Prospect Info: 2023-24 prospect information - BUT WHERE ARE THEY GOING TO PLAY?!

[Chrispy]

I don't know a lot about NIL, but do you really think he can easily surpass AHL salary? Hockey players who aren't superstars like Celebrini don't seem nearly as positioned to take advantage of NIL as pretty girls like that gymnast, or football and basketball players.

At some major schools? I'd agree with you.

At North Dakota or MN-Duluth or Denver or most of the CCHA? Hockey is the program driving the athletic department. They will put the NIL money into hockey, and if $70K-$80K is thrown out there it will be tough to beat.

Look at women's basketball: many of the top college players are coming back because they can easily surpass the WNBA rookie contract in NIL. And those are schools that are using a lot of NIL for football. A lot of major hockey programs aren't spending huge money on football.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

fair, but what does he have left to prove at that level?

He can still develop his game at the NCAA level though. From what I've read, his game is far from complete. Secondly, maybe he wants to win a championship at the NCAA level. He's also not a very big guy, so getting more mature and stronger before joining the professional ranks won't hurt.

On the flip side, until there's closure on the AHL situation for Carolina, it's probably better for his development than what we had to do with guys like Rees, Suzuki, Pono, Robidas, etc.... Even if we end up back with Chicago, they aren't know for developing prospects.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

At some major schools? I'd agree with you.

At North Dakota or MN-Duluth or Denver or most of the CCHA? Hockey is the program driving the athletic department. They will put the NIL money into hockey, and if $70K-$80K is thrown out there it will be tough to beat.

Look at women's basketball: many of the top college players are coming back because they can easily surpass the WNBA rookie contract in NIL. And those are schools that are using a lot of NIL for football. A lot of major hockey programs aren't spending huge money on football.

Colleges spend on NIL? Like I said before I don't know a ton about it. But do colleges pay athletes directly under NIL? How does that work? I thought NIL was mostly allowing college athletes to get endorsement deals, which wouldn't be coming from the schools

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

He can still develop his game at the NCAA level though. From what I've read, his game is far from complete. Secondly, maybe he wants to win a championship at the NCAA level. He's also not a very big guy, so getting more mature and stronger before joining the professional ranks won't hurt.

On the flip side, until there's closure on the AHL situation for Carolina, it's probably better for his development than what we had to do with guys like Rees, Suzuki, Pono, Robidas, etc.... Even if we end up back with Chicago, they aren't know for developing prospects.

Maybe I'm just biased against NCAA but I'm not a fan of it for developmental purposes. Our AHL situation certainly complicates things but I have an oddly good feeling that our situation will be fine again next year and going forward. Seems like the team knows it's a disaster, a solution to it is a priority and Dundon is willing to do whatever it takes. We'll see how that plays out.

Agree on getting stronger and maturing -- don't think college is a good place for that honestly.

 

[cptjeff]

And with NIL, he can easily surpass the AHL salary for a year. It still puts him one year later on getting out of his first ELC, but North Dakota will definitely put any NIL money they raise into hockey first.

Citation very much needed on that. NIL is not significant money outside of football and basketball, and AHL money is not chump change, it's a solid professional salary. I'd be surprised if college hockey players are making any more than SPHL money.

 

[DaveG]

Colleges spend on NIL? Like I said before I don't know a ton about it. But do colleges pay athletes directly under NIL? How does that work? I thought NIL was mostly allowing college athletes to get endorsement deals, which wouldn't be coming from the schools

Colleges themselves? no. But staffs work as the middlemen for NIL syndicates in order to bring players in as recruits or from the portal, or to keep them on their roster. Obviously with football and basketball it's the most blatant, but guarantee it's going on with hockey at schools like BU, UND, Denver, etc that are big enough schools where hockey is the primary athletic driver.

 

[Chrispy]

Citation very much needed on that. NIL is not significant money outside of football and basketball, and AHL money is not chump change, it's a solid professional salary. I'd be surprised if college hockey players are making any more than SPHL money.

