3 Of The Top 30 Incoming Freshmen In The Country

[mac2351]

UConn has 3 of the top 30 incoming freshmen in the country on its roster.

Maxim Letunov (#21), Miles Gendron (#27), and Tage Thompson (#30) were named by ISS, the world's leading independent scouting service, as three of the top thirty freshmen coming into college hockey this season.

UConn is tied for third with Boston College, Boston University, and Minnesota with three on the list. North Dakota leads with five and Michigan has four.

Everyone on the list is drafted except Tage Thompson, Charlie McAvoy, and Luke Kunin because they were not eligible for the 2015 draft due to age. The 2016 NHL draft is the first time they will be eligible.

BC has Colin White (#1), Jeremy Bracco (#4), and Christopher Brown (#17).

BU has Jordan Greenway (#6), Jacob Forsbacka Karlsson (#8), and Charlie McAvoy (#15).

Providence has Erik Foley (#14).

Notre Dame has Dennis Gilbert (#11).

UMass has William Lagesson (#16).

New Hampshire has Marcus Vela (#29).

http://collegehockeyinc.com/articles/iss-hockey-tabs-top-30-freshmen

 

[mac2351]

Jeff Cox ranks UConn's recruiting class third in Hockey East. He is extremely high on Letunov.

http://www.sbncollegehockey.com/col...u-uconn-providence-uvm-unh-umass-northeastern

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Jeff Cox ranks UConn's recruiting class third in Hockey East. He is extremely high on Letunov.

http://www.sbncollegehockey.com/col...u-uconn-providence-uvm-unh-umass-northeastern

Letunov is a great player. UConn caught a break being able to get him, but has every right to reap the benefits. He should be one of the top freshmen in the conference this year.

 

[FDNY99]

Jeff Cox ranks UConn's recruiting class third in Hockey East. He is extremely high on Letunov.

http://www.sbncollegehockey.com/col...u-uconn-providence-uvm-unh-umass-northeastern

It was interesting to see UNH near the bottom in Jeff's rankings.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

It was interesting to see UNH near the bottom in Jeff's rankings.

I didn't understand it, though this has been a rough period for UNH hockey, Umile really needs to step down. Funny thing, they passed on Letunov too apparently! Even more puzzling is Maine being ranked last, when he claims they'll improve on the defensive end with four new kids averaging 6'2+. Bringing in four new big defenseman who will improve your team but also having the worst class in the league doesn't add up.

 

[FDNY99]

I didn't understand it, though this has been a rough period for UNH hockey, Umile really needs to step down. Funny thing, they passed on Letunov too apparently! Even more puzzling is Maine being ranked last, when he claims they'll improve on the defensive end with four new kids averaging 6'2+. Bringing in four new big defenseman who will improve your team but also having the worst class in the league doesn't add up.

Stop by the UNH thread on USCHO and tell them Umile passed on Letunov...that would be fun to watch..LMFAO

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Stop by the UNH thread on USCHO and tell them Umile passed on Letunov...that would be fun to watch..LMFAO

I forgot where I heard that - might've been a similar admissions issue - but I believe it was from a UNH USCHO fan. They don't need any more fuel for their fire Umile bandwagon. Problem for them is, I'm not sure how easy it'll be for them to hire a solid replacement. Honestly, the UConn job seems more lucrative right now than the UNH one.

 

[FDNY99]

I forgot where I heard that - might've been a similar admissions issue - but I believe it was from a UNH USCHO fan. They don't need any more fuel for their fire Umile bandwagon. Problem for them is, I'm not sure how easy it'll be for them to hire a solid replacement. Honestly, the UConn job seems more lucrative right now than the UNH one.

His new contract extension is gonna cost them a buyout that will end up being pretty steep for a school like UNH. I will say this though..I'm gonna be envious of their on-campus barn until concrete plans show up for something in Storrs and a shovel finally goes in the ground

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

His new contract extension is gonna cost them a buyout that will end up being pretty steep for a school like UNH. I will say this though..I'm gonna be envious of their on-campus barn until concrete plans show up for something in Storrs and a shovel finally goes in the ground

I hear you, though the Whit isn't much to be envious of. They still have the Lite Brite scoreboard up there from 1995. The place looks nice on the outside, but taking a walk around the inside it becomes very clear the place was built on a barebones budget.

 

[FDNY99]

I hear you, though the Whit isn't much to be envious of. They still have the Lite Brite scoreboard up there from 1995. The place looks nice on the outside, but taking a walk around the inside it becomes very clear the place was built on a barebones budget.

From the posts I have seen from the UNH guys on USCHO it looks like they replaced that scoreboard for this season and did some renovation work to the Whit (looks like they are doing something with luxury boxes). For Cav to position his program solely in the middle tier of HE he is going to have to crack the top 5 of this list every year. I definitely see that as a possibility.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

I forgot where I heard that - might've been a similar admissions issue - but I believe it was from a UNH USCHO fan. They don't need any more fuel for their fire Umile bandwagon. Problem for them is, I'm not sure how easy it'll be for them to hire a solid replacement. Honestly, the UConn job seems more lucrative right now than the UNH one.

UConn academically is better than UNH, so not sure about that. One does get bragging rights with the UNH HOCKEY job though - its the hightest paying public job in the entire state. Plus, the Seacoast (Durham/Portsmouth/Exeter) is a very nice place to live.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

UConn academically is better than UNH, so not sure about that. One does get bragging rights with the UNH HOCKEY job though - its the hightest paying public job in the entire state. Plus, the Seacoast (Durham/Portsmouth/Exeter) is a very nice place to live.

