In this week’s D-I commitment notebook, Michigan, UNH, and Arizona State all committed ’06s while Wisconsin added a steady ’02 defenseman for next season.
’06 (F) Teddy Spitznagel (★★★¾) to Michigan for 2025
A native of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., Spitznagel is a 6-foot forward who played for the Honeybanked 15U AAA team last season. In 21 games, he posted 12 goals and six assists for 18 points.
This past summer he took part in the USA Select 16 Festival and finished the camp with three points (2g-1a) in five games. He’ll suit up this season for the Muskegon Lumberjacks in the USHL.
Spitznagel was ranked No. 62 in our Top 300 2006 National Rankings.
NZ Scouts (Select 16s): “He was ultimately drafted by Muskegon in the second round as a playmaking centerman with a soft set of hands and grit to his game. He isn’t a pretty skater but he can get to spots, he works hard away from the puck to get open and has great sense of time and space and how to attack a defense. He played with some jam, particularly on the boards to win puck battles and stays on pucks until he has full possession.”
’06 (F) Niko Tournas (★★★¾) to New Hampshire for 2024
Tournas is a Connective native who has good size at 6-foot-2 and 185 points. Last season he played for the Yale Bulldogs in the BEAST league and he played at Joel Barlow High School in Connecticut. This season he moved to AAA hockey and will play for the New Jersey Rockets. In eight games thus far, he has 10 goals and seven assists for 17 points.
Tournas was ranked No. 64 in our Top 300 2006 National Rankings.
NZ Scouts (Select 16s): “Tournas is an intriguing player out of Connecticut HS hockey this past season who was invited to NTDP Evaluation Camp and held his own against the country’s best players. He wasn’t quite as impactful here as he was in and out most of the camp; he’d make a great play and then disappear for the next 5 shifts. He’s a long, highly athletic, fluid skating forward with a smooth, powerful release. While he has decent straight line speed, he appeared to be a half second behind the play both physically and mentally as his shots were getting blocked, some of his passes got picked off and wasn’t on his points or on his man in the defensive zone quick enough to avoid a catch and shoot. With that being said, when he was on he was on; he made an excellent assist on swift cross-crease pass off the rush, he had several zone entries where he attacked with speed and got defenders to back off and then pulled up and hit late trailers coming down the slot or defenders coming to the blue line for quality shooting chances.”
’02 (D) Casey Roepke (★★★½) to Wisconsin for 2023
Dependable, reliable, and a ton of experience will be headed Wisconsin’s way in Roepke, a Verona, Wisc. native who has been playing junior hockey since 2019 after he graduated from University School in Wisconsin.
This season he’ll play for the North Iowa Bulls in the NAHL. After starting last season in the USHL he ended the year with the Bulls last spring and had six points in 30 games. He played for the Bulls organization in Amarillo as well before they moved to North Iowa.
In last year’s Top 300 2002 National Rankings, Roepke was ranked No. 266 and he was ranked No. 43 in the NAHL League Rankings.
NZ Scouts (NHL Draft Report): “Casey looks and plays bigger than listed. He is easy with the puck as his first touches were soft and he seldom had trouble making plays up ice. Took hits to get pucks up and he is clever in creating passing lanes. Easy and confident with the puck. Played smart at the blue lines but must become tougher in his end to develop into a true two-way guy. One of the more athletic players here with lateral mobility and a deceptively quick first few steps. His skating stride is productive and he should get faster as he matures. Smart decisions with the puck, ability to play tight defensive coverage through the neutral zone and solid defensive instincts to keep his net front clear and pick up sticks and bodies around the cage. He has an understated game so he’s not the type that jumps off the page but he’s reliable, he’s smooth and calm with the puck and he’s skilled.”
’06 (D) Michael Phelan (★★★¾) to Arizona State for 2025
Phelan has played for the Chicago Mission program out of Illinois, where he’s from. In 30 games last year for the 15U AAA team, he finished with a pair of goals and 11 assists for 13 points on the blue line. He’ll play for the 16U AAA team this season.
Phelan took part in USA Hockey’s Select 16 camp this past summer and posted three points (1g-2a) in five games.
Phelan was ranked No. 134 in our Top 300 2006 National Rankings.
NZ Scouts (Select 16 Camp): “Phelan is a versatile, two-way defenseman out of Chicago Mission who captured the USA Hockey U15 National Championship this spring as a consistent presence on their backend. He has a balanced and fluid stride, he can pivot, stay tight on his man and accelerate backward from a standstill. He showed zip on his first pass and was somewhat automatic on retrievals winning races to pucks, curling off of pressure and moving it up to his forwards. Phelan kept his head up ice, he didn’t get distracted by forecheck pressure and was able to find seams through the neutral zone and create clean zone entries. At the offensive blueline, he was strong and sturdy along the wall to keep pucks in and block wingers from trying to chip it around him and he was also athletic getting across the line and getting shots through to the net.”