Delic, and Maine Justin Poirier.

Goaltender of the month runners up include Michigan’s Jack Ivankovic
 
Little late on this one…

Charlottetown Islanders overage F Nathan Leek commits to Ferris State. Islanders are the top team in the league and he’s got 18 points in 19 games, 11 goals. Originally an Ontario kid that had a brief time in the OHL but never panned out, joined the QMJHL last year and had a fairly good 19 year old season but was expected to be an odd one out on the overage situation. then he started scoring a LOT. great pickup for ferris state
 
On the week that was in NCAA and CHL part 1-

ECAC Rookie of the Week: Alexis Cournoyer, Cornell
CCHA Rookie of the Week: Noah Morneau, BGSU

B1G, NCHC, AHA release their weekly awards tuesdays

QMJHL Player of the Week: Teddy Mutryn (BC) 🦈

Forgot to do the CHL players of the month:
WHL Player of the Month: JP Hurlbert (Michigan)
WHL Goalie of the Month: AJ Reyelts (UMD)
QMJHL Rookie of the Month: Alexey Vlasov (UConn)
OHL Rookie of the Month: Nikita Klepov (Michigan State)

Also, USports transfer Carson Latimer made it onto Sportscenter top 10 with an epic goal in Michigan Tech's saturday game.
 
cinnamoroll said:
On the week that was in NCAA and CHL part 1-

ECAC Rookie of the Week: Alexis Cournoyer, Cornell
CCHA Rookie of the Week: Noah Morneau, BGSU

B1G, NCHC, AHA release their weekly awards tuesdays

QMJHL Player of the Week: Teddy Mutryn (BC) 🦈

Forgot to do the CHL players of the month:
WHL Player of the Month: JP Hurlbert (Michigan)
WHL Goalie of the Month: AJ Reyelts (UMD)
QMJHL Rookie of the Month: Alexey Vlasov (UConn)
OHL Rookie of the Month: Nikita Klepov (Michigan State)

Also, USports transfer Carson Latimer made it onto Sportscenter top 10 with an epic goal in Michigan Tech's saturday game.
Click to expand...
BG's Jacob Steinman played a heckuva series against Mankato and dueled Alex Tracey to a draw.
 
rpi82 said:
How would territorial rights work?
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that's the massive question, isn't it...

on 32 thoughts Friedge spoke on it friday and what he heard is that it isn't likely or close to happening, if it happens it would be long discussion. the main point the NHL was trying to get across was that the USHL remains very important to the health of the junior hockey landscape. friedge floats the idea of the USHL being younger. basically "please figure your shit out and make nice". certainly a long way from becoming a reality.
 
Something nice the OHL has been doing this season is the Post-Secondary Weekly Roundup, which highlights standout performances from OHL alumni in USports and NCAA. This week had notes on RIT's Zach Wigle, BGSU's Noah Morneau, ASU's Jack Beck, and UML's Austin Elliott and Dalyn Wakely

A check in on CHL standings so far:

after Prince Albert suffered their first regulation league last weekend, OHL's Brantford Bulldogs remain the only team undefeated in regulation.

Top of the OHL: (each team has played anywhere from 18-21 games)
1. Brantford Bulldogs 15-0-3-1, 34 points
2. Windsor Spitfires 15-3-1-1, 32 points
3. Ottawa 67's 13-5-1-1, 28 points
4. Owen Sound Attack 13-6-0-2, 28 points
5. Kitchener Rangers 12-4-2-0, 26 points

Bottom 5 are Sudbury, Oshawa, Erie, Brampton, and Sarnia.

The certified wagon of BLB is dealing with some significant injury issues

Top of the QMJHL: (each team has played anywhere from 17-21)
1. Charlottetown Islanders, 12-5-1-3, 28 points
2. Chicoutimi Saguenéens 12-2-1-2, 27 points
3. BLB Armada 12-5-3-0, 27 points
4. Drummondville Voltigeurs, 12-4-1-1, 26 points
5. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, 11-4-2-1, 25 points

Bottom 4 are Baie-Comeau, Victoriaville, Cape Breton, Québec

Top of the WHL: (each team has played anywhere from 16-21 games)
1. Everett Silvertips 15-2-2-0, 32 points
2. Edmonton Oil Kings 15-4-1-1, 32 points
3. Prince Albert Raiders 13-1-3-0, 29 points
4. Calgary Hitmen 12-4-2-0, 26 points
5. Prince George Cougars 12-7-0-0, 24 points

Bottom 6: Lethbridge, Wenatchee, Swift Current, Kelowna, Red Deer, Vancouver

Bonus goofy stats: 3 teams have a power play percentage above 30- 8th ranked Moose Jaw with 31.6% (and a dead last pk of 65.1%), 17th?? ranked Brandon with 38.3%, and most absurd of all is 5th ranked Prince George at 39.2%. PG also has the best PK in the league at 87.7%. That's a combined PP/PK percentage of 126.9.

