University of North Dakota early line prediction

With Aaron Dell signing with Colorado of the ECHL, the University of North Dakota men’s hockey roster looks to be set and will be announced this week.  We’ll take a look at the forwards today and the defense and goalies later on in the week.

Edit:  Taylor Dickin has transferred to the University of Manitoba.  That will solve the logjam at forward.  Best of luck Taylor!

Returners

Danny Kristo

Corban Knight

Derek Rodwell

Connor Gaarder

Michael Parks

Mark MacMillan

Rocco Grimaldi

Brendan O’Donnell

Carter Rowney

Stephane Pattyn

Incoming

Colten St. Clair
Mitch McMillan (eligible in January)
Bryn Chyzyk
Drake Cagguila
Coltyn Sanderson

Just for the fun of it, I’ve put together an early line prediction about what we could see this winter.  There is still a lot to be determined, but it’s safe to say Coach Hakstol and his coaching staff are going to have a lot more options this season than they did with their short and injury-plagued lineup last season.  Here’s what I would like to see to start the year and why:

Line 1:  Knight centering Kristo and O’Donnell

Knight and Kristo are a given.  They are both proven seniors with chemistry together.  The only question on this line is who will be playing the left side with them.  While some people would like to see Grimaldi up here, Hakstol has said he likes Grimaldi at center.  I think O’Donnell is a good fit on this line because of his left-handed shot and scoring touch.  He looked impressive last season before his season-ending injury.

Line 2:  Grimaldi centering Mark MacMillan and Parks

While the line of Rowney, MacMillan and Parks was very impressive down the stretch last year, there’s no way that Grimaldi isn’t playing in the top six (provided he’s healthy).  He’s dominated at every level he’s been at and should be one of the most exciting players in the league this season.  Therefore, if he’s playing center, he’ll be centering this line.  MacMillan and Parks already have chemistry so with the addition of Grimaldi this line could end up being very, very good. 

Line 3:  Rowney centering Chyzyk and St. Clair

Rowney had a ton of success last year centering a couple of talented freshmen; let’s hope he can do the same this year.  Having not seen any of the freshmen yet, it’s tough to say which ones will be in the lineup early.  I went with Chyzyk and St. Clair because of their reputations of being solid 2-way players.  Hakstol has shown in the past that he’ll play good 2-way players over a skilled offensive guy that can’t be relied on in the D-zone.  Depending on how fast Cagguila adapts to this level he could fight for a spot on this line as well.  This line will have plenty of speed and talent to contribute (Rowney is coming off an 18 goal season) so this could be one of the best 3^rd lines in the league.

Line 4:  Pattyn centering Rodwell and Gaarder

This line is going to be one of the toughest checking lines to play against in the WCHA.  Pattyn and Gaarder were playing very well at the end of last season.  Rodwell is big, strong, fast, and should be hungry for playing time after sitting out the end of last year with season-ending shoulder surgery.  Some of the freshmen may have more offensive tools, but these three have all shown they can be depended on.  I would be shocked if we don’t see all three of them in the line-up to start the season.

Extras Cagguila, Sanderson, and Mitch Macmillan

We are still waiting to see what St. Clair, Cagguila, Sanderson, and Mitch MacMillan have to offer.  As far as I’m concerned, all the freshmen are wildcards.  I’d say when Sanderson is in the line-up he will be with Pattyn and either Rodwell or Gaarder as a checking line kid.  Caggiula seems to be able to play the checking line role or the skill role so he could take St. Claire, Chyzyk, Rodwell or Gaarder’s spot.   Mitch MacMillan will be another wildcard come January when he’s eligible.  He didn’t put up many points his last two seasons at St. Cloud but put up crazy numbers in juniors and had great chemistry with his brother, Mark.  We could possibly see a Rowney, Macmillan, MacMillan line come spring.

A prediction on the Defense and Goalies will be coming later this week.