Commitments, de-commitments and junior hockey transactions didn’t take a break for the Thanksgiving holiday.
There was significant movement on the recruiting trail over the past couple of weeks due to the NCAA’s early signing period for the National Letter of Intent. Prospective student-athletes sign a NLI with a school if they are going to receive a scholarship for playing a sport.
With schools recruiting younger and younger players, de-committing has become a prevalent occurrence and a hotbed topic among coaches, agents and fans.
A committee of college hockey commissioners, administrators and coaches have worked to establish a new set of rules to cut down on the practice of schools recruiting younger players. Until then, expect more ‘03s and ‘04s committing, and older players de-committing.
Several Hockey East schools were hit with bad news recently. Vermont was one, and it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise given its chief recruiter, Kyle Wallack, had left the program over the summer to become the head coach at Division 3 progrma Albertus Magnus.
Zach Okabe was one of the first players to de-commit, choosing to head to St. Cloud State instead. Mark Cheremeta jumper to Aniston University instead of honoring his commitment to UVM. More recently, Chicago Steel forward Nick Abruzzese flipped his commitment to Harvard and Oakland Jr. Grizzlies ’03 forward Vincent Salice opted to reopen his recruiting process.
However, Vermont head coach Kevin Sneddon and his staff did get good news earlier this week when in-state product Jack Kurrle committed to the Catamounts. The ’03 is a speedy winger who plays for Selects Academy 15-U.
“Jack has had a tremendous season so far for us," said first-year head coach Jon Hutcheon. "He’s a hard-working winger who has touch around the net and the ability to make plays on the wall."
Boston College has also had some movement on the recruiting trail, with T.J. Walsh choosing to look elsewhere after the Eagles asked him to play another year of junior hockey. The Shrewsbury, Mass., native has four goals and and 18 assists in 19 games with the USHL’s Des Moines Buccaneers. The ’00 forward is being courted by several schools from across the country.
In another bit of recruiting news, U.S. NTDP U-18 right wing Patrick Moynihan of Millis, Mass. has de-committed from the Eagles. It’s believed Providence is the leader in the clubhouse to land the speedy, middle-six forward who will be a great four-year college player.
Last week, sophomore wing Jacob Tortora left the BC program to head to the OHL’s Barrie Colts. The Victor, N.Y., native has scored two goals in two games, but never mustered much offensive production while with the Eagles.
BC freshman right wing Oliver Wahlstrom, the first-round pick of the New York Islanders in the 2018 NHL Draft, had his USHL rights picked up by the Tri-City Storm on Thursday. It raised eyebrows across college hockey, but as of now, he remains with the Eagles. The Quincy, Mass., native scored a goal in the Eagles’ 4-2 loss to Bentley on Friday.
BC classmate Adam Samuelsson, another USA Hockey NTDP alum, was added by the USHL’s Sioux City Musketeers. Like Wahlstrom, this doesn’t mean he’s leaving Chestnut Hill.
On Saturday, the Chicago Steel added Boston University freshman Jake Wise of North Andover, Mass. The NTDP product and third-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks has just two assists in 10 games.