WHL Rookie of the Week: Kale Dach (Penn State)
WHL Player of the Week: Luke Mistelbacher (Maine)
 
Here is a weird one:

You might have heard about the Oscar Hemming saga going on with his Finnish team Kiekko-Espoo and the Kitchener Rangers. Oscar is the younger brother of Dallas Stars 1st round pick Emil Hemming, currently playing for the Barrie Colts of the OHL, and considered to be a top Finnish prospect for the 2026 NHL Draft. Kitchener drafted him in the CHL Import Draft in the first round and signed him shortly after the Adam Valentini saga went awry. Apparently, there was something in Finnish law that could mean he could just terminate his contract as he is a minor, but the team is dragging it out through court. As that case is going through the system, in order to not just sit around, he was signed to Sherwood Park in the BCHL, taking advantage of their rogue league status. He never ended up suiting up for them however and has remained in Kitchener, which was confusing people.

We have an answer now- Josh Brown of the Waterloo Region Record reports that the IIHF threatened to sanction Hemming for 3 years of international competition if he suited up for the BCHL. He's currently 17, so he would be barred from all of the significant junior competition for a Finnish team that lacks the high end talent he would bring.

Rangers GM Mike McKenzie speculates it is about spite and money, but Kitchener has already offered to forfeit the development fee junior teams get from NHL teams ($35k US for 1st round, $20k for rounds 2-7) to his Finnish team. He claims that despite regular contact between the teams, they keep giving them the runaround- asking for meetings with the family and then ghosting when they actually try to set those up. It just really stinks for the kid who just wants to play hockey, and they keep derailing his draft season.

Here is the REALLY interesting bit- as it is seeming less likely for him to be able to play for the Rangers due to this tug of war, it seems the next best option is fast-tracking all his academic requirements in order to join an NCAA school in early 2026 (after all, he has plenty of free time). The potential bargaining chip here is that would firmly exclude Kiekko-Espoo from getting any money at all, unlike just letting him go to Kitchener. McKenzie seems very pessimistic about him being cleared for playing in Kitchener, so it might just be that some school gets a very high-end european talent mid-season.

tl;dr: potential 2026 1st rounder getting sued by his Finnish club in court over release to OHL, tried BCHL but IIHF threatened 3 year intl sanctions, potential next course of action is NCAA early 2026.
 
cinnamoroll said:
Here is a weird one:

You might have heard about the Oscar Hemming saga going on with his Finnish team Kiekko-Espoo and the Kitchener Rangers. Oscar is the younger brother of Dallas Stars 1st round pick Emil Hemming, currently playing for the Barrie Colts of the OHL, and considered to be a top Finnish prospect for the 2026 NHL Draft. Kitchener drafted him in the CHL Import Draft in the first round and signed him shortly after the Adam Valentini saga went awry. Apparently, there was something in Finnish law that could mean he could just terminate his contract as he is a minor, but the team is dragging it out through court. As that case is going through the system, in order to not just sit around, he was signed to Sherwood Park in the BCHL, taking advantage of their rogue league status. He never ended up suiting up for them however and has remained in Kitchener, which was confusing people.

We have an answer now- Josh Brown of the Waterloo Region Record reports that the IIHF threatened to sanction Hemming for 3 years of international competition if he suited up for the BCHL. He's currently 17, so he would be barred from all of the significant junior competition for a Finnish team that lacks the high end talent he would bring.

Rangers GM Mike McKenzie speculates it is about spite and money, but Kitchener has already offered to forfeit the development fee junior teams get from NHL teams ($35k US for 1st round, $20k for rounds 2-7) to his Finnish team. He claims that despite regular contact between the teams, they keep giving them the runaround- asking for meetings with the family and then ghosting when they actually try to set those up. It just really stinks for the kid who just wants to play hockey, and they keep derailing his draft season.

Here is the REALLY interesting bit- as it is seeming less likely for him to be able to play for the Rangers due to this tug of war, it seems the next best option is fast-tracking all his academic requirements in order to join an NCAA school in early 2026 (after all, he has plenty of free time). The potential bargaining chip here is that would firmly exclude Kiekko-Espoo from getting any money at all, unlike just letting him go to Kitchener. McKenzie seems very pessimistic about him being cleared for playing in Kitchener, so it might just be that some school gets a very high-end european talent mid-season.

tl;dr: potential 2026 1st rounder getting sued by his Finnish club in court over release to OHL, tried BCHL but IIHF threatened 3 year intl sanctions, potential next course of action is NCAA early 2026.
Click to expand...
BC is trying to bring him in
 
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