Harvard Crimson 2024-2025 - Will our Youth be Served?

[Skate79]

Thanks. I know the portal didn't exist in 2006. My point regarding Justin (who was as strong in the classroom as on the ice) is that admissions can help out in a pinch if the right person is there.

They certainly can, and if the coaches can make a solid argument for the player, admissions will listen.

 

[Skate79]

The only Harvard player left in the Stanley Cup playoffs is Colin Blackwell '16 playing for the Dallas Stars. Jack Drury skated for Colorado until they were eliminated by the Stars and Mitchell Gibson got called up to back up Logan Thompson while Washington was still in it against Carolina.

 

[bothman]

Something is going on at Harvard. Harvard has lost 4 recruits now which is unheard of. Xavier V (Harvard to Cornell); Ben Merrill (Harvard to BU); Grant Young (Opened up his recruiting); Evan Jardine (Opened up his recruiting).

Is it a lack of NIL $? Is it something else? Just seems very odd to me.

 

[Skate79]

Bothman

Xavier V is headed to Cornell, so I doubt NIL had anything to do with it. Merrill might be another story, but we know BC and BU poach those recruits that initially choose Harvard when they want to restock. And yes, money may be a factor there. You can add Thatcher Bernstein to the list as he decommitted to head to Princeton to play lacrosse. That's a lot of talent headed elsewhere. Teddy must increase the pressure on admissions to allow him to use the transfer portal, or else Harvard will be at a significant disadvantage versus out-of-conference foes. College hockey is beginning to resemble college football - Power conferences and everyone else.

 

[bothman]

Cornell just picked up a goalie from the Q. Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth are the only 3 schools in the ECAC who have yet to obtain a transfer from the portal or an incoming recruit from Major Junior.

 

[Skate79]

Cornell just picked up a goalie from the Q. Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth are the only 3 schools in the ECAC who have yet to obtain a transfer from the portal or an incoming recruit from Major Junior.

What's strange is that we never used to have an issue recruiting north of the border. I realize the USHL has taken over attracting blue chip talent. But now that we can go after players from the Q, why not go for it? If we're going to play a D-1 schedule that includes HE and other out of conference power schools, we have to change our recruiting philosophy or we'll get throttled in most every game we play. Never mind the ECAC which is beginning to look like Quinnipiac alone at the top and everyone else fighting for scraps.

 

[bothman]

Harvard just picked up a defenseman (Alex Huang) from the Q so hopefully that answers our question as to Harvard dipping its toes into those waters. Apparently, Alex chose Harvard over Michigan. Be interesting to see how these major junior players view Harvard across the plethora of college hockey destinations that are out there for them.

Will also be interesting to see how the major junior inroads effect US talent. Frankly, it shocks me that Ben Merrill moved from Harvard to BU - mostly because as I look at what BU has coming in, I wonder what Merrill's ice time will be? 8 forwards slated to come to BU next year. Yikes!

 

[cinnamoroll]

Harvard just picked up a defenseman (Alex Huang) from the Q so hopefully that answers our question as to Harvard dipping its toes into those waters. Apparently, Alex chose Harvard over Michigan. Be interesting to see how these major junior players view Harvard across the plethora of college hockey destinations that are out there for them.

After his commitment, it was reported that Alex Huang's recruitment process predated him coming to Chicoutimi. Some of these commitments have been confirmed to be based on those relationships just picking back up after they had been previously cut off. I'd imagine that will be extra relevant for many Ivy commits just based on the academic commitments, which many players are having to navigate for every school, let alone the extra standards.

Another result of this is most of any Ivy-CHL engagement has been already committed players making the jump to CHL clubs for their final junior years. Today, Oshawa Generals signed Harvard commit D Colin Feeley after he attended their Orientation Camp as a free agent. Oshawa is coming off back to back trips to the OHL Finals (both times losing to the juggernaut London Knights). Jacoby Weiner signed with QMJHL champion Moncton Wildcats. He was a 2024 7th round pick for them, and the Wildcats have one of the best coaches around in Gardiner MacDougall. It is confirmed Rudy Guimond will be returning to Moncton for his overage year after he went nearly unbeaten all year in a tandem with Mathis Rousseau (Maine), Weiner could be his understudy for this season.

Speaking of Guimond, shortly after his announcement, it was also reported he is no longer committed to Yale. Not sure any plans there- he is a DET pick, but they have a few solid goalies in the pipeline- should be a target for other colleges.

 

[Skate79]

Bothman

Ben Merrill's move to BU reminds me of Dave Pegula. Pegula was one of the star recruits from the class of '91 that included Ted Donato, Mike Vukonich, and Pete Ciavaglia. He attended Belmont Hill, which at the time was a feeder to the Harvard program (the Fuscos come to mind). Sometime over the summer before his freshman season, Pegula and his dad visited Coach Cleary and informed him that Dave was switching from Harvard to BC. Instead of being a top-six forward at Harvard and being on a national champion, he played bottom-six minutes for BC and never went anywhere. I'm not saying the same thing will happen to Ben Merrill, but it wouldn't surprise me if he were relegated to fourth-line duties for at least the early part of his career.

