A first look at the Class of 1997
By Tom Lynn
For some of our 15-year-old Minnesota hockey players, this spring is the time when they will go from accomplished youth hockey players or local high school phenoms to true national prospects. The Reebok High Performance camps in April are the first step, and then a good number of those players will go on to the USA Hockey National Camp in Rochester. The best of those will play for Team USA in the Five Nations Cup in the Czech Republic in August (and there were five Minnesotans on that team last year). Also in the mix will be the National Team Development Program Evaluation Camp in March, a tryout for players to be invited to join USA Hockey’s NTDP program in Ann Arbor, Mich., for the next two years.
It is important to note, however, that these camps and tryouts are not all-inclusive, and do not necessarily uncover all of the players who will be highly-ranked for the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. This “Class of 1997” (the birth year for the 2015 NHL Draft) is still young. USA Hockey points out that there is a 40-percent turnover in the players invited to the 15-year-old National Camp to the 16-year-old National Camp each summer, and the same happens for the National 17 Camp. Players at this age are rapidly changing physically, which means not only that some grow later, but also some develop their physical skills later.
Throw in other variables such as injuries and commitments to other sports in the spring, and it is not only possible, but likely that players not “in the mix” this spring and summer will emerge as true prospects over the next two years. Looking at the upcoming Draft in June, two of the most highly regarded Minnesota players are Burnsville’s Teemu Kivihalme and Minnetonka’s Tommy Vannelli. Kivihalme was a relatively unknown skinny young ninth grader playing for his dad two years ago, not invited to USA National Camp (and went to Finland’s instead). Vannelli was on the junior varsity team at Tonka two years ago after transferring from Holy Family (yes, that was JV). So we must expect some of the 1997 players whose names are not out there now will be burgeoning stars by their draft year.
A quick word on the NTDP tryouts – although the staff would never admit it, there is a quota on Minnesota players invited to the Evaluation Camp. USA Hockey cannot collect dues from hockey associations across the country, and then spend that money on a program with a third of the players from one state (at least not without significant blowback). There is also a sentiment that if a prospect from a non-hockey area is missed, he is missed “for good,” while a Minnesota kid may well develop into a future USA Hockey National Team player or Olympian while continuing to play for his high school team as a teenager.
This is why a player like Edina’s Dylan Malmquist, one of the top 10 1996 forwards in the country, was not invited (and there are others in each year). There also seems to be a focus on positional needs in the tryout invitations – you are not going to see three big, physical defensemen from Minnesota invited in the same year, or three small, playmaking left wings, even if they are the three top players. So these tryouts invitation lists, although a great honor, are not conclusive as to the best 1997-born players in Minnesota.
With all of this said, Minnesota’s Class of 1997 is very deep, although not with as many “high end” prospects as some prior years. It is characterized at the top end by big, physical defensemen and small, skilled forwards.
First, the forward group for now looks like Tommy Novak of St. Thomas Academy and then everyone else. Novak was known to some in the hockey community after his National Camp performance last year, but had not yet played high school hockey nor Elite League going into this season. But by the time he scored the winning goal in the Class A State Championship Game, everyone knew his name. And yes, he is a cheesehead, but plays in the MSHSL.
The top defensemen in the Class of 1997 are both monsters. Johnny Schuldt of Minnetonka stands 6-3 and 190 pounds, and is a Frankenstein of the last three Tonka defensive stars. A balanced, rangy skater like Vannelli, with the toughness of his older brother Joe, and the shot and compete level of St. Cloud State commit Jimmy Schuldt.
Also at the top is Spring Lake Park’s big Nick Heid, who shoots like Al Iafrate (only more accurately), but also competes hard and defends well and is very strong on his skates.
After this top group, the forward list is short. Wayzata’s Matthew Freytag and Benilde-St. Margaret’s Chase Jungels lead the way as skilled forwards, with the former relying on his shot and the latter his hockey sense and quickness to produce offense. Will Garin established himself as an offensive threat at Holy Family this season as a freshman, while Cade Gleekel notched 18 goals for an underwhelming Blake entry this year. The smallest of the bunch has the best hands – Cadet Christiano Versich makes hockey seem like lacrosse. He could have a career as a magician if his hockey legs failed him. One forward that could burst onto the scene soon is Burnsville’s Brock Boeser, who at 5-11 is not undersized, and evidenced a competitive fire in the sectional playoffs to go along with speed on offensive instincts.
The next level of the defense group has one more physical specimen in Keith Muehlbauer, sophomore defenseman for Eastview, who helped lead them to a surprising state tournament berth with a defensively stifling sectional championship victory of Eagan. Seamus Donohue of St. Thomas Academy is of average size, but plays an outsized physical game and quietly displays a maturity of hockey sense well beyond his years.
The tenor of the defense then shifts to skill, with Luverne’s Toby Sengvongxay, Tye Ausmus of East Grand Forks and Jake Ahcan of Burnsville. Sengvongxay must skate the frozen prairies out there in the winter, as he has glide like Paul Coffey. Despite their skills and skating, none of these three, however, would make the bar to ride the biggest rollercoasters at Valley Fair. Although this will not hold them back for USHL and college careers, it will affect their NHL stock, when that time comes.
There are many more skaters who are “on the edge” of recognition, or just have not been in a position to be seen as widely yet as these players. By June, the names and list will change again. But no discussion of the Class of 1997 would be complete without noting that two of the top three forwards recently left for major junior in the WHL, taking them out of this mix. Eagan’s Jesse Gabrielle returned home to sign with Brandon, while Alec Baer was eagerly accepted by Vancouver after being spurned by Benilde. The rest of this class, though, looks more like “stayers” than “goers,” so I would expect the bulk of them to be wearing their high school colors in coming seasons.
Here was who made it last year:
Reebok MN Hockey High Performance 15 boys National Camp Selections
Forwards
Rem Pitlick
Max Zimmer
Alec Baer
Chase Jungels
Koby Bender
Jonah Bischoff
Tanner Tweten
Will Garin
Mark Kaske
Matthew Freytag
Lawrence Jungwirth
Christiano Versich
Casey Dornbach
Dylan McDonald (Alternate)
Tyler Bump (Alternate)
Derek Hammer (Alternate)
Defensemen
Ben Newhouse
Jordan Klehr
Toby Sengvongxay
Jack Ahcan
Nick Heid
Jacob Olson
Tye Ausmus
Jason Krych (Alternate)
Collin Saccoman (Alternate)
Ryan Zuhlsdorf (Alternate)
Goaltenders
Vaughan Ahrens
Conor Klaers
Jacob Berger (Alternate)
Evan Robert (Alternate)
So what are your thoughts who makes it this year? Who are some new faces and who stood out from the list above?
What will happen this year lets discuss
