It's been roughly two months since our last look at the latest in men's college hockey recruiting. Now that the Division 1 season is over, it's as good a time as ever to see where things stand.
Another reason is that the transfer portal is at the top of mind.
It feels as though a current player is joining a new college team every day. The portal is open from March 30 to May 13, so we're right in the middle of it.
There have also been a handful of new college commits.
Let's dive in.
Billy MacAusland commits to Brown
Almost every time I've written about MacAusland this season, I've wondered how a Division 1 program hadn't committed him yet. Well, Brown jumped up and got him this week, committing the Nobles standout.
MacAusland had an outstanding junior season, scoring 28 goals and posting 61 points. At USA Hockey 18U nationals earlier this month, he led the tournament in goals (9) and finished second in points (13). The Westwood, Mass., native always seems to find ways to produce with his high IQ and wicked shot from in tight. This is a fantastic get for Brown.
In the transfer portal, Brown got forward Ben Poitras. The Montreal native was most recently with Northeastern, where he scored one goal and finished with three points in 31 games. Prep readers likely remember him from his two seasons at Salisbury from 2020-22.
Sacha Boisvert picks Boston University
Less than one week after losing in the national championship game, the Terriers landed a big fish in the transfer portal.
Boisvert, a former Mount St. Charles standout, transferred to Boston University on Thursday. He was great for North Dakota this winter, scoring 18 goals and tallying 32 points in 37 games. Last June, he was picked 18th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL Draft. Owen McLaughlin, Boisvert's teammate at North Dakota, also transferred to BU. He was a seventh-round pick by the Philadelphia Flyers in 2021.
Boisvert strengthens an already-strong recruiting class for next season, highlighted with names like Carter Amico (Westbrook, Maine), Conrad Fondrk and Jack Murtagh.
In late March, BU got a commitment from Kyle Kim. The 6-foot-2 defenseman had 33 points in 55 games for the New Jersey Jr. Titans in the NAHL this season. He played for the Long Island Gulls 16U team in 2021-22.
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Ryan Conmy transfers to Boston College
Conmy has spent the last two seasons as a top forward for New Hampshire. He had 31 points in 34 games as a freshman and improved by two points in the same number of games this season. Conmy, who was a sixth-round pick by the Los Angeles Kings in 2023, will have the chance to crack BC's top six after the Eagles lost stars Ryan Leonard (Amherst, Mass.) and Gabe Perreault to the NHL.
In his youth days, the '04 played in New England quite a bit. He was with the Buffalo Jr. Sabres from 2017-20 and the Bishop Kearney Selects from 2020-22.
Matthew DellaRusso to Northeastern
Earlier this month, DellaRusso committed to Northeastern. The Darien, Conn., native has been terrific for the NAHL's Maine Nordiques this winter, boasting a 2.23 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage. He grew up playing for Mid Fairfield and was at St. George's from 2021-23. The '04 skipped his senior season to play for the BCHL's West Kelowna Warriors in 2023-24.
The Huskies also got commitments from forwards Nathan Quinn and Trey Jefferis. Quinn, an '07, is 5-foot-10 and has 17 goals and 46 points in 54 games for the Quebec Ramparts in the QMJHL this season. NHL Central Scouting has him ranked No. 66 among North American skaters for the draft. Jefferis is a '05 forward with 14 goals and 33 points in 47 games for the USHL's Sioux City Musketeers this season.
Northeastern coach Jerry Keefe and his staff have been active in the transfer portal, getting forward Tyler Fukakusa (RIT), defensemen Austen May (Providence) and Dylan Finlay (Alaska-Anchorage), and goalie Lawton Zacher (Brown). Fukakusa is particularly interesting. He had 28 points as a freshman at RIT last season and improved to 36 this past winter.
Brayden Krawczyk to UMass
UMass isn't known to chase many players who play locally, but the Minutemen got a commitment from Krawczyk in early March.
