A Little Recruiting Talk

(This probably goes without saying, but just to cover myself, I'll point out that I have no official affiliation with MSU, so I'm allowed to talk about this stuff.)

The Mavs have a well-earned weekend off, and since I'm too lazy to do a write-up on the totally super-awesome trips to St. Cloud and Omaha, and I'm not going to pump Joel Hanson's tires for how well he's played this year, since everyone else is rightfully doing that right now, I'll go with this.

Blake Kessel committed to New Hampshire earlier this week. In itself, that isn't particularly relevant to us. What I did find interesting was that Chris Heisenberg listed Minnesota State as one of the schools that showed interest in Kessel.

Given all the baggage from his brother Phil, it certainly would have been interesting to see the name Kessel on the back of a Maverick uniform, but ultimately, it wasn't meant to be. And really, staying out of the WCHA is probably what's best for the younger Kessel since he's a good player in his own right, and he probably would have been treated as more of a sideshow because of his brother in the WCHA.

Anyway, it does seem clear that Minnesota State is very interested in adding another defenseman to replace Mitch Carlson. Carlson likely would have been a 2008 recruit, so the Mavericks would be looking for someone who could play another year of juniors, unless they lose a defenseman this offseason, in which case they may want to add him next year.

One player that would certainly fit that mold is Sioux City's Alex Stuart. Stuart graduated from Shattuck-St. Mary's last season with Maverick Zach Harrison(and I believe he played with Austin Lee while he was there). MSU's coaches have been spotted at Sioux City games with decent regularity. But perhaps Stuart wants to wait and weigh his options to see if he can be guaranteed a spot somewhere else next season, or if his hometown school of St. Cloud, who is still probably in the market for a defenseman, will make a big offer to him.

Another option is Tri-City defenseman Cameron Cooper who graduated from Holy Angels last year. Perhaps one concern about Cooper, however, is that he is in the same mold of Nick Canzanello and Ben Youds, and MSU wouldn't want too small of a backline.

The Mavericks do seem pretty much done recruiting for next season already. At this point, I don't think we'll see any additions unless there are unexpected departures like last offseason. If all goes according to plan, this is what MSU's lineup would probably look like:

Forwards

Kalinski-Hanson-Berge
Bruess-Wiley-Stewart
Mouillierat-Harrison-Sackrison
Irwin-Nunn-Peterson

Extras: Gaulrapp, Huck, Tyree, Louwerse(?)

Obviously there's a big hole left with Travis Morin's departure, but that's a pretty deep lineup. Hopefully all the experience our young guys get this year will pay off and we'll see a tough, balanced scoring attack.

Louwerse gets a question mark because he would be coming straight from high school, and he did miss some time this year with an injury. Right now, it's a pretty deep lineup, and it could be beneficial for both sides if he developed for another year. With the emergence of James Gaulrapp, the Mavericks could probably afford to keep whichever one of their forward recruits they wanted in juniors for another year.

Defense:

Wagner-Kilburg
Friesen-Youds
Linder-Canzanello

Extras: Boe, Gunderson

This group doesn't look particularly deep on paper, but Gunderson did well in limited action this season. If Wagner is still around, they've got a pretty solid combo in Wagner and Kilburg that they can keep together to match up with the opponent's best, or they can split them up and make them a little deeper.

Goalie:

Zacharias/Tormey
Lee(?)

It should be great having three capable starting goalies. The only problem is that there is only one net for them to cover. Austin Lee has had an outstanding year so far, but perhaps it would be best for him to stay in juniors for another season. That would mean he'd only have to apprentice for one season behind Zach and Tormey before taking over the reigns. In any case, this should be the strength of the team next season.

Recruiting for the 2008 class has been pretty quiet since it should be a pretty small class. Adam Mueller is already on-board, and should take Joel Hanson's spot. That means they just need to find replacements for Steve Wagner, R.J. Linder, and probably a walk-on to replace Matt Tyree.