Grads prob best option when roster was built last April/May

We had great success last year with Grads. It clearly hasn’t worked out nearly as well this year.

Primeau has been good after a slow start. Brinkman isn’t close to what Karashik gave us last year. Bavaro has been OK.

Pierson has been the biggest disappointment by far. He is getting prime minutes usually on Slaggert’s line and he’s a wing on PP1, but not producing anything at all. He is getting good looks. He gets the puck on net but can’t get it in net. His career shooting % has been in the mid-teens most seasons which is usually what you want to see from legit goal-scorers, so there is still a chance he may break out of his funk. Given the prime roles JJ keeps giving him, there's clearly an expectation he'll break out of the funk at some point.

I don’t think the 5th year/transfer options are given out indiscriminately to any player that wants it (see Pivonka and Burke).

Cooley/McGroarty decommits left unexpected holes to fill in 22/23 class. Fleming's development went off=track unexpectedly which left another hole. Primeau/Pierson were the solutions.

In hindsight with the complete dumpster fire our forwards have been from top to bottom, Maddox Fleming and Brennan Ali probably should be on the team this year.

Ali played in high school last year, so he was pushed back a year prob to get better development/ice time in USHL. He’s a freak athlete that ended up with a top 3 performance at the NHL draft combine last year. Physically he is ready for NCAA, but they probably didn’t want him to jump straight from high school competition to NCAA.

Fleming was in the doghouse last season with NTDP and left to USHL mid-season. He was just starting to play well at the end of the year and regaining confidence. Likely thought it’d be better to get more icetime in USHL this year.

Tough to tell for sure, but I expect a large freshman class next season. Ali and Fleming are likely coming. Cole Knuble is off to a dominant start in USHL (it’s criminal he wasn’t drafted last year). Recruiting sites show Danny Nelson coming in 24/25, but he just signed his LOI (which I believe is a sign he accelerated his academics and is now a senior) which makes me think he’s coming next year. On D, Paul Fischer should be at ND next year. Henry Nelson has been hurt so far, but think his USHL eligibility may be up so he should come next year.

Less heralded signees that are possibilities for 23/24 include Carter Slaggert. He has the same gritty/feisty playstyle as his brothers but smaller and not as much skill. He could probably use more time in USHL, but given the last name he might be in the class. Jack Larrigan hasn’t done a lot in USHL. Think he has another year of eligibility there. I don’t think Jayden Davis can play another year in USHL, so if he’s coming I think it has to be next year.

We will [rpb have a big freshman class next year and I expect them to contribute. That likely means less reliance on portal/5th years (and so far there aren’t many guys on this year’s team that deserve a 5th year). Ali/Knuble/D. Nelson are likely the highlights and most likely to contribute right away. Fleming/Fischer aren’t far behind.

This season it seems like underperforming upper classmen are getting too much preferential treatment over the younger players. If they earn the icetime, then jrs/srs should get priority. But many aren’t earning it.

Mastrodomenico has been good for a freshman and he brings speed that is lacking on the backend. He hasn’t played in a couple weeks. Maybe he’s injured, but if not he should be in the lineup over Blackmun and/or Plucinski.

Williams hasn’t showed a lot, although he did score his first goal last weekend.

Other than a few brief flashes, no forward line has shown any reliable chemistry all season. Adams was benched for a couple games until the second Mich game when he was paired with Carpenter and Jovanovic (1st time Niko suited up). That line actually produced some consistent offense – rang the pipe early and then scored a goal later with beautiful plays from all 3 F’s.

Inexplicably Adams/Jovanovic were benched again the first OSU game. They suited up for the second game and scored the only goal. It'll be a mistake if they aren't regulars going forward.