Opponents and other news and results 2026-2027

[The Rancor]

Wrote the part 2 of the small schools competing. Yes you definitely need money to retain players consistently. For RPI, Cornell, and the other Ivies, they probably have to lean into the academic reputation and recruiting good students who care about their education to have their roster retention without being able to pay players directly

https://www.rpifieldhouse.com/p/how-the-new-ncaa-landscape-changes

Thanks for this piece. I have a couple quibbles/questions:
1. You mention the "going rate" for first round picks is 75-100K. While I could see this being the case for transfers or CHL kids who commit at the very last second after they've already been drafted or are surefire first-rounders, this wouldn't apply to most blue-chippers who commit at age 16 or so. Unless those kids are shaking down their programs before matriculating or the program is promising 16-year-olds 75-100K, I doubt such kids are getting this much, even the ones who turn out to be first rounders.

Landon Dupont getting $175 to $200k or so ... whether you want to believe it or not.

Umm...okay? What's this supposed to be in response to? He committed a few months ago so he's not in the category I'm referencing about kids who commit years before they matriculate. He's also the consensus #1 overall pick in next year's draft so yeah, I wouldn't be shocked if someone like that is the highest paid player in college hockey.

[setting aside that afaik nobody knows how Canadian kids are allowed to get paid by colleges and setting aside you haven't given any details about what 175-200k means and whether that includes tuition or whether that's just for his freshman year]

Couldn't players who wind up high draft picks after committing to a college at 16 just decommit and seek payment, or tell the school they committed to "it's $100k (or whatever) or I bail?"

Yes, it's a problem. Also, since they pay the Canadians in Tim Horton gift cards, it really complicates everything.

[BearLover]

Wrote the part 2 of the small schools competing. Yes you definitely need money to retain players consistently. For RPI, Cornell, and the other Ivies, they probably have to lean into the academic reputation and recruiting good students who care about their education to have their roster retention without being able to pay players directly

https://www.rpifieldhouse.com/p/how-the-new-ncaa-landscape-changes

Thanks for this piece. I have a couple quibbles/questions:
1. You mention the "going rate" for first round picks is 75-100K. While I could see this being the case for transfers or CHL kids who commit at the very last second after they've already been drafted or are surefire first-rounders, this wouldn't apply to most blue-chippers who commit at age 16 or so. Unless those kids are shaking down their programs before matriculating or the program is promising 16-year-olds 75-100K, I doubt such kids are getting this much, even the ones who turn out to be first rounders.

Landon Dupont getting $175 to $200k or so ... whether you want to believe it or not.

Umm...okay? What's this supposed to be in response to? He committed a few months ago so he's not in the category I'm referencing about kids who commit years before they matriculate. He's also the consensus #1 overall pick in next year's draft so yeah, I wouldn't be shocked if someone like that is the highest paid player in college hockey.

[setting aside that afaik nobody knows how Canadian kids are allowed to get paid by colleges and setting aside you haven't given any details about what 175-200k means and whether that includes tuition or whether that's just for his freshman year]

Couldn't players who wind up high draft picks after committing to a college at 16 just decommit and seek payment, or tell the school they committed to "it's $100k (or whatever) or I bail?"

Yeah, that's what I meant by shaking down their program. I would imagine this doesn't happen much in practice.

[ugarte]

Can you imagine Ben Robertson coming into Mike Schafer's office in April 2025 to inform his coach he's planning to transfer, and Schafer telling Robertson that Cornell can put together 50K to entice him to stay? No chance! Schafer, and I believe Casey as well, would tell Robertson to kick rocks; they want players who want to be here.

I'll admit that because almost nobody transfers out of the Ivies, I believe we are in a privileged position where we aren't in constant danger of a bunch of players leaving all of a sudden. But I certainly would not want Cornell to run its program this way (even if it could offer players money). 

yeah i can imagine this pretty easily, if not in the specific sense. i don't think schafer is naive or a knucklehead and i think he'd treat the negotiation exactly like any businessperson would. for someone who usually tries to look at these issues somewhat dispassionately you sure have some old-school rah rah blind spots.

[BearLover]

Can you imagine Ben Robertson coming into Mike Schafer's office in April 2025 to inform his coach he's planning to transfer, and Schafer telling Robertson that Cornell can put together 50K to entice him to stay? No chance! Schafer, and I believe Casey as well, would tell Robertson to kick rocks; they want players who want to be here.

I'll admit that because almost nobody transfers out of the Ivies, I believe we are in a privileged position where we aren't in constant danger of a bunch of players leaving all of a sudden. But I certainly would not want Cornell to run its program this way (even if it could offer players money). 

yeah i can imagine this pretty easily, if not in the specific sense. i don't think schafer is naive or a knucklehead and i think he'd treat the negotiation exactly like any businessperson would. for someone who usually tries to look at these issues somewhat dispassionately you sure have some old-school rah rah blind spots.

I completely disagree tbh. No way in hell Schafer is engaging in that sort of thing. I think that's true of many coaches. As discussed above, there are severe downsides to trying to pay off one of your players to stay. And Schafer was very big on loyalty. It's less about rah rah and more about loyalty and keeping a team of kids who truly want to be here.

[Trotsky]

If you are Ralph Engalstad in 2026, instead of giving $200 million to your alma mater to build a barn do you endow a slush fund to pay players from? That seems like a more effective way to support the program.  Would it be legal?

HYP could do that with alumni pocket change.  They could do it with alumnae pocket change for the women's programs.

[ugarte]

If you are Ralph Engalstad in 2026, instead of giving $200 million to your alma mater to build a barn do you endow a slush fund to pay players from? That seems like a more effective way to support the program.  Would it be legal?

I feel confident that Englestad would have carved his name in 50' letters on a rink he tried to get called The Teepee before he worried about the W-L record.

[dbilmes]

In-depth article in The Athletic today about Arizona State tragedy. The coach, Greg Powers, comes across as a real jerk. It sounds like the players are in a tough spot.
This should be a gift link which anyone can read.
"Some players are conflicted, some are angry, people close to them said. Some are also scared. School and police officials probing the situation have reached out to them, but some players have been advised not to talk unless a law enforcement agency independent of ASU takes over, as the Mayich family's attorney has demanded. None of the players have spoken publicly about the incident, and some have been harangued on social media and in private messages for not speaking up for Mayich. Some would like to, but they've been cowed by the specter of retaliation."

[Dafatone]

In-depth article in The Athletic today about Arizona State tragedy. The coach, Greg Powers, comes across as a real jerk. It sounds like the players are in a tough spot.
This should be a gift link which anyone can read.
"Some players are conflicted, some are angry, people close to them said. Some are also scared. School and police officials probing the situation have reached out to them, but some players have been advised not to talk unless a law enforcement agency independent of ASU takes over, as the Mayich family's attorney has demanded. None of the players have spoken publicly about the incident, and some have been harangued on social media and in private messages for not speaking up for Mayich. Some would like to, but they've been cowed by the specter of retaliation."

As a general rule, if your attorney is making public statements, you and your attorney are probably both assholes.

[stereax]

Mayich family talking about Matthew.

In related news, I will be curling up into a ball and wailing.