UNH Commits Update 1-24-20: Spotlight on NHL Draft Prospects

Carsen Richels NHL CSS Midterm Rank #75

Luke Reid Midterm Rank #110

David Sacco Midterm Rank #175

News & Notes

2020 NHL Draft - Midterm Prospect Rankings:

The NHL Central Scouting Service released its 2020 Midterm Draft Prospect Ranking on January 13th. It includes separate lists of 220 North American skaters and 135 European skaters. Three UNH Commits were included on the North American list.

~ Carsen Richels, the 6'3", 210 lbs, left-shot winger for Blaine (MN) High School, is ranked #75 among North American skaters on the 2020 NHL CSS Midterm Rankings. In November, NHL Central Scouting rated Richels a 'B' Prospect, that is, a candidate to be selected in the 2nd or 3rd round of the 2020 NHL Draft. Angus Crookshank, the leading goal scorer (12) on the current UNH team, is the last UNH forward drafted in the NHL. The Ottawa Senators selected Crookshank in the fifth round (126th overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft. Crookshank was ranked #139 among North American skaters on the 2018 NHL CSS midterm rankings.

Carsen Richels signed a National Letter of Intent with UNH in November. The senior captain for the Blaine Bengals has scored 18 goals and 19 assists in 17 games. Because he is scoring at a 2.05 points per game clip and is projected to be drafted in the middle rounds of the 2020 NHL Draft this June, I project that he will enroll as a true freshman at UNH next Fall. Here are video highlights of three goals he scored in his 5-goal game:

~ Luke Reid, the 6'0", 190 lbs., right-shot defenseman for the Chicago Steel (USHL), committed to the University of New Hampshire last week. NHL Central Scouting ranked Reid #110 among North American skaters on the 2020 Midterm Rankings. Like Carsen Richels, Reid was rated a 'B' Prospect by NHL Central Scouting in November. The current UNH squad has two defensemen drafted in the NHL. Max Gildon is a 3rd rounder (66th overall) for the Florida Panthers and Benton Maass is a 6th rounder (182nd overall) for the Washington Capitals. Gildon's NHL CSS midterm ranking was #76 and Maass was #158 in 2017.

Luke Reid has scored 2 goals and 10 assists in 28 games for the first-place Chicago Steel and has a +/- rating of +11. On Monday, Reid competed in the 2020 BioSteel All-American Game which featured many of the top American prospects eligible for the 2020 NHL Draft. He was the starting right defenseman for the team representing the United States Hockey League. Look for a feature article and interview with Luke Reid coming soon on The UNH Men's Hockey Blog. He is on target to enroll at UNH next Fall. Here are video highlights of Reid's second goal of the USHL season and his 10th assist:

~ David Sacco, the 6'1", 196 lbs, right-shot center/winger for Lawrence Academy in Groton, Massachusetts, is ranked #175 among North American skaters on the 2020 NHL CSS Midterm Rankings. In November, NHL Central Scouting rated Sacco a 'C' Prospect, that is, a candidate to be selected in the 4th, 5th, or 6th round of the 2020 NHL Draft.

David Sacco, a junior at Lawrence Academy, has scored 7 goals and 14 assists in 12 games. The Spartans are currently ranked 3rd in New England Prep School Hockey in the USHR Poll and 4th in the Neutral Zone Poll. Here are video highlights of Sacco's two goals, including the game-winner, from Lawrence's 5-4 win over Noble & Greenough School on January 15th:



British Columbia Hockey League:

~ 2020 or '21 UNH Commit Nick Ardanaz, the 5'10", 160 lbs., left-shot defenseman for the West Kelowna Warriors, has scored 2 goals and 4 assists in his last 6 games. Over his last 18 games, he has scored in all but 5. The 17-year-old Ardanaz (DOB: 5/30/2002) is the youngest among the 28 top-scoring defensemen in the BCHL. His 3 goals and 22 assists in 45 games puts him in a tie for 12th in scoring among all BCHL defensemen. Nick is a senior at Mount Boucherie Secondary School in West Kelowna and was named the BCHL High School Player of the Month for December.

~ 2020 or '21 UNH Commit Nick Cafarelli scored his 4th game-winning goal of the season last Saturday. He is tied for 4th in BCHL game-winning goals.


