UNH Commits Update: 11-22-2019

Carsen Richels Signs UNH NLI

Alex Gagne Signs UNH NLI

News & Notes

National Letter of Intent:

The signing period of the National Letter of Intent (NLI) program began November 13th and ends August 1st. Some of the key provisions of the NLI are:
~ The NLI is a binding agreement between a prospective student-athlete and an NLI member institution.
~ The prospective student-athlete agrees to attend the institution full-time for one academic year.
~ The institution agrees to provide athletics financial aid to the student-athlete for one academic year, provided he/she is admitted to the institution and is eligible for financial aid under NCAA rules.
~ A recruiting prohibition is applied after a prospective student-athlete signs the NLI. This prohibition requires member institutions to cease recruitment of the prospective student-athlete once an NLI is signed with another institution.
~ If the student-athlete does not fulfill the NLI agreement, he/she has to serve one year in residence at the next NLI member institution and lose one season of competition in all sports.

In the last week, forward Carsen Richels and defenseman Alex Gagne signed an NLI with the University of New Hampshire. Richels and Gagne are seniors in high school so have the potential to enroll as "true freshmen" at UNH next Fall. Forward Will Margel, who graduated from South Kent Prep School last spring, signed an NLI with UNH in April.

British Columbia Hockey League:

~ 2020 UNH Commit Will Margel scored 45 goals and 55 assists in 64 games last season with the Selects Academy 18U - the team that won the 2019 USA Hockey Tier I National Championship. In May, the Madison Capitols selected him in the 1st Round (#7 overall) of the USHL Draft. Margel started at left wing in the Capitols' season opener and scored his first USHL goal in Game 5. However, that was the last point he registered for the Capitols and his playing time diminished. Madison currently has the worst record in the USHL.
The Coquitlam Express of the British Columbia Hockey League acquired Margel from the Madison Capitols on November 7th and put him on their top line with Massimo Rizzo (North Dakota commit, Carolina Hurricanes draftee) and Connor Gregga (Minnesota State commit). In his first 3 BCHL games, Margel has scored 2 power play assists. Coquitlam currently has the best record in the BCHL.

~ Over his last 7 games with the Wenatchee Wild, 2020 or '21 UNH Commit Nick Cafarelli has scored 3 goals and 7 assists. Overall, he has 12 goals, including 7 power play goals, and 14 assists in 24 games. Cafarelli is tied for 6th in BCHL goal-scoring and 12th in scoring.

United States Hockey League:

~ 2020 or '21 UNH Commit Alex Gagne signed a National Letter of Intent with UNH on November 17th. The 6'3", 196 lbs., left-shot defenseman has played in 10 of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders' 16 games, has scored 4 assists, and has a +/- rating of +1.
Gagne is eligible for the 2020 NHL Draft. Although the NHL Central Scouting Service has not included him on their "Players to Watch" lists, former NHL defenseman Ian Morin, the Director of Neutral Zone's NHL Draft coverage, projected Gagne as a late third round selection in the NHL Draft next June. In addition, Steve Kournianos of the Draft Analyst and contributor for the Sporting News ranked Gagne #108 in his 2020 Preliminary Rankings.

Minnesota High School Hockey:

~ 2020 or '21 UNH Commit Carsen Richels signed a National Letter of Intent with UNH on November 13th. The 6'2", 201 lbs., left-shot winger recently completed his fall season in the Upper Midwest High School Elite Hockey League. He scored 8 goals and 11 assists in 19 games.
In the updated November "Players to Watch" list, the NHL Central Scouting Service continued to rate Carsen Richels a 'B' Prospect meaning he's a candidate to be selected in the 2nd or 3rd Round of the 2020 NHL Draft. Richels' first game of his senior season with Blaine (MN) High School is on November 27 against Hill-Murray HS. Last season, as a junior, he scored 42 goals and 41 assists in 29 games.

