It’s been a busy couple of weeks on the college hockey recruiting front in the New England region, as well as the rest of the country.
Some schools, prospects, parents, and advisors were in a rush to get a commitment in prior to new legislation going into affect that will prohibit the recruiting of youngsters below a certain age.
There were quite a few ‘03s and '04s and a few ‘05s to commit to a Division I college prior to May 1, when the new NCAA legislation will be on the books.
Ryan Fine of Center Moriches, N.Y., and Mid Fairfield became the first ’05 to commit when he announced his verbal commitment to Boston University this past Friday. Northeastern and Providence got into the ’05 act on Tuesday, just prior to the deadline.
Lexington, Mass., native Will Smith committed to Northeastern on Tuesday night. An elite goal-scorer, Smith put on an impressive show at the Eastern Exposure Hockey Group All-Star Weekend on Saturday and Sunday in Worcester. Smith plays for the Boston Junior Eagles.
A few minutes later, Providence received a verbal commitment from Long Island Gulls forward Tanner Adams, who has a high compete and hockey sense.
In addition to three ‘05s who committed to Hockey East schools, Kai Matthews of Edmonton, Alberta, verbally committed to Denver.
Also last week, two ‘04s from the New England region committed to Division I schools. Bishop Hendricken freshman forward Brady Berard will follow in the footsteps of his brother, ’02 Brett Berard, his father Dave, and his mother, Lynne, in heading to Providence.
Berard, from East Greenwich, R.I., will be transferring from Bishop Hendricken to Mount Saint Charles Hockey Academy for the 2019-20 season.
Thayer Academy eighth-grader Michael Stenberg, who played top-six minutes for the varsity this past winter, committed to Penn State. Stenberg, also a varsity lacrosse player for Thayer, has a hard shot and is heavy on pucks. Both Berard and Stenberg, from Needham, Mass., played for the South Shore Kings ’04 team in addition to their high school and prep school teams.
There were numerous ‘04s across the U.S. and Canada that committed to college programs within the past two weeks with the new legislation on the horizon. Several elite ‘04s from Western Canada made a splash right before the WHL Bantam Draft.
UMass, which doesn’t dabble in the younger commitments as much as many other area schools, received their first commit from an ’04. Compuware left-shot defenseman Patrick Czarnecki committed to the Minutemen.
On Thursday of last week, twin brothers Joseph and Peter Kramer committed to Providence. The sophomore forwards who made up BC High’s top line alongside older brother, Thomas, will be heading to Thayer after being a part of two Super 8 championship teams at BC High. Another older brother, Patrick Kramer, plays at Merrimack.
A pair of ‘02s from the New England prep school circuit also announced their verbal intentions to play college hockey for schools in the region.
Cushing Academy sophomore defenseman Lukas Gustafsson chose Boston College. From Cumming, Ga., Gustafsson is a smooth-skating, skilled, puck-mover. His father, Marcus Gustafsson, starred at Maine.
Taft junior forward Zach Tonelli of Armonk, N.Y., committed to Brown. His older brother, ’00 Jordan Tonelli, a Taft alum now with the USHL’s Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, also is committed to Brown. Their father, John Tonelli, was a legendary player for the terrific New York Islanders of the 1980s.
All of the above mentioned players, besides Tonelli, would not be allowed to commit under the new legislation that is now in the rule book, as of today, May 1.
Several other area schools were busy picking up commitments from players outside of the region. Vermont received a verbal commitment from Lac St-Louis Lions ’01 goaltender Devon Levi of Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Quebec.
UConn beat out a couple of top schools, including Boston University, when it landed a verbal commitment from ’02 Yan Kuznetsov of the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede. The Murmansk, Russia, native is still adjusting to the North American game, but the big defender will be a coveted prospect for the 2020 NHL Draft.
After losing a couple of star defensemen to pro hockey, Quinnipiac added a blue liner for 2019-20 when the Bobcats committed Jeremy Smith of the Surrey Eagles. In addition, Rand Pecknold’s staff picked up a defenseman for the future, adding ’03 Jonah Copre of the Chicago Mission 15’s.
Maine added a young commit of its own with the announcement of a verbal from CIH Academy White ‘03 left wing Ryan Remick of Sparta, N.J.
Merrimack continued to stockpile recruits for the future by adding ’00 right-shot center Hugo Esselin of Djurgardens IF Jr. in the Swedish Jr. Elite League.
Bentley received a commit from ’00 left wing Joseph Winkelmann of the NAHL’s Odessa Jackalopes.
