Gopher hockey recruit

Logan Cooley, projected to be a top pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, committed to the Minnesota men’s hockey program on Thursday, the U.S. National Team Development Program confirmed via Twitter. The 17-year-old forward was originally committed to Notre Dame.

Cooley, a Pittsburgh native, has 15 goals and 26 assists for 41 points in 29 games for the USNTDP Under-18 team this season. He was named a member of Team USA’s 2022 world juniors team this past December before the tournament was canceled due to COVID-19.

The Athletic’s Corey Pronman ranks Cooley as the No. 3 prospect for the 2022 NHL Draft.

Why Cooley flipped to Minnesota and how he’ll fit in with the program
Corey Pronman, senior NHL prospects writer: Cooley’s prospect stock has risen over the last two seasons — he could be a top-three pick in this year’s NHL Draft — to where it made sense for him to decommit from Notre Dame and join one of the typical top college programs.

He has been evaluating his options in recent months. Minnesota has not had a top-five pick play for their program since Phil Kessel and Blake Wheeler did in the 2005-06 season. This is a huge get for Gophers coach Bob Motzko getting a premium talent from outside the state of Minnesota to commit.

What makes Cooley a top NHL prospect?
Pronman: Cooley is a dynamic all-around forward. He’s a high-end skater with great skill and offensive creativity who competes hard at both ends of the rink. Despite his size, given all his positives there is hope he can be a high-in-a-lineup NHL center.

My first thought is bad decision.
DT

And why is that?

Better programs out there. They seem to be on a good run right now but not the Gophers of the past.
DT

He will be a one and done most likely. 2 years max. UM has the most players drafted on there team and the most players in the NHL from any program in this state.
So maybe better “teams” but not better paths to the NHL which is obviously his goal. He could have picked Michigan or one of the Boston schools too I suppose. Could probably throw Wisconsin in that mix as well.

Hopefully he will give us a couple years at least. Would be hard to stick around when money starts getting thrown around. Even with an entry level contract.
DT

Pretty tough to have a lot of success as a college program when most of your top end talent is gone after one season.

If a players goal is to get to the next level, which it is for all players like Cooley. He had 2-3 (MN, MI, Boston School) choices and absolutely picked the right program. These kids don’t select a College to win a Natty. Natty is an afterthought, NHL is front and center for this type of prospect. They sacrifice too much to not get a massive payday at the end. You pick the U of MN, you get a lot more than education. You get the best off season development and competition opportunities (NHL guys everywhere) in the USA. In season, you have talent on ice every practice to push you. Its not even close. No offense but a kid like this would not go to Mankato, St Cloud BERRRRmidi, Duluth? These are Great programs, great coaches but ELITE players won’t go to those schools. Not enough there for them.

Bingo…

Pretty sure he decided to leave Notre Dame because of the awful gold helmets. I would be embarrassed to wear them.

There is a fine line between recruiting these top players that the the Big Ten schools do and some of the older, less-recruited blue chippers that many of the other schools often recruit now. If you are a coach, wouldn’t you try to recruit the best players that you possibly can? I sure would. When Bob Motzko was at St Cloud, he generally didn’t go that route. He recruited the player that fitted his needs for the team at the time. It was very successful. Duluth and Mankato have also gone this route and you could argue they have had more success than the Gophers have in recent years because of it.

The older, less-recruited players often stick around for 4 years. Heck, because of the eligibility rule last season, some teams even have 5-year players on their team this year. Players often improve every season they play in college hockey and right now that has generally been a route to success. Michigan has long been stacked with NHL draft picks but it has not translated to as much success on the ice as it used to because of the high turnover rate they experience. The competitive balance in the college hockey landscape has changed. The blue bloods are not nearly as dominant as they used to be.

The final year of Don Lucia’s season at Minnesota, he tried to implement a rule with the NCAA about the age of recruits. He wanted to shift the balance in his favor by prohibiting the recruits who were 20 years of age or older into NCAA hockey. Of course a couple other Big Ten schools got on board, but virtually every other NCAA D-1 hockey program in the country was against it, because as my previous post indicates, the older, more experienced players were being recruited by everyone else.

