By Brendan Collins
While the Ivies are just getting underway, the rest of college hockey has already played for a month. At Neutral Zone, we evaluate, rank and profile amateur NCAA and CHL prospects for NHL, NCAA, CHL and Junior coaches and scouts as well as players, parents and fans. Every month we take the performance of NCAA Freshman and CHL rookies and break down where we had them ranked, what leagues they came from and how they are faring now. This month we looked at the top 32 freshman scorers and the top 10 freshman goaltenders in the NCAA.
Skaters
We looked at the top 32 skaters in the league, given each skater had played at least five games and scored at least five points. We analyzed their age, any prior leagues and their star rating.
| Player | Pos | College | BY | Previous Team | League Prior | Pts | Rate |
| Oliver Chau | F | Massachusetts | 1997 | Brooks (AJHL) | NE Prep | 9 | 4 |
| Mitch Lewandowski | F | Michigan St | 1998 | Chicago (USHL) | Midget AAA | 9 | 4 |
| Benton Maass | D | UNH | 1998 | Fairbanks (NAHL) | MN HS | 9 | 4 |
| Max Gildon | D | UNH | 1999 | NTDP U18 | Midget AAA | 8 | 4.75 |
| Odeen Tufto | F | Quinnipiac | 1997 | Fargo (USHL) | BCHL / MN HS | 8 | 4 |
| Colin Theisen | F | Notre Dame | 1997 | Dubuque (USHL) | MN HS | 7 | 4.25 |
| Grant Mismash | F | North Dakota | 1999 | NTDP U18 | US Prep | 7 | 5 |
| John Leonard | F | Massachusetts | 1998 | Green Bay (USHL) | MA HS | 7 | 4 |
| Zach Solow | F | Northeastern | 1998 | