Recruits 2024 and Beyond

[Trotsky]

I'm thinking Robertson is a 3rd round pick. Word has gotten around.

[scoop85]

I just got scooped...by scoop! Seriously, I was in the middle of typing out a very similar post. I agree with much of what you said. I'm not sure how it would work regarding the goalie situation—will the Cornell coaches hold one of them back in juniors? Frankly, whoever comes next year will just be waiting behind Shane anyway, so I don't think it makes much sense from either Cornell's or Katz's/Roest's perspective for them to both matriculate next year.

I'm curious if we see any Cornell players enter the transfer portal. Competition for playing time next year is going to be fierce. At forward, we subtract Seger and add three freshmen, all of whom seem capable of cracking the lineup, with Major and perhaps Pirtle being very likely good enough to play right away. I wonder if Pirtle goes to the USHL for a year, just because of the playing time issue. Remember, next year we also get back Kovich, who missed almost this entire season with an injury. (With that said, we had very few injuries this year, so we may need depth more next season than we did this year.)

Similarly, at D, we lose nobody and have 6 shoe-ins to play next season who are already on the team. Wolfenberg was a highly regarded recruit but seems to have gotten injured this season. He and Mosko may need to wait for Suda/Rego/Kempf to graduate before seeing regular playing time. (However, we have a bunch more defensemen in the pipeline, so even then...)

Part of the nonsense regarding the fifth year eligibility was that it inflated roster size and made playing time difficult for new recruits. With Penney/O'Leary/Rego all returning, Cornell is finally experiencing some of this. I guess we will see how loyal players like Keopple and Donaldson are to the program. Both of these players on paper should (and maybe ultimately will) get playing time. But the immediate future looks very difficult.

As far as draft picks are concerned, seems the only recruit with a legitimate shot of being drafted is DiGiulian. However, the Cornell player most likely to be drafted may already be on the team (Ben Robertson).

Logically we'd want to hold a slew of these guys back, but I assume at least a few of them may be aging out of juniors (I don't have time to look it up), so that may not be an option across the board.

I'm not certain what the exact age cutoff is, but I believe only Parker Murray will age out of juniors next season. He is the only '03 recruit.

That may well be the case. Must be some interesting conversations between the coaching staff, the recruits and their families about the best path forward for each player. I have to imagine even with the challenge of getting playing time, some of these guys who are going to be 20 will want to move forward with their college careers. Regardless it will be interesting to see who's on the incoming recruit announcement later this year.

[scoop85]

Wonder if Charlie Major could get drafted this year. He's currently 7th in the USHL in both goals & total points.

.

Walsh was a 6th rounder after finishing 2nd in the USHL in points behind Celebrini, so you may be right about Major, especially given his great 2nd half of the season.

[BearLover]

I think Walsh was a fairly unique case. It's possible, though. One analog to Robertson is Alex Green, another puck moving D who was drafted in the fourth round in 2018 after his freshman season at Cornell. Green had several inches on Robertson but nowhere near Robertson's level of production in either juniors or during freshman year.

[ugarte]

If it's possible to hold guys for another year of USCHO seasoning, now would be when to do it....

If Rayhill has been a healthy scratch for 3 years I guess he will be pursuing a fine career in sports journalism...

interesting

[Trotsky]

USHL. The Times regrets the error.

It was not a shot.  Rayhill hosted the Cornell 2024 video and was fantastic.  Far better than the "talent" that comes out of Bristol.

[ugarte]

USHL. The Times regrets the error.

It was not a shot.  Rayhill hosted the Cornell 2024 video and was fantastic.  Far better than the "talent" that comes out of Bristol.

i didn't think it was. it's the offseason and we're arguing in the denver game thread over how much is the right amount of pain to feel. time to get stupid.

[scoop85]

I think Walsh was a fairly unique case. It's possible, though. One analog to Robertson is Alex Green, another puck moving D who was drafted in the fourth round in 2018 after his freshman season at Cornell. Green had several inches on Robertson but nowhere near Robertson's level of production in either juniors or during freshman year.

While Green was a nice college defenseman, Robertson just has an "it" factor that Green didn't have. No reason Robertson shouldn't be a middle to late round pick given his performance. Someone made a comparison to Joakim Ryan, and I agree that Robertson's ceiling is higher. He also has a lot of Malinski-like qualities.

[arugula]

I think Walsh was a fairly unique case. It's possible, though. One analog to Robertson is Alex Green, another puck moving D who was drafted in the fourth round in 2018 after his freshman season at Cornell. Green had several inches on Robertson but nowhere near Robertson's level of production in either juniors or during freshman year.

While Green was a nice college defenseman, Robertson just has an "it" factor that Green didn't have. No reason Robertson shouldn't be a middle to late round pick given his performance. Someone made a comparison to Joakim Ryan, and I agree that Robertson's ceiling is higher. He also has a lot of Malinski-like qualities.

Yes.

[Trotsky]

USHL. The Times regrets the error.

It was not a shot.  Rayhill hosted the Cornell 2024 video and was fantastic.  Far better than the "talent" that comes out of Bristol.

i didn't think it was. it's the offseason and we're arguing in the denver game thread over how much is the right amount of pain to feel. time to get stupid.

And we're just the guys to do it.

[CAS]

Chase Pirtle is the 2nd highest scoring
'05 in the BCHL

[scoop85]

Chase Pirtle is the 2nd highest scoring
'05 in the BCHL

And the '05 he's right behind plays for Surrey, which is 44-8, so the other guy likely has a stronger supporting cast.

[Swampy]

With no more games to focus on :`-( here's a late season update for our listed recruits. We have plenty of talent in the pipeline:

I have never seen us line up the talent at center that we seem to have and are bringing in. I have to assume some of those guys are going to be converted to wing, but my god.

IIRC, Dan Lodboa was a forward when he came to Cornell, but Ned (aka "God" ) already had a few good forwards. So, he converted Dan to play as a D. Ned would later say Dan was the best hockey player he'd ever coached.

So, if history were to repeat itself, I'd take it! ::cheer::

[scoop85]

With no more games to focus on :`-( here's a late season update for our listed recruits. We have plenty of talent in the pipeline:

I have never seen us line up the talent at center that we seem to have and are bringing in. I have to assume some of those guys are going to be converted to wing, but my god.

IIRC, Dan Lodboa was a forward when he came to Cornell, but Ned (aka "God" ) already had a few good forwards. So, he converted Dan to play as a D. Ned would later say Dan was the best hockey player he'd ever coached.

So, if history were to repeat itself, I'd take it! ::cheer::

I recently read a book called "They Did Everything But Win" about the Emile Francis Rangers of the 60's and 70's. There were some unflattering passages about Ned in the book; as I've heard elsewhere over the years, apparently his Red Wings players largely detested him and his "rah rah" college style approach. Certainly not the first or last time a college coach didn't work out in the pros.

[Al DeFlorio]

With no more games to focus on :`-( here's a late season update for our listed recruits. We have plenty of talent in the pipeline:

I have never seen us line up the talent at center that we seem to have and are bringing in. I have to assume some of those guys are going to be converted to wing, but my god.

IIRC, Dan Lodboa was a forward when he came to Cornell, but Ned (aka "God" ) already had a few good forwards. So, he converted Dan to play as a D. Ned would later say Dan was the best hockey player he'd ever coached.

So, if history were to repeat itself, I'd take it! ::cheer::

Harry Orr, Steve Giuliani, Bruce Pattison and Lodboa were all forwards when they came to Cornell, then moved to defense by Ned.  Could be others I'm forgetting.