What's new
By:
USCHO Fan Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.

Minnesota State Offseason Thread: Made a Frozen Four, how do they get more?

M

MavHockey14

New member
Well, as a few days have passed, it’s time to take a deep breath and say damn. What a year. A huge step for the program as it continues to work its way to one of the premier programs in the country.

Wanted to get this thread rolling as we look forward to the program’s first year as a member of the CCHA, and with a very solid core of players set to return for another run at a Frozen Four and a national title.

a couple of items..

Chris Van Os-Shaw has entered the transfer portal.

Sr. F Walker Duehr signed with the Calgary Flames.

From what I’ve been told, expect Dryden McKay and Nathan Smith back for their senior and junior years, respectively. Additionally, and maybe less of surprise, but Jake Livingstone, despite sparking the interest of multiple NHL teams as a college free agent, will return as well.
 
This off season is different in that having seen no games live and a few on tv I don't have a good idea of where the team is at as far as talent. Usually you attend games all year and get a feel for who to look at for next year.
Can the seniors opt for a "covid" year or how does that work?

It was a great year. It was not the most talent rich Mavs team but it will be a team remembered. I'm looking forward to crappy civic center food agsin
 
Between the 5th year option, and the big transfer portal, it's hard to say what teams may look like next year. With no Mankato trips this year, I did get to see a lot of the Sioux City Musketeers and recruit Brenden Olson. Good speed, smart kid, great on the PK. In other words, Mav Hockey!
Congrats to the team, and congrats to Walker Duehr! A great example of a kid who kept working at it, and became a real hockey player. I'm glad the transfer rules have been loosened and kids have more freedom to choose their own path, but I hope they also keep in mind why they chose the school they did, and that -like Walker- they see the value in working hard where they are, and not just go running off their freshman year because they're not on the first PP unit, or first line.
 
This is going to be a unique year — while the NCAA has granted everyone an additional year of eligibility, a tight margin sport like hockey has a challenging time providing scholarships to the incoming freshman AND (unexpected) seniors sticking around for an additional year. (see the exodus of seniors from Bowling Green, for example.)

The Mavs return a ton of talent — their top three scorers, Napravanik, Smith, and Borchardt (who also skated as a line in the Frozen Four), their two top offensive defenseman in Akito Hirose and Jake Livingstone, plus two veterans on the blue line in Andy Carroll and Wyatt Aamodt.

Brendan Furry can FLY and really did a nice job for the Mavs down the stretch, and is a guy I expect to break out big time next year.


Ryan Sandelin’s game got better and better late in the year, as did Charlie Morton’s. Shane McMahon has played a lot of minutes up front for the Mavs as well.

Oh, and does anyone remember Lucas Sowder?;) Hopefully he can come back healthy next year and regain his form he showed his freshman season.

Last but not least, you’ve got the best goaltender in college hockey coming back as well. (I’m looking directly at you, Richter and All America voters who didn’t vote Dryden!)

I’m VERY interested to see what the Mavs do in the portal — Todd Burgess came in from there last year, so they’ve shown they’ll use it for the right fit.
 
Last edited:
I should also mention, for no conference game, I’ve heard the following:

ICEBREAKER (in Duluth)
vs. Providence
vs. UMD or Michigan

(2) Minnesota (home and home)

I’ve heard rumblings about St. Cloud as well.
 
Team will be good. Interesting to see how the rest of the conference does. Appears BG got gutted by transfer portal. BSU lost Driscoll but got back some talent. Hopefully team can't build off this year.
 
MavsFan19 said:
Team will be good. Interesting to see how the rest of the conference does. Appears BG got gutted by transfer portal. BSU lost Driscoll but got back some talent. Hopefully team can't build off this year.
Click to expand...

I would anticipate Bemidji being pretty good to really good depending on goaltending next year — they get a ton of production back.
 
Per @MaverickHockeyRecruits on Twitter,

UNH senior defenseman Benton Maass, an Elk River native and 6th round pick of the Washington Capitals will reportedly use his 5th year of eligibility and join the Mavericks next season.


As pointed out by Dan Myers, 120 games of Hockey East experience. Seems like a great addition.
 
Anyone have an inkling of next year's schedule? or non-conf, opponents? I know, pretty early to ask, but itching to fill in my fall calendar with weekend trips.
 
Double Major said:
Anyone have an inkling of next year's schedule? or non-conf, opponents? I know, pretty early to ask, but itching to fill in my fall calendar with weekend trips.
Click to expand...

No dates yet, but plan on a home and home with Minnesota, and you can book Duluth Oct 15th and 16th. The Mavs will play Providence in the afternoon on the 15th and play either Michigan or Minnesota Duluth on the 16th.
 
I'm always torn on the transfer portal. Always happy to help our team get better but realistically had it existed years ago how many mavericks would have left. We are just lucky that we are the destination now instead of the departure
 
MavsFan19 said:
I'm always torn on the transfer portal. Always happy to help our team get better but realistically had it existed years ago how many mavericks would have left. We are just lucky that we are the destination now instead of the departure
Click to expand...

I get what you’re saying, but I think it’s a really good thing for players, and most teams are going to see a positive effect. For example, on the 1,000 foot level it looks like it’s decimating Bowling Green, but BG never offered a scholarship to any of the guys that left — they’re all seniors.
 
MavHockey14 said:
I get what you’re saying, but I think it’s a really good thing for players, and most teams are going to see a positive effect. For example, on the 1,000 foot level it looks like it’s decimating Bowling Green, but BG never offered a scholarship to any of the guys that left — they’re all seniors.
Click to expand...

