We are now five days into the August recuriting cycle, most noteably post August 1st commitment date and so far, the Big 10 is making the biggest moves. The pattern in the past six months has been NCAA programs trying to develop relationships with prospects, agents and coaches north of the border and establishfootholds in certain geographic regions. With the exception of maybe Omaha-Nebraska who has built strong ties in the Quebec market – the majority of the NCHC is fishing in the WHL, the Big 10 is heavily scouting the OHL and Hockey East is making moves in the QMJHL.
So five days in – we are seeing those patterns hold up and the Big 10 has landed the majority of the top remaining uncommitted prospects. Now as well al know too well, these are verbal commitments and nothing officially signed and some of these players will never play a game for these schools but with that being said let’s take a look at some of the storylines and why they are significant.
Notre Dame Recruiting is on the Rise
Andy Slaggert is one of the most respected assistants in college hockey and has a proven eye for talent but he’s now got a staff around him that really understand the talent pool – especially in the 2007-2009 birth years. The Head Coach in Brock Sheahan was an assistant prior to the promotion and was at USA Hockey Nationals in Wisconsin this year for 15U and U16 which was the only head coach we saw there from the Big 10. Mike Garman was a smart hire from Chicago Steel who has been both Head Coach and GM having spent a lot of time scouting, drafting and developing players in these birth years and has his hands on the pulse. He and Andrew Oglevie were a fixture in Buffalo this summer at the USA Hockey Player Development Camps and Andrew made his way to Ontario for the Canada U17s Camp so this is a program that is going all-in on talent acquistion and you can see the early pay-off in their most three recent commits.
Their haul – so far – has been skilled 4.25-star forward Cannon Thibodeau, tough to play agianst defender 4-star George Komadoski and top US goaltender 4.25-star prospect in Nate Chizik. Chizik is a big get – he’ll be the #1 for the US National Program which made him a target for most every blue blood NCAA program and Komadoski was one of the best defenders at the Select 17s National Development Camp earning a spot at the Hlinka Gretzky camp. He was not at that level a year ago and the development in his overall game – particularly his skating and puck play has improved dramatically so the Fighting Irish are landing a prospect on the rise. Also noteworthy is that George’s father is Neil Komadoski, a Notre Dame alumn and a longtime NHL Pro Scout. He knows the landscape as well as anyone so the early commit here shows he’s on board with where this program is heading.
The biggest signing however would be #40 ranked prospect in North America, Cannon Thibodeau and that isn’t because he’s necessarily the best of the three but he’s the kind of player ND wasn’t able to land in the past. For example, last year the Irish got a commitment from Eric Frossard out of London, ON and that made perfect sense – a really smart kid prioritizing academics, lightly recruited mostly by Ivy’s and wasn’t as well known outside of Ontario. Thibodeau however was a blue chip prospect – he was recruited by most top eschlon programs in the country, he played on the top program in Ontario (Toronto Marlboros) and made the US National Development Program. This is a player who typically would have gone to Michigan and now lands with Notre Dame. He is represented by one of the top agencies in the game and he had a lot of options which tells you there is confidence in where this program is headed and the development model they have in place that is able to go into the biggest hockey hotbed in North America in Toronto and land out one of it’s very best.
Minnesota Lands Big In-State Targets
It shouldn’t be news for Minnesota to land the top players in their state – they’ve been doing that for decades but gaining commitments from Gunnar Conboy and Wyatt Cullen are important pieces for the Gophers. Conboy was ranked #51 top prospect for 2009’s in North America which has him ranked above several players who made the NTDP team ahead of him. The 4.25-star prospect went on to be a tender for Green Bay Gamblers and proved to be arguably the best player at the USA Hockey Select 16 National Development Camp where he made the 4-Nations team. He’s a big, strong, honest power forward and plays a brand of hockey that Minnesota has needed the past few seasons in big games.
Wyatt Cullen is one of the countries top prospects and arguably the top uncommitted ’08 in the US. He’s also grew several inches this off-season and projecting to play a bigger role on the US National Program. He’s a high IQ, dynamic playmaker who can make everyone around him better. However, this commit isn’t just about Wyatt – Minnesota can land players of that caliber – but it’s what it could also bring. Soon after his brother 4-star forward Brooks Cullen decommitted to Michigan State – the school that had been talked about as the front-runner for Wyatt earlier this summer and made the switch to in-state Minnesota. Also worth mentioning, his youngest brother Joey Cullen is the best 2010 in America (and by some margin) so the Cullen Trifecta is very much in play for the Gophers after this commitment.
