New Year’s Day, Jan. 1, marks the first day college hockey coaches legally can contact sophomores. That means a few ’04s and ’05s from New England will be receiving calls and text messages on Friday morning.
In May 2019, the NCAA passed legislation to prohibit the recruitment of younger players. The new rules mean prospective student-athletes cannot be contacted until Jan. 1 of their sophomore year. Players cannot verbally commit to a college program until Aug. 1 heading into their junior year of high school.
No sophomore in New England will be as targeted as Dexter Southfield ’05 center Will Vote. The Arlington, Mass., native is a shoo-in for USA Hockey’s NTDP. The Junior Eagles product has elite hockey sense and compete level to go along with a good stick.
There isn’t a school in the country that wouldn’t love to have Vote on its roster in 2023-24. The leaders in the clubhouse appear to be the four Beanpot schools plus Michigan, Notre Dame, Penn State and Wisconsin from the Big Ten. Expect all of those schools and a couple of others to reach out to Vote on Friday. He likely will be the first call Boston College head coach Jerry York makes on Friday.
The next biggest target is Pope Francis ’05 forward Ryan Leonard, who can play center or right wing. His older brother, John Leonard, just finished a stellar three-year career at UMass and is now in the San Jose Sharks system. I’d expect the younger Leonard to get a few phone calls, but from all indications, it seems like a forgone conclusion that he’ll end up following in his brother’s footsteps in joining the Minutemen in a few years.
Thayer Academy sophomore defenseman CJ Foley is my choice as the top uncommitted ’04 in New England. The Hanover, Mass., native is a versatile two-way defenseman who skates well and plays with jam. He has a good stick and he’ll be coveted by a number of Hockey East schools.
One of the most improved sophomores in the region is Belmont Hill right wing James Fisher. The ’04 from Wilmington, Mass., has shown off his ability as a power forward this fall with the East Coast Wizards. He’ll be contacted by several Hockey East and ECAC Hockey schools on Friday.
Another legacy recruit is Nobles center Ben MacDonald, whose father Lane MacDonald won the Hobey Baker while captaining Harvard to an NCAA championship in 1989. The Crimson most certainly will be on the phone with the Weston, Mass., native on Friday, but a few other schools would be wise to do the same, just in case.
Mid Fairfield Rangers have one of most skilled ’05 teams in the country. A slew of players from the team coached by former NHL great Marty St. Louis will be getting calls on Friday. One of them is his son, Lucas St. Louis, an offensive defenseman. Vermont, where his father played, and Northeastern, where his older brother, Ryan St. Louis, is committed, likely will be two of the first to call. St. Louis, from Riverside, Conn., is one of a handful of players on his Mid Fairfield team who could make the NTDP in 2021-22.
The rest of the highly coveted players on Mid Fairfield hail from New York and New Jersey. Defensemen Drew Fortescue and Aram Minnetian along with forwards Brian Nicholas, Sal Guzzo and Logan Renkowski will be getting contacted by numerous college programs in New England.
After playing two seasons at Brookline High School, ’04 right wing Grayson Badger has transferred to Dexter Southfield as a repeat sophomore. While his hockey sense and skating are a work in progress, his compete level and intangibles are elite. He’ll certainly be drawing interest on Friday.
One of his teammates at Dexter Southfield, ’04 left shot defenseman Sean Keohane is another one of the region’s most improved players. With his size and hockey sense, he’ll be getting some interest from local colleges.
Junior Bruins forward Chris Delaney is a late ’04 who has shown well with the organization’s NCDC team this fall. From Hopkinton, Mass. Delaney has skill, grit and offensive instincts that will intrigue a few local colleges into contacting him Friday.
Cushing and Islanders Hockey Club goaltender Jackson Irving is often overlooked due to not having great size, but a few schools will be calling the ’04 from Newbury, Mass., on Friday. One will likely be Providence as his dad, Bruce Irving, is the volunteer goaltending coach for the Friars. The elder Irving is a former assistant coach at Harvard and played at Cornell, so the Crimson and Big Red are other schools that could have reason to call.
The River Rats 15-U team was the top-ranked team in its age group in Massachusetts. The team’s leading scorer, Phillips Andover right wing Joey Zheng, will have a number of Ivy League schools calling him on Friday. The Glenview, Ill., native is drawing a ton of interest from Harvard and Yale, among others.
New England college hockey programs have expanded their footprints over the years, with schools relying less and less on local players, as the sport grows.
Tabor center Jack Brandt, an ’04 from Columbus, Ohio, is another sophomore who will receive attention on Friday. Other top targets for New England schools from outside the region include a quartet of players from the North Jersey Avalanche: forwards Chase Pirtle, Quintin Musty and Ben Yurchuk, and defenseman Nick Fascia. All are ’05s who are on the NTDP radar for 2021-22.
Another name I’ve heard thrown around a lot is Shattuck-St. Mary’s center Ty Peddle. The ’05 from Saint Andrews, Nova Scotia, is a big-time NHL prospect from north of the border who is supposedly interested in the college route. Expect the Beanpot schools and Michigan to be among the suitors.
There are a few other players who will be contacted on Friday, but these sophomores are the ones who will receive the most attention, at least locally.
