GRAND FORKS — UND's coaching staff doesn't have much time to dismantle the 2023-24 hockey season.
On Sunday morning, the transfer portal opened for non-graduates. A large number of players are expected to access the portal when compliance officers enter the office on Monday.
UND needs to identify as soon as possible which players will be returning, what roles freshmen can fill, and what areas need to be addressed with transfers.
UND has four players with expired eligibility: forward Hunter Johannes and defensemen Garrett Pike, Keaton Person and Logan Britt.
Senior forward and captain Lise Gabert has announced that she intends to sign a professional contract.
Senior forwards Griffin Ness and Carson Albrecht have a year of eligibility left due to a COVID-19-free season, but it is unclear whether they will return.
Senior forward Luiz Jamelnik V is expected to return as part of the plan when he joins midway through the 2020-21 season.
The biggest question of the offseason is whether star sophomore forward Jackson Blake will return for his junior season or sign with the Carolina Hurricanes, who selected him in the fourth round of the 2021 NHL Draft. .
There is little doubt that the Hurricanes will make a big move to sign Blake.
This is not only thanks to his big season (he scored 60 points and is a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award), but also his ability to become a free agent next summer if Blake returns to college for one more season. There is. Players are given that option four years after their draft year. Blake played one year of junior hockey after his draft year, so that option will be available after his third year at UND.
It's hard to imagine Carolina wanting to give Blake that option. NHL teams don't want to potentially lose assets for nothing.
Blake cannot become an unrestricted free agent until he is 27 years old, so if the Hurricanes were to sign him, he would essentially be under the team's control for the next six years.
So don't be surprised if Carolina offers to let Blake join the NHL for a few games this season just to get a deal done with him. It's the same thing the Hurricanes did when they acquired former Minnesota goaltender Jacques LaFontaine from the Gophers midway through the season.
But if Blake decides he can spend next season in the American Hockey League, he'll be able to build up the strength needed to play in the NHL, earn a captain's letter and aim for the Hobey Baker Award and the NCAA National Championship. He may choose to return to UND. .
The new 1883 Collective, which was formed earlier this month to support UND athletes, could also come into play here.
The other two candidates to sign professional contracts are junior forward Cameron Berg, a draft pick of the New York Islanders, and senior goaltender Ludwig Persson, a free agent.
Last year, UND lost six players to the transfer portal, all of whom missed at least one game in the playoffs.
UND has already lost one rarely used player this year in freshman forward Michael Emerson, who left to play junior hockey over semester break.
UND's other skaters played fewer than 20 games this season and were hurt during the playoffs: forward Dane Montgomery and rookie defensemen Nate Benoit and Tanner Komczak.
Three forwards and three defensemen who are considered to be locks will appear.
Up front they have Sasha Boisvert, Mac Swanson and Cody Croal.
Boisvert is a 6-foot-2 center who ranks fourth in the United States Hockey League in goals scored and could be drafted in the first round of the 2024 NHL Draft.
Swanson, a 5-foot-8 forward, recently set the Fargo Force's single-season scoring record. This season he has 73 points, which ranks him second in the USHL. Swanson plays as a center for the Force, but he will likely serve as a winger at UND.
Croal, a 5-foot-10 forward, has had to come to campus as he ages out of the USHL. I expect him to be a Swiss Army knife, able to move up and down the lineup and play both wing and center. He has played in 54 games with Muskegon of the USHL this season, scoring 54 points.
Forwards David Clay (seventh-round pick of the San Jose Sharks) and Cade Littler (seventh-round pick of the Calgary Flames) are also candidates.
On the back end they have E.J. Emery, Andrew Strassman and Jaden Jubenville.
Emery, a 6-foot-3 right-handed defender, could be selected in the first or second round of the 2024 NHL Draft. Emery is an elite skater and, like former UND defender Derek Forbort, uses that to take advantage of opposing rushes.
Strassman is a 5-foot-10 left-shot defender who was a fourth-round pick by the Columbus Blue Jackets last summer. He has great talent offensively. Strassman had seven goals and 35 points in 44 games. He returned to the USHL this season to perfect the defensive side of his game. Although he is small, he will make big hits with his edgy play. However, he has been suspended five times by the USHL this season and will likely have to eliminate that play at the collegiate level.
Ubenville is a 5-foot-10 left-shooting defender who is older than the juniors, so he's certain to play as well. He played in 62 games with Dubuque in the USHL, scoring 25 points, and may be an under-the-radar player. He's not very dynamic, but he's a Colton Poolman-style defender who usually gets points by shutting down the rush and turning the puck on ice.
UND will not acquire as many players from the transfer portal as they did last season.
But the Fighting Hawks will almost certainly be looking to give the team some momentum through the portal as they aim for a championship next season.
First, UND must decide whether to use Owen McLaughlin as a center or winger next season.
McLaughlin is one of UND's most dynamic players. He scored 39 points as a sophomore and is 46 points away from hitting 100 points his junior year, which is pretty rare.
However, the inability to win faceoffs became an issue at the end of the season. He finished with just 43.2 percent. The performance for the past two months was 33.1%. He went 3-for-13 against Michigan in the district tournament. UND was unable to use him in defensive zone draws, which negatively impacted UND's possession numbers.
As a team, UND finished 29th in the nation with ties, which was significantly lower than normal.
It may not be a coincidence that Colorado State and Omaha, the NCHC's strongest opposing teams, were the two teams that gave UND the most trouble this season.
UND faced six teams: St. Cloud State University, Denver State University, Bemidji State University (Minnesota), Miami State University and University of Minnesota Duluth. The Fighting Hawks were 14-2-2 against those teams. They were 12-10 against better teams in points.
Berg did a very good 56 percent, but UND's second-line center needs to be much better than 43.2 percent.
Options at the second line center include boisvert and/or transportation.
There will be a flood of players entering the portal this week, but there are already two strong centermen — who have taken more faceoffs (1,044) than anyone in college hockey this season. RIT leading scorer Carter Wilkie and Alaska State forward Harrison Israels. They won at a 58 percent clip while scoring 20 goals.
The list is sure to grow as the weeks go by.
UND may also consider adding size up front.
Some of its top forwards are undersized – Blake (if he returns), McLaughlin, Swanson, and Jayden Perron. With Johannes gone, we lose some size.
So if UND acquires a forward in the portal, expect him to have some size.
UND has a very promising defensive corps, but it's still young, and the Fighting Hawks may look to add depth there in hopes of making a breakthrough next season.
Pike missed UND's NCAA Tournament game against Michigan on Friday, and the Fighting Hawks essentially played with just five defensemen. Benoit, the sixth defenseman, played just 3 minutes and 15 seconds. He seemed to have caught up with UND in the third period.
UND may want to add a veteran to the back end. When the Fighting Hawks look loaded, they can't afford an injury that could cost them a championship.
As for goals, it all depends on whether Persson stays or signs.
If he stays, UND should have Persson, Hobey Hedquist and Caleb Johnson.
If he leaves, the Fighting Hawks will need to make a move. That's because the Fighting Hawks' lone goalie, Caleb Heil, is only a senior in high school and not yet ready to come to campus.
Whether Persson returns or UND brings a transfer, Hedquist believes his workload will increase after a solid freshman season.