After starting the season with the BCHL's Cowichan Valley Capitals, Krawczyk has fit in nicely with the Mount St. Charles 16U squad, scoring 15 goals and adding 17 assists in 38 games. The '08 from Ontario is 6-foot-3 and 170 pounds.
Later in March, UMass got commitments from Pacey Adduono and Tobias Trejbal. Adduono has been a standout '08 with the Oakmoor Academy Patriots 16U squad this season with 79 goals and 128 points in 56 games. Trejbal is an '07 netminder with HC Litvinov U20. He's 6-foot-4 and 176 pounds.
UMass has also added forwards Mikey DeAngelo (Michigan State), Owen Mehlenbacher (Wisconsin) and Matthew Wilde (RIT) in the transfer portal.
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Dennison Monahan to Princeton
Monahan, from Norwell, Mass., committed to Princeton in late February. The 6-foot-5, 212-pound defenseman grew up playing for the Boston Advantage and was a standout defender for Lovell Academy as a 16U and 18U. The '06 made the move to the BCHL's Victoria Grizzlies this season and has 13 assists in 54 games. He's a staunch defender who will likely be a shutdown guy in college.
Maine pursuing CHL players
The Black Bears have been active in recruiting CHL players. In January, they got a commitment from Will Gerrior, an '04 forward with the Ottawa 67's in the OHL. He scored 30 goals in 63 games this winter. Maine got commitments from Jeremy Langlois, an '03 defenseman who was with the QMJHL's Rouyn-Noranda Huskies last season and didn't play this season, and Evan Van Gorp, an '06 forward with the OHL's London Knights, in February.
Most recently, Simon Motew committed to Maine. The '03 defenseman had 15 points in 25 games for St. Francis Xavier University in USports.
One interesting recruiting tidbit: On March 21, Maine claimed the Hockey East championship in a resounding win over UConn. That next morning, the U.S. National Team Development Program had an Evaluation Camp game in Plymouth, Mich., at 8 a.m. As I was watching the game, in walked Maine assistant coach Eric Soltys. He took an early flight out Saturday morning shortly after celebrating the big win on Friday night.
Soltys is one of the hardest-working recruiters in college hockey — and an even nicer person.
Diego Johnson to UConn
Earlier this month, Johnson committed to UConn after initially committing to Wisconsin. The 5-foot-11, 179-pound forward has 20 goals and 45 points in 61 games for the USHL's Madison Capitols. He's from Fort St. James, British Columbia.
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Other thoughts...
- Forward Yaroslav Bryzgalov and defenseman Hunter Mayo committed to Merrimack within the last month. Bryzgalov is a 6-foot-3 center from Belarus. An '07, he has 10 goals and 17 points with the USHL's Des Moines Buccaneers this season. Mayo is an '04 who comes from the WHL. The 6-foot-1 defender posted eight goals and 27 points in 27 games for the Swift Current Broncos after notching 22 points in 33 games for the Red Deer Rebels. Head coach Scott Borek's staff also nabbed forward Trevor Hoskin (Niagara) and defensemen Matt Campbell (Michigan Tech) and Austin Orevetz (Michigan State) out of the transfer portal.
- Providence has been relatively quiet on the recruiting front. Since the start of the year, defenseman Kale McCallum is the lone recruit. The 5-foot-11 defenseman is fresh off a strong season with the University of New Brunswick in USports, scoring 13 goals and tallying 39 points in 27 games. The Friars also got forward Brendan Ross out of the transfer portal from Alaska-Fairbanks.
- Vermont also hasn't been too busy. Forward Samuel Boyer, an '08 from Quebec, committed to the Catamounts in early March. He scored 39 goals and tallied 80 points in 42 games for the College Charles-Lemoyne Riverains this season. They also snagged defenseman Dylan Gratton out of the transfer portal. He was at Penn State from 2022-24, before posting 14 points for Omaha this winter.
