2025-26 Incoming Freshman and Transfers

[stereax]

According to College Hockey News, the 2024-5 Cornell team was younger than most college teams (tied w/two other teams at 36th oldest out of 64 teams).  And that with Cornell's big senior class.  The 2023-4 team was tied w/3 other teams for the 55th oldest (out of 64 teams).  Cornell haa generally played with younger players than the competition.

Wasn't Cornell the oldest or second-oldest of the teams to make the NCAAs though? I remember that stat being constantly thrown around.

[stereax]

Everybody should start* at 21.  It would be healthier.

* Hell, 90% of kids shouldn't go at all.  Give a credential path to the derps who are just looking to make money and return education to people who want to learn, not earn.

(21, finishing up first year of law school after 5 cumulative years of college) :`-(

But to be completely frank, almost requiring a college degree to be competitive in the modern workforce (barring certain trades) is likely a significant cause of why so many younger people find upward mobility difficult, if not impossible. Paying off serious student debt while being paid less comparatively and the comparative rise in prices across the board. The age-old adage of people forgetting most of a subject after finals are over is worrying as well: you're essentially paying to sit around for four years and then get a diploma...

[David Harding]

Pretty sure I recall that Doug Krantz was 21 as a freshman.

Penney, Mack and O'Leary were all 21 as freshmen too. FFJOL turned 22 in March of his freshman year.

Ian Shane had hit the 21 year old limit of the USHL in the middle of the year before he enrolled at Cornell.

[chimpfood]

Got a little bored so I figured I would throw a guess out there for our lineup next year.

Goalies:
1: Keopple
2: Katz
3: Roest

I think Keopple is clearly expected to be the starter. There could be a battle for the backup spot but I wouldn't give the edge to Katz. He's bigger, older and put up better numbers in the juniors.

Lines: LW Center RW
1: Long Walsh Desantis
2: Kraft Castagna Digiulian
3: Hiscock Major Pirtle
4: Murray Devlin Wallace

Here we have no lines of all freshman and the only one with two freshman is two guys in Hiscock and Pirtle who are older and already have chemistry from being on the same line this year. I originally had Major as the first line RW but moved him back to center and sent Digiulian to the wing (because we have a shortage of non center righties). I also had Devlin as the third line left winger at first but decided to move him into Catalano's fourth line center spot. Devlin was quite bad on faceoffs his freshman year but putting him at center just makes room for more talent in the lineup with the amount of guys we have at left wing. If they bring in just the freshmen that I am confident will come, this lineup would leave Catalano as a leftover center, Donaldson and Pelletier leftover at left wing (great depth there), but nothing extra in terms of right wingers. I love the look of the fourth line here, absolutely massive and would make a beautiful checking line.

D pairs: LD RD
1: Veilleux Stanley
2: Ashton Fegaras
3: O'Brien Fisher

This was a lot easier than the forwards but I'm still far from positive about this guess. With Wolfenberg and Gorski as righties that would find themselves on the bench there's a ton of talent there and I wouldn't be surprised if one of them found their way into the lineup. Mosko is the extra lefty, wouldn't be surprised if he settles into the role of extra skater because I think he can play some forward too.

The point of this isn't really to guess the perfect lineup for opening night but to get a sense of our team and how it balances out with righties vs lefties, centers vs wingers, etc. All and all I think this looks like a solid group for next year. There will of course be injuries to move things around and I could see a couple more freshmen being brought in maybe one more forward (maybe Caton Ryan or Arsenault) and one more D (maybe McCrady or Hamilton).

Interested to hear what the rest of you think.

[CU2007]

Got a little bored so I figured I would throw a guess out there for our lineup next year.

Goalies:
1: Keopple
2: Katz
3: Roest

I think Keopple is clearly expected to be the starter. There could be a battle for the backup spot but I wouldn't give the edge to Katz. He's bigger, older and put up better numbers in the juniors.

Lines: LW Center RW
1: Long Walsh Desantis
2: Kraft Castagna Digiulian
3: Hiscock Major Pirtle
4: Murray Devlin Wallace

Here we have no lines of all freshman and the only one with two freshman is two guys in Hiscock and Pirtle who are older and already have chemistry from being on the same line this year. I originally had Major as the first line RW but moved him back to center and sent Digiulian to the wing (because we have a shortage of non center righties). I also had Devlin as the third line left winger at first but decided to move him into Catalano's fourth line center spot. Devlin was quite bad on faceoffs his freshman year but putting him at center just makes room for more talent in the lineup with the amount of guys we have at left wing. If they bring in just the freshmen that I am confident will come, this lineup would leave Catalano as a leftover center, Donaldson and Pelletier leftover at left wing (great depth there), but nothing extra in terms of right wingers. I love the look of the fourth line here, absolutely massive and would make a beautiful checking line.

