UNH Commits Update 2-5-2021

Damien Carfagna
NHL Draft Prospect

News & Notes

United State Hockey League:

~ Last season, Damien Carfagna was the highest scoring defenseman (7 Goals, 22 Assists, 27 Games) for Lawrence Academy, the 3rd-ranked New England Prep School team. He decided to forego a senior year at Lawrence to join the Green Bay Gamblers this season. In his first 20 USHL games, Carfagna has posted 5 assists and an impressive +9 rating (tied for 2nd among USHL rookies). NHL scouts have taken notice. The NHL Central Scouting Service included Carfagna on their January Players to Watch list. He's rated a "C" prospect meaning a candidate to be drafted in the 4th, 5th, or 6th round of the 2021 NHL Draft.

~ 20-year-old Robert Cronin (DOB: 8/15/00), the 5'10", 185 lbs., right-shot forward for the Dubuque Fighting Saints, signed a National Letter of Intent with UNH. In his second USHL season, Cronin has tallied 8 goals and 8 assists in 20 games. This is his final year of junior hockey eligibility (i.e., no older than 20 as of the 31st day of December of the current season of competition).

Robert Cronin Signs NLI

~ Earlier this week, UNH picked up a commitment from 20-year-old, right-shot defenseman Colton Huard (DOB: 11/27/00) of the Chicago Steel. So far this season, the 6'4", 196 lbs., blueliner has posted 2 goals and 10 assists in 25 games. Among all USHL defensemen, Huard has the second best +/- rating (+14). Fellow UNH Commit Alex Gagne, the 6'3", 207 lbs., defenseman for the Muskegon Lumberjacks, has the best +/- rating (+21) among all USHL defensemen.

Neutral Zone scouts have evaluated Huard three times this season and here are some excerpts:

"big, poised, moves well, and plays mature brand of hockey..high end on both sides of the puck..physical..good job of boxing out his net front..uses reach well, disrupting plays in defensive zone..has really good instincts especially during extended offensive zone play"

Huard will age out of junior hockey at the end of this season so is on track to matriculate next fall at UNH.

Colton Huard
Commits to UNH

British Columbia Hockey League:

~ In November, the Provincial Health Officer for British Columbia imposed restrictions to contain the COVID-19 pandamic. The limits have prevented the BCHL from starting it's regular season. Earlier today, the PHO announced that the restrictions will continue at least until the end of February. Two UNH Commits, Connor Sweeney and John Evans, left their BCHL teams for junior leagues in the United States. Sweeney went from the Trail Smoke Eaters to the Islanders Hockey Club in the NCDC and Evans left the West Kelowna Warriors for the Dubuque Fighting Saints in the USHL. To date, Nick Ardanaz has remained with the West Kelowna Warriors.

North American Hockey League:

~ Three UNH Commits have transferred from the USHL to the NAHL. Will Margel moved from the Lincoln Stars to the Johnstown Tomahawks. Cade Penney went from the Omaha Lancers to the New Jersey Titans. Morgan Winters left the Tri-City Storm for the Kenai River Brown Bears.

National Collegiate Development Conference:

~ Two UNH Commits, Cy LeClerc and Nick Ring, were selected to play in the NCDC All-Star game on January 18th. LeClerc distributed 2 assists and Ring scored a goal and 2 assists.

~ Goalie Jed Baliotti, formerly with the Green Bay Gamblers (USHL), is now playing for the Northern Cyclones.

New England Prep School:

The Lakes Region Conference begins a two-month season this weekend. To date, the ISL Keller Conference, which includes Governor's Academy and UNH Commit Brendan Fitzgerald, has not begun a 2020-21 season.

2020-21 Statistics

Player	NZ** Stars	Team	League	GP	Goals	Asst	Pts	PIM	+/-
2021 Commits
Nicolas Ardanaz* 5/30/02 (D)	4.25	West Kelowna Warriors	BCHLPre	13	1	6	7	2	-
Timo Bakos 7/28/00 (F)	3.75	Starbulls Rosenheim	Germany3	18	0	3	3	0	-
		EHC Königsbrunn	Germany4	3	0	1	1	0	-
Robert Cronin* 8/15/00 (F)	3.75	Dubuque Fighting Saints	USHL	20	8	8	16	18	+2
John Evans 4/8/02 (F)	4.5	Dubuque Fighting Saints	USHL	7	1	4	5	0	+1
		West Kelowna Warriors	BCHLPre	13	6	9	15	6	-
Alex Gagne* 8/12/02 (D)	4.25	Muskegon Lumberjacks	USHL	26	3	11	14	8	+21
Colton Huard 11/27/00 (D)	3.75	Chicago Steel	USHL	25	2	10	12	8	+14
Will Margel* 3/16/01 (F)	3.75	Johnstown Tomahawks	NAHL	9	3	5	8	2	-3
		Lincoln Stars	USHL	2	0	0	0	0	-2
Jack Ring 12/18/00 (F)	3.5	New Jersey Titans	NAHL	25	4	11	15	8	-11
Connor Sweeney* 5/5/00 (F)	3.5	Islanders Hockey Club	NCDC	18	1	8	9	10	-
		Trail Smoke Eaters	BCHLPre	9	4	6	10	6	-
2021 or '22 Commits
Jed Baliotti 2/7/02 (G)	3.75	Northern Cyclones	NCDC	3	1	2	0	2.70	.906
		Green Bay Gamblers	USHL	0	-	-	-	-	-
Liam Devlin 1/7/01 (F)	3.75	Omaha Lancers	USHL	22	5	0	5	34	-2
		Chicago Steel	USHL	1	0	0	0	6	0
Cade Penney* 3/23/01 (D)	3.75	New Jersey Titans	NAHL	1	0	1	1	0	+2
		Omaha Lancers	USHL	3	0	0	0	0	0
		Green Bay Gamblers	USHL	14	0	2	2	0	+6
David Sacco* 1/3/02 (F)	3.75	Waterloo Black Hawks	USHL	6	0	0	0	2	+1
JP Turner* 1/31/03 (F)	4.25	Sioux Falls Stampede	USHL	19	4	0	4	16	+1
2022 Commits
Damien Carfagna* 12/12/02 (D)	3.75	Green Bay Gamblers	USHL	20	0	5	5	4	+9
Cy LeClerc 8/17/02 (F)	3.75	Islanders Hockey Club	NCDC	21	7	14	21	6	-
			All Star Game	1	0	2	2	0	-
		Wenatchee Wild	BCHLPre	-	-	-	-	-	-
Morgan Winters 12/8/01 (F)	3.5	Kenai River Brown Bears	NAHL	11	3	7	10	8	+6
		Tri-City Storm	USHL	4	1	0	1	0	+1
2022 or '23 Commits
Brendan Fitzgerald 10/26/03 (D)	4.0	Governor's Academy	NE Prep	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nick Ring 10/26/03 (F)	3.75	Boston Advantage	NCDC	34	11	7	18	8	-
			All Star Game	1	2	2	4	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 "2021 Commits" are projected to begin playing for UNH in the Fall of 2021. 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.
~ 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.