Had nothing to do with admissions difficulty, UConn is a significantly better school than UNH. Letunov didn't get into BU (and apparently passed on by UNH) because his grades weren't good enough, it's that BU decided not to accept certain credits he received from taking classes overseas, and thus he didn't have enough credit to get in. It had nothing to do with how well he did in those classes.

 

[Stinger92860]

Three will be our low water mark for the foreseeable future.

 

[Stinger92860]

Had nothing to do with admissions difficulty, UConn is a significantly better school than UNH. Letunov didn't get into BU (and apparently passed on by UNH) because his grades weren't good enough, it's that BU decided not to accept certain credits he received from taking classes overseas, and thus he didn't have enough credit to get in. It had nothing to do with how well he did in those classes.

Time will tell if this was the right decision.

 

[mac2351]

Three will be our low water mark for the foreseeable future.

I'm not so sure about that. Next year's class is definitely not as strong as this season's. In my opinion, at this point in time UConn's class for next year is unimpressive.

To be honest, UConn was very fortunate to have Masonius and Letunov become available late in the process. With pretty much everyone on the USNTDP U-18 and U-17 teams committed to other schools already and other high end talent committed, it is unlikely UConn will duplicate the talent in the 2015 class with next year's class.

In addition, beating the recruiting classes of BC and BU is impossible no matter what year it is. BU and BC recruit on a whole other level than everyone else. Providence's classes in the upcoming years will only be beat by BU and BC, especially with Nate Leaman at the helm. I would be happy if UConn is consistently finishing fourth in recruiting in Hockey East.

 

[Adios]

BU and BC recruit on a whole other level than everyone else.

One reason why Cavanaugh got the job.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Three will be our low water mark for the foreseeable future.

Laughably wrong. As stated, BU and BC recruit consistently above the rest. UConn caught a break with Letunov, it's as simple as that - and Cav has every opportunity to take full advantage of that and turn it into an opportunity to show future players of his caliber that UConn is a solid option for them. Saying three would be the low water mark for UConn would be a more valid statement if Letunov and players of his caliber consistently picked UConn when all options were on the table.

That said, is it reasonable to expect UConn to recruit consistently from here on out in the top half of the league? Absolutely. Top three? Ways off. UConn is nowhere near being in position to consistently get the likes of Bracco, White, Greenway, etc. on a regular basis.

Also, if you want to be recruiting against the top of the league, I've got news for you - an on-campus arena and practice facility is 100% necessary. UConn will consistently get outrecruited if they use XL as their primary home rink with no venue on campus. That is a stone cold fact.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

I'm not so sure about that. Next year's class is definitely not as strong as this season's. In my opinion, at this point in time UConn's class for next year is unimpressive.

To be honest, UConn was very fortunate to have Masonius and Letunov become available late in the process. With pretty much everyone on the USNTDP U-18 and U-17 teams committed to other schools already and other high end talent committed, it is unlikely UConn will duplicate the talent in the 2015 class with next year's class.

In addition, beating the recruiting classes of BC and BU is impossible no matter what year it is. BU and BC recruit on a whole other level than everyone else. Providence's classes in the upcoming years will only be beat by BU and BC, especially with Nate Leaman at the helm. I would be happy if UConn is consistently finishing fourth in recruiting in Hockey East.

I don't agree that it's *impossible* to beat a recruiting class at BU or BC, but it's very, very unreasonable to think the three spot (though entirely subjective and useless) in the league recruiting rankings will be the low watermark.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I don't agree that it's *impossible* to beat a recruiting class at BU or BC, but it's very, very unreasonable to think the three spot (though entirely subjective and useless) in the league recruiting rankings will be the low watermark.

I agree with you. Honestly expecting to beat BC or BU in this regard is more of a fantasy than expecting UConn hoops to out-recruit Kentucky, which it really never does. And UConn hockey is not UConn hoops, not close. We had a lucky year, let's hope the win some games so that we can improve recruiting generally going forward.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

I agree with you. Honestly expecting to beat BC or BU in this regard is more of a fantasy than expecting UConn hoops to out-recruit Kentucky, which it really never does. And UConn hockey is not UConn hoops, not close. We had a lucky year, let's hope the win some games so that we can improve recruiting generally going forward.

I wouldn't call last year lucky. Every team gets bounces during the year, and Nichols is a solid goaltender so finishing ninth was hardly lucky. There's one area I would consider to be the low watermark moving forward. I disagree with a lot of the preseason voters that have come out already putting UConn in the 10-11 spot, I think it's not unreasonable to think they could sneak into a first round home ice slot. Of course that assumes Nichols is healthy, but a solid goalie and a couple of legit scorers can win you more than a handful of games. UMass and Merrimack are both disasters right now, Maine has had its head up its ass for years, I don't think it'd be difficult to finish ahead of those three. From there, you only have to beat one team to get the home ice slot.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

BU and BC combined have 10 NCAA titles after decades as two of the premier hockey programs. If UConn cane even get on the same page with them after just 17 years as a D1 program (1998) and just 1 year in a top-tier league is a heck of an accomplishment.

 

[TheDoggPound]

The formula to success is/was quite simple, good goaltending, good team defense and timely goals. UConn did just enough of that at times last year to hang in and ultimately beat some better teams. It's wasn't luck.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

The formula to success is/was quite simple, good goaltending, good team defense and timely goals. UConn did just enough of that at times last year to hang in and ultimately beat some better teams. It's wasn't luck.

Exactly, and with a couple of more guys who can put the puck in the net coming in this year, that make a first round home ice slot a very realistic goal.