At the time, Bob Motzko was still at St Cloud and openly voted against it. It ultimately did not pass because the majority was in opposition to it.

gim wrote:

The older, less-recruited players often stick around for 4 years. Heck, because of the eligibility rule last season, some teams even have 5-year players on their team this year. Players often improve every season they play in college hockey and right now that has generally been a route to success. Michigan has long been stacked with NHL draft picks but it has not translated to as much success on the ice as it used to because of the high turnover rate they experience. The competitive balance in the college hockey landscape has changed. The blue bloods are not nearly as dominant as they used to be.

Wait, last year during the NCAA tournament everyone told me the age difference between teams didn’t matter. Are you saying it’s actually an advantage to have older players? /sarcasm/

Gim, if you can get a top 3 pick to commit to your program then you don’t ask questions, you have him sign that letter ASAP. Even if he doesn’t help win games next year – talent attracts talent.

tswoboda wrote:

Wait, last year during the NCAA tournament everyone told me the age difference between teams didn’t matter. Are you saying it’s actually an advantage to have older players? /sarcasm/

Gim, if you can get a top 3 pick to commit to your program then you don’t ask questions, you have him sign that letter ASAP. Even if he doesn’t help win games next year – talent attracts talent.

T, the argument switches to fit whatever people want to argue did you not get the memo?
MN has always signed high skilled young generally right out of HS recruits. It has its problems because like has been mentioned they generally arent around long. MN lost to union because union’s team was made up of many older kids. I think the average age was like 22 which is ridiculous for college hockey. How many of them made it to the pros vs those that were on that gopher team? Probably none, but Id have to look to confirm.
Obviously there are teams that have had more success at tourney time than the Gophers, but the premier talent the best path to the NHL is at MN or a very select few other schools. The thing to also think about is life after hockey. What are there like 39 fortune 500 companies in the twin cities? These kids realize hockey isnt a lifelong profession and if something doesnt work out (injuries) they could have a great future in the Twin Cities. How many kids return to Grand Forks, Duluth or St Cloud after their playing days? A very large number of the MN kids return and many are not even from the TC or the state. Vanek is a big name and makes his home in the TC and that is just one of them.

Tom schmitt wrote:

Pretty sure he decided to leave Notre Dame because of the awful gold helmets. I would be embarrassed to wear them.

Too funny. I also cringe when the gopher football players wear the mirror gold helmets.

tswoboda wrote:

Gim, if you can get a top 3 pick to commit to your program then you don’t ask questions, you have him sign that letter ASAP. Even if he doesn’t help win games next year – talent attracts talent.

Completely agree. If you are a coach, you try to get the best players you can.

That being said, most programs simply don’t get those highly ranked players so they have to recruit older, more experienced players. That route obviously works too. Mankato has like 3 NHL draft picks and they’ve been ranked number 1 most of the season. They are loaded with older players that have been around for years now. You don’t need NHL draft picks to win in NCAA hockey.

Very few players in NCAA hockey come right out of high school anymore. There’s like one on each team. 20 years ago, there used to be a lot more. Making the jump directly from HS to NCAA D-1 is very difficult now because many of the players you’re going against are several years older.

I’m sure coach Motzko probably doesn’t expect this recruit to stick around for more than a year or two.

Dutchboy wrote:

He has been evaluating his options in recent months. Minnesota has not had a top-five pick play for their program since Phil Kessel and Blake Wheeler did in the 2005-06 season. This is a huge get for Gophers coach Bob Motzko getting a premium talent from outside the state of Minnesota to commit.

So Erik Johnson doesn’t count because he wasn’t/isn’t very good? He was the first overall pick.

I’m not trying to discount recruiting older, less heralded players… it obviously works. Having teams full of older players is what brings parity to the NCAA. Playing against men helps draw top prospects like Power and Kent Johnson out of the CHL. It’s all around great for the league.

Just thought it’s weird some are scrutinizing the UofM getting a stud like Cooley and bringing up the age vs. skill discussion now. It’s the recruiting of young skill guys who never crack the top 6 that should be scrutinized.

tswoboda wrote:

I’m not trying to discount recruiting older, less heralded players… it obviously works. Having teams full of older players is what brings parity to the NCAA. Playing against men helps draw top prospects like Power and Kent Johnson out of the CHL. It’s all around great for the league.