D pairs: LD RD
1: Veilleux Stanley
2: Ashton Fegaras
3: O'Brien Fisher

This was a lot easier than the forwards but I'm still far from positive about this guess. With Wolfenberg and Gorski as righties that would find themselves on the bench there's a ton of talent there and I wouldn't be surprised if one of them found their way into the lineup. Mosko is the extra lefty, wouldn't be surprised if he settles into the role of extra skater because I think he can play some forward too.

The point of this isn't really to guess the perfect lineup for opening night but to get a sense of our team and how it balances out with righties vs lefties, centers vs wingers, etc. All and all I think this looks like a solid group for next year. There will of course be injuries to move things around and I could see a couple more freshmen being brought in maybe one more forward (maybe Caton Ryan or Arsenault) and one more D (maybe McCrady or Hamilton).

Interested to hear what the rest of you think.

Great off-season post. Thanks

[fastforward]

Pretty sure Digulian and Kraft played together at Kent so that sounds like it could be a good line.
Just got home and checked it out-they did play together

[chimpfood]

Veilleux scored in the last second of regulation to send Muskegon to OT with a chance to win the Clark cup but they lost. Game 5 is on Tuesday.

[billhoward]

Bertrand arrived at 25 and already have been an Ontario police officer. You lost a year of eligibility for every year you were Canadian and over 25. This did not applied to USA Americans if, for instance, they served in the military or were missionaries. It was a pretty blatant screw-Canadian-junior-hockey rule. I was about to say it would not have passed legal muster today although, who knows under the current administration. Also, I believe you could not play NCAA college hockey if you had played in the top junior leagues, which were considered pro leagues.

I'm pretty sure there is an NCAA exemption today for over-21s who have done military service. I also don't know the NCAA does to the odd 40-year-old who wants to kick field goals. I mean, there are age anti-discrimination rules.

[David Harding]

Bertrand arrived at 25 and already have been an Ontario police officer. You lost a year of eligibility for every year you were Canadian and over 25. This did not applied to USA Americans if, for instance, they served in the military or were missionaries. It was a pretty blatant screw-Canadian-junior-hockey rule. I was about to say it would not have passed legal muster today although, who knows under the current administration. Also, I believe you could not play NCAA college hockey if you had played in the top junior leagues, which were considered pro leagues.

I'm pretty sure there is an NCAA exemption today for over-21s who have done military service. I also don't know the NCAA does to the odd 40-year-old who wants to kick field goals. I mean, there are age anti-discrimination rules.

Oldest college football players of 2024 and all-time.  The record is held by a 61-year-old kicker.  https://www.collegetransitions.com/blog/oldest-college-football-players/

[stereax]

Bertrand arrived at 25 and already have been an Ontario police officer. You lost a year of eligibility for every year you were Canadian and over 25. This did not applied to USA Americans if, for instance, they served in the military or were missionaries. It was a pretty blatant screw-Canadian-junior-hockey rule. I was about to say it would not have passed legal muster today although, who knows under the current administration. Also, I believe you could not play NCAA college hockey if you had played in the top junior leagues, which were considered pro leagues.

I'm pretty sure there is an NCAA exemption today for over-21s who have done military service. I also don't know the NCAA does to the odd 40-year-old who wants to kick field goals. I mean, there are age anti-discrimination rules.

Oldest college football players of 2024 and all-time.  The record is held by a 61-year-old kicker.  https://www.collegetransitions.com/blog/oldest-college-football-players/

NINTH YEAR SENIOR. I think some would have a heart attack if that was in hockey...

[stereax]

Got a little bored so I figured I would throw a guess out there for our lineup next year.

Goalies:
1: Keopple
2: Katz
3: Roest

I think Keopple is clearly expected to be the starter. There could be a battle for the backup spot but I wouldn't give the edge to Katz. He's bigger, older and put up better numbers in the juniors.

Lines: LW Center RW
1: Long Walsh Desantis
2: Kraft Castagna Digiulian
3: Hiscock Major Pirtle
4: Murray Devlin Wallace

Here we have no lines of all freshman and the only one with two freshman is two guys in Hiscock and Pirtle who are older and already have chemistry from being on the same line this year. I originally had Major as the first line RW but moved him back to center and sent Digiulian to the wing (because we have a shortage of non center righties). I also had Devlin as the third line left winger at first but decided to move him into Catalano's fourth line center spot. Devlin was quite bad on faceoffs his freshman year but putting him at center just makes room for more talent in the lineup with the amount of guys we have at left wing. If they bring in just the freshmen that I am confident will come, this lineup would leave Catalano as a leftover center, Donaldson and Pelletier leftover at left wing (great depth there), but nothing extra in terms of right wingers. I love the look of the fourth line here, absolutely massive and would make a beautiful checking line.