New England Prep School Hockey:

~ 2021 UNH Commit David Sacco recently completed his fall season with the the Cape Cod Whalers U18 split-season team. He scored 5 goals and 2 assists in 9 Eastern Hockey Federation Selects games and 2 assists in the 2019-20 18U Tier I National Bound Massachusetts Hockey State Championship. The Whalers were eliminated in the quarterfinals.
The NHL Central Scouting Service continued to rate David Sacco a 'C' Prospect in their updated November "Players to Watch" list. He is a candidate to be selected in the 4th, 5th or 6th Round of the 2020 NHL Draft. Sacco begins his junior season with the Lawrence Academy Spartans on December 6th. Last year, he repeated his sophomore academic year and was listed as a sophomore on the hockey roster. He scored 14 goals and 15 assists in 25 games.

~ 2021 or '22 UNH Commit JP Turner and the Neponset Valley River Rats U16 team won the 2019-20 16U Tier I National Bound Massachusetts Hockey State Championship. Turner scored a goal and 2 assists in the 3 tournament games.
JP Turner begins his junior season with Avon Old Farms on December 4th against Williston-Northampton. Last season, as a sophomore, he scored 5 goals and 8 assists in 25 games.

2019-20 Statistics

Player	Team	League	GP	Goals	Asst	Pts	PIM
2020 Commits
Will Margel* 3/16/01 (F)	Coquitlam Express	BCHL	3	0	2	2	0
	Madison Capitols	USHL	12	1	0	1	2
2020 or '21 Commits
Alex Gagne* 8/12/02 (D)	Cedar Rapids RoughRiders	USHL	10	0	4	4	8
Carsen Richels* 10/3/01 (F)	Blaine High School	Minn HS	-	-	-	-	-
	MPLS ST PAUL	UMidwest HSELH	13	6	9	15	8
		Playoffs	3	2	0	2	0
	Elite League All-Star Team	International	3	0	2	2	0
Nicolas Ardanaz 5/30/02 (D)	West Kelowna Warriors	BCHL	26	1	5	6	2
Nicholas Cafarelli 12/31/01 (F)	Wenatchee Wild	BCHL	24	12	14	26	18
Aidan Curran 1/22/01 (F)	Bonnyville Pontiacs	AJHL	11	0	4	4	4
	Salmon Arm Silverbacks	BCHL	11	1	4	5	0
Connor Sweeney 5/5/00 (F)	Trail Smoke Eaters	BCHL	28	1	5	6	17
2021 Commits
Timo Bakos 7/28/00 (F)	Sioux Falls Stampede	USHL	12	2	1	3	0
Robert Cronin 8/15/00 (F)	Dubuque Fighting Saints	USHL	10	0	0	0	2
Liam Devlin 1/7/01 (F)	Chicago Steel	USHL	15	1	1	2	18
Cy LeClerc 8/17/02 (F)	Islanders Hockey Club	NCDC	21	4	12	16	2
Jack Ring 12/18/00 (F)	Northeast Generals	NAHL	24	2	11	13	4
David Sacco 1/3/02 (F)	Lawrence Academy	NE Prep	-	-	-	-	-
	Cape Cod Whalers U18	EHF Selects	9	5	2	7	18
		Mass Regionals	2	0	2	2	0
2021 or '22 Commits
JP Turner 1/31/03 (F)	Avon Old Farms	NE Prep	-	-	-	-	-
	NV River Rats 16U	Beast Series	7	3	7	10	34
		Playoffs	1	0	1	1	2
		Mass Regionals	3	1	2	3	0
Morgan Winters 12/8/01 (F)	Tabor Academy	NE Prep	-	-	-	-	-
	NV River Rats 18U	Beast Series	7	1	1	2	6
		Playoffs	1	0	1	1	2
2022 or '23 Commits
Nick Ring 10/26/03 (F)	Boston Advantage U18	ECEL	4	2	1	3	0
		Mass Regionals	2	1	0	1	0
* = Signed National Letter of Intent

NOTE
The statistics for the commits, presented in the above table, are categorized by the projected year they will enroll in UNH. For example, the "2020 Commits" are projected to begin playing for UNH in the Fall of 2020. I have based these projections on the following factors:
~ If a National Letter of Intent has been signed.
~ The year the commit and UNH coaches originally targeted for enrollment in UNH.
~ How old the commit would be upon admission.
~ Number of years in junior hockey prior to admission.
~ The commit's performance in recent seasons as well as injuries.
~ Anticipated date of high school graduation.
~ Number of UNH players leaving the team at the end of the previous season and the position they played.