And if we'd kept them, say goodbye to the incoming freshmen (some of whom have some serious talent). So it's a 1-year vs. 4 year decision. And you could blow up your recruiting for 3-5 years by hanging on to them plus you get a lousy reputation in the junior ranks. The fact we've lost no one who isn't graduating should be the story to focus on. Remember, these guys would normally be going to the AHL/ECHL if a) those leagues were fully operational and b) there wasn't the Covid +1 eligibility windfall.

Don't get me wrong, its sucks and we're going to slip quite a bit, but we'll be back. One year anomaly.
 
TalonsUpPuckDown said:
And if we'd kept them, say goodbye to the incoming freshmen (some of whom have some serious talent). So it's a 1-year vs. 4 year decision. And you could blow up your recruiting for 3-5 years by hanging on to them plus you get a lousy reputation in the junior ranks. The fact we've lost no one who isn't graduating should be the story to focus on. Remember, these guys would normally be going to the AHL/ECHL if a) those leagues were fully operational and b) there wasn't the Covid +1 eligibility windfall.

Don't get me wrong, its sucks and we're going to slip quite a bit, but we'll be back. One year anomaly.
Click to expand...

Thanks for adding your perspective and detail. The point of not losing anyone who hasn’t graduated is excellent.
 
I agree it's good for a player definitely. Look at driscoll. If he starts at UND he has a far better chance to progress in his career and I know in many cases teams need players to go to make room for incoming freshman but I just can foresee this being misused as NCAA continues to loosen it's rules. Then again a player/college kids deserve the right to play where they want. So who knows. I'm just old and used to be there old NCAA. Times are changing!

Im hoping for a good east coast away series to travel to sometime soon. BC would need good.
 
MavsFan19 said:
I agree it's good for a player definitely. Look at driscoll. If he starts at UND he has a far better chance to progress in his career and I know in many cases teams need players to go to make room for incoming freshman but I just can foresee this being misused as NCAA continues to loosen it's rules. Then again a player/college kids deserve the right to play where they want. So who knows. I'm just old and used to be there old NCAA. Times are changing!

Im hoping for a good east coast away series to travel to sometime soon. BC would need good.
Click to expand...

The Frozen Four is in Boston next year. Would that be a good east coast away series to travel to?

As far as the transfer portal, good for kids like VanOs-Shaw and Bukes that they can go somewhere and play. It seemed to work out pretty well for Galambos and Berger this year. I don't think the NCAA should make any huge changes in the rules, since this may be largely a one year thing. Kids aging out of jr. hockey have to go somewhere, and so as TalonsUp pointed out, keeping 5th year seniors messes up the plans for the incoming kids, as well as your overall recruiting plan for the next several years. I'm not sure the extra year of eligibility was really necessary in the first place for this year's seniors. Other than the Ivies, everyone else pretty much played this year. The kids that got cheated a little were last year's seniors, who never got to see how their year would play out. But I really never count on the NCAA getting things right.
 
purpleinnebraska said:
The Frozen Four is in Boston next year. Would that be a good east coast away series to travel to?

As far as the transfer portal, good for kids like VanOs-Shaw and Bukes that they can go somewhere and play. It seemed to work out pretty well for Galambos and Berger this year. I don't think the NCAA should make any huge changes in the rules, since this may be largely a one year thing. Kids aging out of jr. hockey have to go somewhere, and so as TalonsUp pointed out, keeping 5th year seniors messes up the plans for the incoming kids, as well as your overall recruiting plan for the next several years. I'm not sure the extra year of eligibility was really necessary in the first place for this year's seniors. Other than the Ivies, everyone else pretty much played this year. The kids that got cheated a little were last year's seniors, who never got to see how their year would play out. But I really never count on the NCAA getting things right.
Click to expand...
For the record, the one time transfer without sitting a year out is here to stay — so this won’t be only a one year thing.

The players deserve to find the right/new fit one time, and frankly, the onus is on the staff at each school to be transparent and find guys that match the fit they’re looking for, and allow the kids coming in to understand the fit.

Don’t want a mass exodus of players to the portal? Be a program kids want to be a part of and find the right guys when you’re recruiting.
 
MavHockey14 said:
For the record, the one time transfer without sitting a year out is here to stay — so this won’t be only a one year thing.

The players deserve to find the right/new fit one time, and frankly, the onus is on the staff at each school to be transparent and find guys that match the fit they’re looking for, and allow the kids coming in to understand the fit.

Don’t want a mass exodus of players to the portal? Be a program kids want to be a part of and find the right guys when you’re recruiting.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I wasn't very clear in my last post. When I talked about this being a one year thing, I was referring to the number of players in the portal being this large. The extra Covid year made it that way. I agree that the rule itself will -and probably should- go on. But you won't see 200 kids in it next year. Or, I'd guess even half of that.
 
purpleinnebraska said:
Sorry, I wasn't very clear in my last post. When I talked about this being a one year thing, I was referring to the number of players in the portal being this large. The extra Covid year made it that way. I agree that the rule itself will -and probably should- go on. But you won't see 200 kids in it next year. Or, I'd guess even half of that.
Click to expand...
That makes far more sense, now. Totally agree. So many of the portal guys are extra year eligible seniors due to COVID.

It will be interesting if we see more Juniors(successful/guys who had regular roles at their respective schools) transfer for their senior seasons, or if grad transfers and guys who just aren’t fitting primarily make up the portal.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top