Elite Prospects NCAA notebook: Pro signings and coaching searches begin
As the first rounds of various conferences' playoffs come to an end, so too do a number of teams' seasons.
On Wednesday night, UNH, Merrimack, and Vermont wrapped things up with opening-round losses in the single-elimination Hockey East tournament. They joined all the independent schools as well as Air Force, Niagara, AIC (more on them in a minute), Augustana, Wisconsin, Canisius, Lake Superior State, Ferris State, Michigan Tech, St. Lawrence, and Yale in the "season's over" camp.
That means it's signing season.
Chase Pietila signed the first NHL contract, leaving Michigan Tech for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The second NHL contract of the college hockey offseason went to Daniel Laatsch of Wisconsin, who signed a two-year entry-level deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The huge senior defenseman, picked in the seventh round of the 2021 draft, is out for the remainder of this year with a torn labrum and has been since the holiday break, so his ELC begins next season.
So far, only one other player — Laatsch's Wisconsin teammate and 2019 Florida fifth-round pick Owen Lindmark — has signed an AHL deal with San Diego, but the number of ECHL contracts is already stretching into double digits.
All those transaction lists will certainly grow in the next few days.
AIC's Div. 1 run ends, program dropping to Div. 2
They pushed it as far as they reasonably could, but the Yellowjackets of American International College saw their season come to an end on Sunday night, losing in overtime in Game 3 of their second-round Atlantic Hockey playoff series with top-seeded Holy Cross.
The school announced back in November that it would drop the program — one of the most consistently successful in its conference — to Div. 2 this summer for budgetary reasons. That ended more than a quarter century of Div. 1 hockey at the school, and under coach and alumnus Eric Lang, they became an Atlantic Hockey powerhouse. They won four regular-season trophies and three postseason titles in his nine years behind the bench, appearing in the NCAA tournament more than any other team in Atlantic Hockey in that stretch. A team that had never won more than 12 games in a season in program history started winning 20-plus with regularity, and many in the coaching community considered it a miraculous turnaround.
Most, if not all, of AIC's players will look to transfer to other Div. 1 programs as a result of this change.
Meanwhile, Lang will be the top candidate for just about any Div. 1 job that comes along — more on that in a minute, too — but it's clear that he feels his duty to his players doesn't stop quite yet…
College Hockey Transfer Showcase planned for early April
In just a few weeks' time, the first-ever College Hockey Transfer Showcase will take place in Simsbury, Connecticut.
Organized by Lang, this event will be held over two days during the week-long stretch between the end of the NCAA regionals and the start of the Frozen Four on April 5 and 6.
Other NCAA sports have held this kind of event on a regular basis for some time now, but this is the first of its kind in college hockey. Coaches from across Div. 1 and 3 will be in attendance to watch players compete head-to-head and meet with those who are interested in raising their stock as the transfer portal opens.
A lot of changes are hitting the college hockey landscape nearly all at once — CHL eligibility, the House settlement that will shrink roster sizes for some teams, etc. — and this event is intended to allow players to put their best foot forward in finding a new home for next season and beyond.
Interest is reportedly high for players, coaches, and agents, so it will be fascinating to see how many transfer agreements come as a direct result of this two-day event. If successful, it's easy to imagine this becoming and annual tradition, and perhaps even adding more dates and locations next year and beyond.
Coaching jobs opening up
I mentioned above that Lang ought to be the top candidate for any coaching jobs that open up, and one already has.
At RPI, coach Dave Smith was fired with two years remaining on a contract he signed in August 2022. The team went just 36-64-7 in the time since then, including 12-21-2 this past season, but it's hard to lay all the blame at his feet. In 2020-21, the school administration temporarily shuttered the program, which had been trending in a good direction after years in the wilderness, due to COVID concerns, prompting a mass exodus of its top players and hurting its recruiting efforts. In a lot of ways, it's fair to say Smith never really got the opportunity to recover, but the team also lost 11 of its final 14 games this season.
Now, it is up to the administration to show that it remains committed to hockey in a serious way, and that can start with hiring Lang or any number of other candidates it wants to interview. As you might expect, officials are saying all the right things about wanting to be competitive, but it has just as much, if not more, to prove to any would-be hires as they have to prove to the school.
In addition to the RPI job becoming available, Mercyhurst coach Rick Gotkin announced that next season would be his last one behind the bench, preparing to vacate a job he has held for nearly three decades. Unlike a few recent "I'm retiring after this season" announcements in the past year — like those at Cornell, Army, and Notre Dame — this one comes with no immediate replacement named, so Mercyhurst joins Ferris State in needing to name a new coach. At Ferris, legendary coach Bob Daniels announced he would be retiring at the end of this season back in mid-January, so the Bulldogs didn't have as much runway to start the hiring process.
So that's three jobs that are wide open as of today. And there's a feeling that one or two more might open up as the conference playoffs continue, as well. Should be another crazy offseason.
They're still alive
The last few weeks of conference play and, now, playoff action have really clarified the NCAA tournament picture.
At this point, there are 12 teams all but guaranteed to make the tournament with an at-large bid even if they don't win their conference tournaments — Minnesota got bounced from the Big Ten tourney in the first round but is basically assured to make the cut regardless. That leaves many more fighting for their playoff lives.
We'll start with the obvious teams: Everyone in the CCHA and Atlantic Hockey needs to win their tournaments to make the NCAAs. That's just the way it is in those conferences. But with those two slots spoken for, it leaves only two more slots available. And that's where things get complicated.
Right now, Quinnipiac and Michigan hold those Nos. 13 and 14 spots, and unfortunately for the Wolverines, they were eliminated from the opening round of the Big Ten tournament as well, and as such have no control over their own fate. Michigan is basically rooting for QU to lose ASAP, because that would eliminate another competitor for what they hope will be the final at-large bid; even if the Bobcats make it to the ECAC championship and lose in the final, they aren't guaranteed to make the tournament, either.
To put it another way, we know there are at least three autobids coming (AHA, CCHA, and ECAC), and now Quinnipiac and Michigan are hoping there are no other upsets. As such, their eyes are on the NCHC and Hockey East. In the former, only two of their eight teams remaining (Western Michigan and Denver) are guaranteed to make the national tournament, so any of the other six winning — including current No. 16 Arizona State and No. 18 North Dakota — would be disastrous for anyone hoping for an at-large. In Hockey East, only two of the eight teams still standing — No. 17 UMass Lowell and No. 25 Northeastern — don't have NCAA bids locked up already and are playing to stay alive. And in the Big Ten, the same is true only of No. 38 Notre Dame.
So, more than usual, there's likely to be a lot of scoreboard watching at rinks all around the country this weekend. Should be a hell of a lot of fun.