National Collegiate Development Conference:

~ In mid-December, the New Hampshire Junior Monarchs announced that Aidan Curran would rejoin their NCDC team "once he’s healthy from an illness that has wiped him out in the early going this year". Last season, Curran scored 12 goals and 37 assists in 52 games with the Jr. Monarchs and was the NCDC Rookie of the Year. In the early part of this season, he played 11 games with the Salmon Arm Siverbacks (BCHL) in September and 13 games with the Bonnyville Pontiacs (AJHL) in late October and into November. In all, he scored a goal and 8 assists. Curran returned to action on January 3rd and has scored in 6 consecutive games with the Jr. Monarchs. He has scored 2 goals, including a game-winner and added 6 assists.

~ 2021 UNH Commit Cy LeClerc has been red hot since early December scoring 10 goals and 10 assists in 12 games with the Islanders Hockey Club. In all, the 17-year-old rookie has scored 14 goals and 24 assists in 36 games and is the 4th leading scorer in the NCDC.

New England Prep School:

~ 2021 or '22 UNH Commit JP Turner, the junior right-shot center at Avon Old Farms, has scored in 13 out of 14 games this season. He has scored 9 goals and 11 assists and is the second leading scorer on the team. With a record of 13-1-0, AOF is ranked 3rd in the Neutral Zone Poll and 4th in the USHR Poll.

2019-20 Statistics

Player	NZ Stars**	Team	League	GP	Goals	Asst	Pts	PIM
2020 Commits
Will Margel* 3/16/01 (F)	3.75	Coquitlam Express	BCHL	21	5	13	18	2
		Madison Capitols	USHL	12	1	0	1	2
Luke Reid 9/26/01 (D)	4.75	Chicago Steel	USHL	28	2	10	12	18
Carsen Richels* 10/3/01 (F)	4.0	Blaine High School	Minn HS	18	18	19	37	4
		MPLS ST PAUL	UMidwest HSELH	13	6	9	15	8
			Playoffs	3	2	0	2	0
		Elite League All-Star Team	Internat	3	0	2	2	0
2020 or '21 Commits
Alex Gagne* 8/12/02 (D)	4.0	Cedar Rapids RoughRiders	USHL	24	1	4	5	24
Nicolas Ardanaz 5/30/02 (D)	3.75	West Kelowna Warriors	BCHL	45	3	22	25	6
Nicholas Cafarelli 12/31/01 (F)	3.75	Wenatchee Wild	BCHL	39	16	21	31	27
Aidan Curran 1/22/01 (F)	4.0	NH Jr Monarchs	NCDC	6	2	6	8	0
		Bonnyville Pontiacs	AJHL	13	0	4	4	4
		Salmon Arm Silverbacks	BCHL	11	1	4	5	0
Connor Sweeney 5/5/00 (F)	3.5	Trail Smoke Eaters	BCHL	47	2	7	9	29
2021 Commits
Timo Bakos 7/28/00 (F)	4.0	Sioux Falls Stampede	USHL	30	6	5	11	6
Robert Cronin 8/15/00 (F)	3.75	Dubuque Fighting Saints	USHL	28	2	4	6	14
Liam Devlin 1/7/01 (F)	3.75	Chicago Steel	USHL	27	4	1	5	18
Cy LeClerc 8/17/02 (F)	3.75	Islanders Hockey Club	NCDC	36	14	24	38	6
Jack Ring 12/18/00 (F)	3.5	Northeast Generals	NAHL	35	3	12	15	8
David Sacco 1/3/02 (F)	3.75	Lawrence Academy	NE Prep	12	7	14	21	-
		Cape Cod Whalers U18	EHF Selects	9	5	2	7	18
			Mass Regionals	2	0	2	2	0
2021 or '22 Commits
Damien Carfagna 12/12/02 (D)	3.75	Lawrence Academy	NE Prep	13	2	11	13	-
		NV River Rats 18U	Beast Series	8	2	1	3	2
			Playoffs	1	0	0	0	0
			Mass Regionals	2	0	0	0	0
JP Turner 1/31/03 (F)	4.0	Avon Old Farms	NE Prep	14	9	11	20	-
		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)	3.5	Tabor Academy	NE Prep	14	6	11	17	-
		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)	3.75	Boston Advantage U18	ECEL	11	4	3	7	0
			Mass Regionals	2	1	0	1	0
* = Signed National Letter of Intent
** = Neutral Zone 5-Star Rating

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.