It's nearly impossible to get terms on any NIL deal, but for comparison:

Jarvis's ELC has an AHL salary of $80K.
Drury's ELC has an AHL salary of $70K.

I don't think it's that hard for North Dakota's fan base to come up with $70K out of an NIL fund to keep their top scorer by a significant margin (21 points ahead of the #2 scorer on the team.)

NIL is not significant at most schools outside of football and basketball. I will agree with you that BC or a Big Ten school are unlikely to put even that kind of $$ into college hockey.

But is North Dakota going to shell out their money for football or basketball? Hockey is the revenue driving program there, and prioritizing hockey with NIL would give them another advantage. Similar for some of the smaller programs who are D-I only in hockey.

Edit: this story requires a subscription, but this story from last week talks about an upcoming announcement of a North Dakota NIL collective from local area businesses.

An NIL collective to benefit UND athletes will soon be announced

Multiple business leaders in the community are expected to partner in the venture.

www.grandforksherald.com

 

[bleedgreen]

fair, but what does he have left to prove at that level?

He could prove he can gain 20 lbs.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

He could prove he can gain 20 lbs.

Buddy give me a couple more days of this Easter weekend and I could prove that to you without even trying.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

He could prove he can gain 20 lbs.

Rather he do it with a professional strength & conditioning program and playing in a league of men, not kids.

 

[bleedgreen]

Maybe I'm just biased against NCAA but I'm not a fan of it for developmental purposes. Our AHL situation certainly complicates things but I have an oddly good feeling that our situation will be fine again next year and going forward. Seems like the team knows it's a disaster, a solution to it is a priority and Dundon is willing to do whatever it takes. We'll see how that plays out.

Agree on getting stronger and maturing -- don't think college is a good place for that honestly.

I think NCAA is capable of being the best developmental curve. More time between games to recover, work on fitness and conditioning, they can arrive stronger with less rough miles on them. The extra year you give them to sign them say after their junior year gives them another year of all development especially maturity.

I’m with @Boom Boom Apathy in that Blake could for sure benefit from another year, not just in size like I said. He plays an immature game in a different way than Morrow from what I saw, which is admittedly less than I saw of Morrow. He charges one on one and loses the puck a lot. He’s running the point on the pp, and I think another year of having more poise in those situations would help him. I got to see him live once and he comes off as very young overall. Just his interactions with his teammates and his demeanor. I don’t mean in a bad way, more just like a happy go lucky college kid. There was nothing “pro” about his demeanor, and it translates a bit into his game.

This isn’t the guy who should get the “he has nothing left to prove at this level” tag imo. Though I could see them signing him. I’m just fine with him staying.

Rather he do it with a professional strength & conditioning program and playing in a league of men, not kids.

North Dakota’s program is as professional as it gets I’d bet. Not to mention him playing against men will lead to injuries at his size. He almost killed himself trying to hit someone his size a couple of days ago.

 

[MinJaBen]

Rather he do it with a professional strength & conditioning program and playing in a league of men, not kids.

I don't think the guys running a Division 1 NCAA hockey program like North Dakota are going to be lacking anything in terms of resources or capability. And he will have much more time to work on his body as a college player given their schedules compared to guys playing in the NHL or AHL.

Edit: Should have kept reading...bleed beat me to all my points.

 

[cptjeff]

Colleges themselves? no. But staffs work as the middlemen for NIL syndicates in order to bring players in as recruits or from the portal, or to keep them on their roster. Obviously with football and basketball it's the most blatant, but guarantee it's going on with hockey at schools like BU, UND, Denver, etc that are big enough schools where hockey is the primary athletic driver.

Shenanigans with boosters paying players are as old as college sports generating significant income, NIL just makes them a little easier to do legitimately. But even at college hockey schools where hockey's the main driver, NCAA hockey has never been big money for players. Maybe that's changing, but I need a little more evidence than conspiracy theory levels of speculation to believe they'd compete with an AHL salary.