D pairs: LD RD
1: Veilleux Stanley
2: Ashton Fegaras
3: O'Brien Fisher

This was a lot easier than the forwards but I'm still far from positive about this guess. With Wolfenberg and Gorski as righties that would find themselves on the bench there's a ton of talent there and I wouldn't be surprised if one of them found their way into the lineup. Mosko is the extra lefty, wouldn't be surprised if he settles into the role of extra skater because I think he can play some forward too.

The point of this isn't really to guess the perfect lineup for opening night but to get a sense of our team and how it balances out with righties vs lefties, centers vs wingers, etc. All and all I think this looks like a solid group for next year. There will of course be injuries to move things around and I could see a couple more freshmen being brought in maybe one more forward (maybe Caton Ryan or Arsenault) and one more D (maybe McCrady or Hamilton).

Interested to hear what the rest of you think.

Awesome post. Not sure if they have Catalano as an extra center given the influx of freshmen, but that's definitely helping me see how next year might shake out. I'm excited. Is Veilleux that good that he's going to be a 1LD from the get-go? (Sounds like he's pretty good from what I hear here.) Or is it more we have nobody else, lol...

[BearLover]

Got a little bored so I figured I would throw a guess out there for our lineup next year.

Goalies:
1: Keopple
2: Katz
3: Roest

I think Keopple is clearly expected to be the starter. There could be a battle for the backup spot but I wouldn't give the edge to Katz. He's bigger, older and put up better numbers in the juniors.

Lines: LW Center RW
1: Long Walsh Desantis
2: Kraft Castagna Digiulian
3: Hiscock Major Pirtle
4: Murray Devlin Wallace

Here we have no lines of all freshman and the only one with two freshman is two guys in Hiscock and Pirtle who are older and already have chemistry from being on the same line this year. I originally had Major as the first line RW but moved him back to center and sent Digiulian to the wing (because we have a shortage of non center righties). I also had Devlin as the third line left winger at first but decided to move him into Catalano's fourth line center spot. Devlin was quite bad on faceoffs his freshman year but putting him at center just makes room for more talent in the lineup with the amount of guys we have at left wing. If they bring in just the freshmen that I am confident will come, this lineup would leave Catalano as a leftover center, Donaldson and Pelletier leftover at left wing (great depth there), but nothing extra in terms of right wingers. I love the look of the fourth line here, absolutely massive and would make a beautiful checking line.

D pairs: LD RD
1: Veilleux Stanley
2: Ashton Fegaras
3: O'Brien Fisher

This was a lot easier than the forwards but I'm still far from positive about this guess. With Wolfenberg and Gorski as righties that would find themselves on the bench there's a ton of talent there and I wouldn't be surprised if one of them found their way into the lineup. Mosko is the extra lefty, wouldn't be surprised if he settles into the role of extra skater because I think he can play some forward too.

The point of this isn't really to guess the perfect lineup for opening night but to get a sense of our team and how it balances out with righties vs lefties, centers vs wingers, etc. All and all I think this looks like a solid group for next year. There will of course be injuries to move things around and I could see a couple more freshmen being brought in maybe one more forward (maybe Caton Ryan or Arsenault) and one more D (maybe McCrady or Hamilton).

Interested to hear what the rest of you think.

I have a hard time picturing Catalano out of the lineup when he has been a lineup mainstay ever since December 2023. Meanwhile Murray hasn't seen much ice yet so it seems a lot more likely that the checking line would be Devlin-Catalano-Wallace.

The D are hard to evaluate with only two returning. Wolfenberg was twice ranked by NHL Central Scouting; I think you are underrating him. We do have a glut of D righties and few lefties but I think we'll probably see a righty playing on his off-hand if it means getting more talent into the lineup. Losing Robertson (LHD) is extra punishing here. Robertson, Suda, and Kempf were all LHD so we lost the entire left side of the D from last season.

The Keopple situation is interesting. Cornell Hockey is built on dedication and loyalty. It seems to be paying off: outside of Robertson, our players have stayed loyal to Cornell. And so perhaps the coaches made a calculated decision by handing the reins to a guy who's been a loyal backup three full years. If the coaches were to have brought in a transfer goalie it would have sent a bad message to Keopple, as well as to the two younger goalies, that dedication won't be rewarded. That's the opposite of how BU and Quinnipiac operate, but maybe it's a net positive in the long run. Or maybe the coaching staff just thinks Keopple is a good goalie.

[chimpfood]

One week until the NHL draft, our two possible draftees this year are incoming freshmen Alexis Cournoyer and Gio DiGiulian. Both are looking like 6-7 rounders but if I had to guess I would assume that both do end up getting drafted. If that does end up happening we would have a haul of 10 draft picks on the roster next year.

[stereax]

Just read up on DiGiulian and Cournoyer in the EP draft guide. Can link those pages if anyone wants. Making me more and more excited for those two

[cbuckser]

I don't subscribe to EP Premium. Would you be able to copy and paste the writeups?