UNH Commits Update 1-6-2023: Spotlight on Brendan Fitzgerald & Nick Ring

Brendan Fitzgerald 2023 UNH Commit

Nick Ring 2023 UNH Commit

News & Notes

~ Brendan Fitzgerald (DOB: 3/6/03), the 6'0", 167 lbs., left-shot defenseman from North Reading, Massachusetts, was named the United States Hockey League Defenseman of the Week on December 19th. In 2 Cedar Rapids RoughRider games on December 16th and 17th, Fitzgerald posted 6 assists, 4 shots on goal, and a +2 rating.

Fitzgerald's offensive skills are on full display in these video highlights from those games. The first sequence is on the RoughRiders' power play. Fitzgerald (#19) skates like a forward, protecting the puck with his body, going strong to the net, and sliding a wrister under the defenseman's leg on goal. The resulting rebound is converted for a goal. On the second scoring play, he dekes the defender and snaps a powerful wrister from the blue line. The puck is redirected for a goal. In the final sequence, Fitzgerald shows outstanding vision and zips a cross ice pass to his forward for a one-timer.

Overall, Fitzgerald is one of the leading scorers among all USHL defensemen. His 2 goals and 15 assists in 20 games puts him in a tie for 7th. He's tied for 5th in assists by a USHL defenseman and tied for 6th in power play assists (6).

~ Nick Ring (DOB: 10/26/03), the 5'11", 179 lbs., right-shot forward from Hingham, Massachusetts, made the jump to the highly competitive United States Hockey League this season. After successful seasons in the National Collegiate Development Conference (Boston Advantage), then the North American Hockey League (New Jersey Titans), Ring has excelled with the Sioux Falls Stampede. Ring leads the USHL in power play assists (12). He leads the Stampede in assists (17) and power play points (3 PPG, 12 PPA).

Ring is also a consistent scorer. He has scored at least 1 point in 75% of his 27 games this season. A scout from Neutral Zone evaluated Ring during a December 17th game between Sioux Falls and the Fargo Force:

"Finds the areas of the ice in the offensive zone where he can get pucks on net. Filters into the slot area untouched and when receiving passes gets the puck to the net quickly with a flick of the wrist (and power behind it). Scored the first 2 goals of the game for the Stampede in very similar fashion. Both may have looked like garbage whack in goals but realistically both displayed a high skill set. For example he filtered into the net front area untouched got to a loose puck and made a little extra move to deceive the goaltender and score [both goals were the same essentially]."

It was Ring's first multi-goal of the season. Here are the video highlights:

2022-23 Statistics

Player	NZ Stars**	Team	League	GP	Goals	Asst	Pts	PIM	+/-
2023 Commits
Jed Baliotti 2/7/02 (G)	3.5	New Hampshire Jr Monarchs	NCDC	10	4	6	0	2.36	.921
		Springfield Jr Blues	NAHL	1	1	0	0	2.00	.909
Brendan Fitzgerald* 3/6/03 (D)	4.0	Cedar Rapids RoughRiders	USHL	20	2	15	17	55	+7
Nick Ring* 10/26/03 (F)	3.75	Sioux Falls Stampede	USHL	27	8	17	25	10	-3
Jason Siedem 10/17/02 (F)	3.75	Blackfalds Bulldogs	AJHL	37	15	31	46	16	-
JP Turner* 1/31/03 (F)	3.5	Fargo Force	USHL	27	4	9	13	10	+6
Ronan Walsh 5/3/02 (F)	3.5	Aberdeen Wings	NAHL	28	6	8	14	55	-3
2023 or '24 Commit
Ryan Conmy* 10/23/04 (F)	4.0	Sioux City Musketeers	USHL	26	14	9	23	4	+3
2024 Commits
Connor DeTurris 10/8/04 (F)	3.75	Janesville Jets	NAHL	23	9	8	17	12	+10
		Madison Capitols	USHL	1	0	0	0	0	-1
Connor MacPherson* 3/2/05 (F)	3.75	Leamington Flyers	GOJHL	27	16	24	40	23	-
Ryan MacPherson* 3/2/05 (F)	3.75	Leamington Flyers	GOJHL	32	17	20	37	10	-
Ryan Philbrick* 6/20/04 (D)	3.25	Cushing Academy	NE Prep	11	1	10	11	-	-
Josh Player* 5/13/05 (D)	3.5	Green Bay Gamblers	USHL	4	1	0	1	0	-1
		Bishop Kearney 18U	18U AAA	32	8	21	29	0	-
			NEPACK 18U	6	1	2	3	4	-
Luca Primerano 3/17/05 (F)	3.75	Prince George Spruce Kings	BCHL	30	6	16	22	4	-
2024 or '25 Commit
Conner de Haro 10/17/05 (D)	3.75	Youngstown Phantoms	USHL	21	0	4	4	12	+8
Jack Sadowski 7/29/06 (F)	3.75	Kimball Union Academy	NE Prep	9	5	4	9	-	-
		Islanders Hockey Club 18U Prep	EHF	-	-	-	-	-	-
2025 Commits
Price Grimes 1/28/06 (D)	3.75	Sioux Falls Power 16U	16 AAA	25	3	8	11	-	-
			T1EHL	4	1	4	5	25	-
Niko Tournas 2/17/06 (F)	3.75	New Jersey Rockets 16U	THF 16U	10	11	8	19	2	-
			NEPACK 16U	8	5	0	5	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 "2023 Commits" are projected to begin playing for UNH in the Fall of 2023. I have based these projections on the following factors:
~ Number of UNH players leaving the team at the end of the previous season and the position they played.
~ Number of incoming transfer players and the position they play.
~ 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.