Michigan / Michigan State Rivalry Isn’t Just on the Ice
The entire trajectory of the Michigan State hockey program changed when they hired Adam Nightingale out of the US National Program. His biggest recruits were not Trey Augustine, Isaac Howard or Artyom Levshunov in his first year; rather the two assistants he hired in Jared DeMichael who had brought UMass Amherst to a National Championship (after Cale Makar) and Mike Towns who helped turn D1 bottom dweller AIC into the powerhouse program in Atlantic League with multiple league titles. These two helped bring in a great recruting class in their first year and have become one of the top five programs in the country – competiting now with Michigan not just on the ice but in recrutiing for top prospects.
Michigan State landed Tyler Martyniuk from the US National Program, Gavin Burcar from Spokane (WHL) and Brooks Rogowski from Oshawa (OHL). Burcar was in the mix for the NTDP U17 team and signed soon after with Spokane where he has a chance to go in and make an immediate impact as one of the most athletic, two-way forwards in the country. Brooks Rogowski is coming off an impressive rookie season in the OHL and just came out of Select 17 National Development camp as our highest rated pro prospects in the camp. In fact, Rogowski might end up being the highest drafted US forward if he can continue to build on his success from last season. Martyniuk is a late birth-year so eligible for this years draft and is a player who had a lot of suitors at the NCAA level so Michigan beat out several top tier programs for this commitment.
Michigan isn’t holding back either and they secured commitments from two players who we felt were snubs for the NTDP U17 team in Oliver McKinney one of the smartest forwards in the US for the ’09 age group and Drew Roscoe who is arguably the best pro-prospect among all ’09 defenseman in the US. He’s a highly athletic, mutli-dimensional defenseman who signed with Saginaw in the OHL this off-season where he’s going to be able to develop his two-way game and potentially become a top round NHL Draft prospect. Roscoe and Mickiney are both Top 80 prospects in our 2009 Birth Year North American Rankings.
Scantlebury Commits to BU
James Scantlebury, the #30 ranked prospect in the 2009 Birth Year North American Rankings, commits to Boston University. The 4.5 star prospect has taken the unconventional path – he left Quebec and Lac St Louis for Bishop Kearney in Rochester, NY to play U16s last season and signed with Chicago Steel in the USHL despite being drafted in the first round by the heralded Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL. He now makes his decision to commit to Boston University following the footsteps of another blue chip Quebec prospect in Sasha Boisvert who transferred to the Terriers this offseason from North Dakota. BU hasn’t historically been active in the Eastern Canada market but with Simon Wang commitment from Ottawa and now Boisvert and Scantlebury – BU is making a statement out East. As good as Scantlebury has been – he’s a sub 6-footer and projects more as a college player than an early NHL pick which means they’ll likely have him for 2 years or more which is highly valuable for a player of his star rating.
Varga (WHL) Commits to Denver
There are very few coaches in the NCAA with strong ties in the CHL – with the exception of recent hire Bowling Green Head Coach Dennis Williams and Denver Assistant Dallas Ferguson; both served as Head Coaches in the WHL and both are actively recruiting the WHL for talent. Landing Kelowna Rocket rookie standout Kalder Varga for Denver is a key piece in the upcoming 2027 or 2028 class as one of the premier US forwards in the country who would likely have played on the US National Team if he hadn’t committed to the WHL route prior. He, like Scantlebury, is a sub 6ft forward who isn’t likely to be playing in the NHL at 20 so he’s got a great chance of playing mulitple seasons at the NCAA level which made him a heralded recruit.
NTDP Bound Defenseman Boguniecki Picks BC
4.25-Star prospect Jake Boguniecki, is ranked #42 in the 2009 Birth Year North American Rankings and commits to Boston College; one of the top destinations for NTDP prospects. He is coming off a highly productive season with Mid-Fairfield Rangers where he had a lot of interest from the QMJHL but decided to go the NTDP route where he has the versatility in his game to play up and down the roster and a pro-style that will translate at higher levels. He’ll bring a tough, aggressive style of defense that BC has needed over their last two seasons with outtstanding regular season play and then have faded down the stretch in playoffs. Worth noting Boguniecki wasn’t a top 50 prospects in the US in our midterm rankings yet ended the season as a top 50 prospect in all of North America – a major improvement over the past six months. The son of NHLer Eric Boguniecki is trending upwards.
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling / Hickling Images