Right there are more players going from the NCAA to the NHL now than ever. The changes done at the US National Development Team is largely to credit for that too. Most of those players play in the NCAA after their time on the Junior Teams.
Heck when I was going to BSU we had a guy on our team that I think was 24. That is ridiculous but the won a National Title with him :-).

CaptainMusky wrote:

Heck when I was going to BSU we had a guy on our team that I think was 24.

I’m sure with the expanded eligibility year this season (because of covid last season) there are players in NCAA this year that are that age, or older.

2 years in the USHL + 5 years in NCAA = you could have guys that are 25 this season as a 5th year senior.

gim wrote:

I’m sure with the expanded eligibility year this season (because of covid last season) there are players in NCAA this year that are that age, or older.

The year the gophers lost to Union in the Frozen Four their average age was like 22 or 23 I believe.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Right there are more players going from the NCAA to the NHL now than ever. The changes done at the US National Development Team is largely to credit for that too. Most of those players play in the NCAA after their time on the Junior Teams.
Heck when I was going to BSU we had a guy on our team that I think was 24. That is ridiculous but the won a National Title with him :-).

I think part of it is the NCAA path gaining traction for prospect development league as well. Not very common for the USDP kids to go to the CHL anymore like Patrick Kane and Ryan Hartman. I think Matthews went and played pro in Austria. Those kids are almost all going NCAA now if they aren’t NHL eligible or ready.

20/21 yo freshmen are extremely common even in the lower NCAA leagues like DIII and ACHA. It’s the kids who age out of the USHL, NAHL, and Canada juniors but don’t get a D1 offer.

gim wrote:

I’m sure with the expanded eligibility year this season (because of covid last season) there are players in NCAA this year that are that age, or older.

2 years in the USHL + 5 years in NCAA = you could have guys that are 25 this season as a 5th year senior.

Spot on. Mankato’s captains are 24, 25, and 25.

tswoboda wrote:

Spot on. Mankato’s captains are 24, 25, and 25.

And one of the best teams in the country too. The landscape of college hockey has changed dramatically for the programs.

tswoboda wrote:

So Erik Johnson doesn’t count because he wasn’t/isn’t very good? He was the first overall pick.

Yeah, I was wondering about that too, guess Johnson was a 2006 draftee, and I wondered about Middlestadt too, but he was 8th overall. It’s not like the U has been scrapping the bottom of the barrel, it’s just that NCAA players going top 3 is super rare. Most of the truly elite go straight from Juniors/Development programs to the NHL.

All programs try to get the best players (obviously) it’s just the blue bloods have an additional group to recruit from that is few and far between for the other programs. Remember Spehar? Pretty sure Duluth still holds a grudge there.

Sure, gophers have historically been the college hockey powerhouse of MN for the last few decades, but the tides are changing the last few years. According to some quick research on hockey-reference, if you look at guys who have entered the league in the last 5 years, both the Gophers and Bulldogs have 11 guys playing in the show. And Bulldog players have more games played, goals, assists, points, and a better +/-. If you include all players currently in the NHL, then yes, gophers obviously win every category. But one thing is for sure, the gophers aren’t what they used to be. That’s both in terms of talent coming in and coming out of the program.

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Gitchi Gummi wrote:

And Bulldog players have more games played, goals, assists, points, and a better +/-.

Well one of the Gophers is a goalie so he isnt going to help too much in those categories.

well that means the gophs are winning in all of the goalie categories then

Sandelin is definitely one of the best coaches in college hockey. He has really brought that program to the next level. I think that is one of the big reasons for the success of all the MN schools is they all have great coaches now.

Shameless plug, After a peewee game Sandelin once approached me, shook my hand and said, “I gotta tell you that is the finest coached peewee team I’ve seen”. He complimented the skill and precision passing our kids played with. Was pretty cool. We won 4-3. Said, “You Cities teams play with great skill but up here, we just play to kick your ass”. By that he meant play physical, his teams grit and effort is always evident.

That H town team had 5-6 D1 kids (Including his) a few will play NHL.

I keep a plaque with that quote on my mantle because he is the best coach period. Ok I don’t have a plaque, but should. You never heard of my team cuz they all blew into the private school wind (Hill, TG, SPA, St Thomas and Shattuck)

Maybe H Town boys should play double A then?

Don’t think anyone is knocking the dogs and Sandelin. His record speaks for itself.