 

[bothman]

Harvard introduces class of 2029:

Men's Hockey Announces Class of 2029 - Harvard University

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard men's hockey will welcome eight new members to the team from the Class of 2029, Ted Donato, The Robert D. Ziff '88 Head Coach for Harvard

gocrimson.com

Renkowski and Dellasalla pushed out to 2026. Strong class coming in. I imagine some of the frosh (Gallnt, Bracco, Ruohonen, Lane, and Murray) will start out of the gate. Here is a sense of what the lines could be:

[td]2025 - 2026 Season[/td] [td]1st Line[/td]

[td]

Ben MacDonald (L)​

[/td][td]

Casey Severo (R)​

[/td][td]

Joe Miller (R)​

[/td]​

[td]2nd Line[/td]

[td]

Richard Gallant (L)​

[/td][td]

Mick Thompson (L)​

[/td][td]

Ryan Fine (R)​

[/td]​

[td]3rd Line[/td]

[td]

Chase Stefanek (L)​

[/td][td]

Phil Tresca (R)​

[/td][td]

Justin Solovey (L)​

[/td]​

[td]4th Line[/td]

[td]

Heikki Ruohonen (L)​

[/td][td]

Aidan Lane (R)​

[/td][td]

Will McDonough (R)​

[/td]​

[td]1st D[/td]

[td]

Donato Bracco (L)​

[/td][td]

Ryan Healey (R)​

[/td]​

[td]2nd D[/td]

[td]

Matt Morden (L)​

[/td][td]

Drake Murray (R)​

[/td]​

[td]3rd D[/td]

[td]

Mason Langenbrunner (R)​

[/td][td]

Lucas St Louis (L)​

[/td]​

[td]Goalie[/td]

[td]

Ben Charette​

[/td]​

 

[Skate79]

Bothman

Hmm. I might suggest some alternatives to the forward lines. 1st line has to be Thompson - Severo - Miller. They were together last year and did some serious damage towards the end of the season. 2nd line: Gallant - Fine - McDonough, 3rd line: Stefanek - Will Hughes - Justin Solovey, 4th line: Ruohonen - Lane - Tresca. Agree with your D pairings, except I still think Ryan Healey would be better served playing up front. His offensive skills far outweigh his ability to protect the D zone. I know that I'm leaving out Ben McDonald, which Teddy probably doesn't want to do since he played with Lane. But the Fuscos got left out until they decided to head north to Hanover.

Also, what happened to the Quebec kid, Huang, who decommitted from Michigan to come to Harvard? '26 - '27?

Wonder how the Hedjuk brothers will feel about not suiting up. Marek has had plenty of chances to show something and hasn't produced except for his OT goal against BC in the Beanpot three years ago.

 

[cinnamoroll]

Also, what happened to the Quebec kid, Huang, who decommitted from Michigan to come to Harvard? '26 - '27?

Will enroll 26-27, spending one more season in the QMJHL

 

[bothman]

Also Joe Salandra just signed with the Barrie Colts:

Joseph Salandra Commits to Colts - Barrie Colts

Barrie Colts Sign 2025 Third-Round Pick Joseph Salandra The Barrie Colts are proud to announce that 2025 third-round selection Joseph Salandra has signed an OHL Scholarship & Development Agreement with the club. Salandra, a 2008-born forward from Pleasantville, NY, was chosen 50th overall in...

chl.ca

Expect more highschoolers to sign with MJ teams (Jacoby Weiner recently signed as well). Be interesting to see how this shakes out for USHL as the premier pipeline to NCAA.

 

[PullTheGoalie]

The spot for Merrill at BU may have been opened by Jack Pechar deciding to stay in Kitchener?

 

[bothman]

Harvard picks up a commitment from Myles Brosnan out of Dexter. Sounds like he will play at Dexter next year, then 1 year in the USHL, then Harvard in the Fall of 2027.

Myles Brosnan picks Harvard and other college recruiting news

Dexter Southfield defenseman Myles Brosnan has committed to Harvard. We dive into that and other college hockey recruiting news.

www.hockeyjournal.com

 

[cinnamoroll]

08 D Odin Vauhkonen signs with Victoria Royals. Royals lost some big defensive pieces they were relying on this season to NCAA so he could grab a significant spot in their lineup. Nice bonus is WHL games can be streamed for free on Victory + if you ever wanna check out his games. Victoria is a good organization, James Patrick won WHL Coach of the Year last season.

Also congrats to all the future Crimson players who got drafted to the NHL last weekend. Alex Huang went to Nashville in the 4th round, Aidan Lane to Calgary in the 6th, Richard Gallant to my Sharks in the 7th. Gallant looked pretty good at dev camp, just got back from the prospect scrimmage and he was definitely one of the more physical guys on the ice despite his height. Definitely plays like he's 6 inches taller than he actually is.