 

[MinJaBen]

Shenanigans with boosters paying players are as old as college sports generating significant income, NIL just makes them a little easier to do legitimately. But even at college hockey schools where hockey's the main driver, NCAA hockey has never been big money for players. Maybe that's changing, but I need a little more evidence than conspiracy theory levels of speculation to believe they'd compete with an AHL salary.

For your submission:

 

[cptjeff]

For your submission:

View attachment 844516

The reason that arena is so nice is because a rich guy paid for it 100% out of his own pocket. That guy has been dead since 2002.

What else ya got?

 

[DaveG]

Shenanigans with boosters paying players are as old as college sports generating significant income, NIL just makes them a little easier to do legitimately. But even at college hockey schools where hockey's the main driver, NCAA hockey has never been big money for players. Maybe that's changing, but I need a little more evidence than conspiracy theory levels of speculation to believe they'd compete with an AHL salary.

It's hard to say on NIL because nobody wants to make the information public for very obvious reasons. Hockey is certainly not the arms race that Football and MCBB seem to be in that regard. But everything is still about plausible deniability especially because the boosters that now are the NIL syndicates don't want people digging too much into it, because we absolutely know that it was going on with some programs *cough Ol Miss, cough Auburn, cough Kentucky, cough Kansas* back when it wasn't legal, but we can't outright prove it.

 

[NotOpie]

I don't know a lot about NIL, but do you really think he can easily surpass AHL salary? Hockey players who aren't superstars like Celebrini don't seem nearly as positioned to take advantage of NIL as pretty girls like that gymnast, or football and basketball players.

Don't those contracts all include signing bonuses? Jarvis and Drury each had $92,500 in signing bonuses. I think that takes a bit of the sting out of things.

 

[Hogan20]

Buzz from around the Maine program is that Bradley is looking to turn pro this year. I'm not a Carolina fan so I have no clue how he'd fit.

 

[Chrispy]

Buzz from around the Maine program is that Bradley is looking to turn pro this year. I'm not a Carolina fan so I have no clue how he'd fit but that's just what I've heard.

We don't know yet either.

If Nadeau and Morrow are signing, that's a strong sign they've worked out the AHL affiliate issue in case either get sent down.

If Nadeau signs and FUS comes over, that's a couple of young talented wings that they could use to backfill some of the forward losses. Thinking more Teravainen and Noesen than Guentzel, who would need to be replaced via UFA.

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

Maine would require more travel and likely has less NIL / perks as many top colleges. They may have been the only one who would take them both. I can see why he may want to turn pro.

We must be acquiring a good ahl situation

 

[MinJaBen]

If we sign a Nadeau this season, how many do we sign?

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

If we sign a Nadeau this season, how many do we sign?

I gotta think we give older bro another shot considering we had him at prospects camp last year. He's pretty tiny but very skilled and worth a shot at least in the AHL.

 

[bleedgreen]

If we have an AHL team signing Josh is a no brainer. It would be fun watching them develop together. I can’t see Bradley getting a top six spot with us next year even if we let guys go. Both he and Blake look like they could use more time in the oven.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

If we have an AHL team signing Josh is a no brainer. It would be fun watching them develop together. I can’t see Bradley getting a top six spot with us next year even if we let guys go. Both he and Blake look like they could use more time in the oven.

Absolute best case for Bradly next year would be as a Noesen replacement and even that would require him to step in and crush it like Jarvis did a couple years ago. Unlikely, to say the least. But would do wonders for our cap if he could have a positive impact for us that soon.

 

[Nikishin Go Boom]

Absolute best case for Bradly next year would be as a Noesen replacement and even that would require him to step in and crush it like Jarvis did a couple years ago. Unlikely, to say the least. But would do wonders for our cap if he could have a positive impact for us that soon.

He would have to hit the weights and food hard this offseason. He needs at least 10+ pounds this offseason. Even then I don’t think we would waste a development year on 10 minutes of ice time