tyler haskins

[JD Scott]

Finally! Finally writing about hockey recruits who won't arrive for multiple years is the most sensible thing to do! I knew my day would come! Previously: 2020 and 2021.

Now with fewer alarmingly young people

College hockey passed some legislation that prohibits early contact between players and programs, which is stupid for a couple reasons. One: CHL teams have no such restrictions. Two: these restrictions are all but unenforceable anyway. Instead of talking to the recruit you talk to his advisor, coach, or parents.

But since this legislation included a prohibition against commitments—which are made up things the NCAA does not regulate in any way—there's been a halt to super early commits. Publicly, anyway. It is a stone cold fact that NCAA programs are going to privately offer and accept commitments from guys who are about to get drafted by the CHL.

A guy like, say, Adam Fantilli isn't allowed to commit to a school until August because schools aren't technically allowed to offer (again, an offer is a made up thing the NCAA does not regulate) until August 1st before a player's junior year of high school. They implemented this rule in college basketball and exactly one guy followed it: John Beilein.

So far the dam has held in college hockey. Expect to see a blizzard of guys go off the board in August.

Future editions of Chris Hansen's Hockey Recruiting may have to wait until mid-August. The just-named NTDP U17 team has seven uncommitted guys on it, which is an unusual number. In the future it's going to be zero… publicly. Pointless window dressing.

Anyway.

[After THE JUMP: hurling!]

Previously: 2018 and 2019, and the first bit of 2020.

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[Michael Capels/MIHockey]

The previous post covered the five forwards currently in the 2020 class and highly touted D Owen Power; in addition to those gents Michigan also has four other defensemen currently committed. The most highly touted is NTDP selection Jacob Truscott, who is very much in the mold of the Mel Pearson defenseman:

Jacob Truscott (Little Caesars 15U) – “Highly skilled, puck-moving defenseman. Very good skater with a smooth, effortless stride. Retrieves the puck well and has end to end rushing abilities. Does a very good job of keeping his feet moving and his head up in order to make plays. Sees the ice well and makes good outlets.”

A take from just before the NTDP selection camp:    

Truscott has long been hyped as one of the more athletically gifted defensemen in this age group. He makes strong lead passes in transit and can jump into plays offensively.

And the OHL’s scouting report from a couple months ago:

He is a good puck moving defenceman that has the ability to join or lead the offensive rush and then because of how well he skates he can easily recover and get back and play his position. He has a very nice, long stride that looks effortless. His mobility is good and that makes it hard to beat him off the rush. He sees the ice well and makes the simple play the majority of the time which is very effective.

Truscott also went to London, but in flier territory (8th round) and has committed to the NTDP. He doesn’t seem like much of a flight risk:

Port Huron Northern freshman Jacob Truscott didn’t really know how to react when the University of Michigan hockey coaching staff offered him a scholarship. Being a lifelong Wolverines fan, the offer seemed too good to be true.

“I had a loss for words – I was speechless,” Jacob recalled. “I didn’t see it coming.”

After a brief talk with family members that were equally as shocked and honored as he was, Jacob made the commitment to play hockey for U-M.

“We were just speechless and tearing up,” Jacob’s mom, Lori, recalled from last weekend’s visit. “Big brother Kyle and I were probably the most struck by it all emotionally. It’s just an amazing opportunity.”

Expect him to arrive in a couple years.

[After THE JUMP: smallish, skilled defensemen. Everywhere.]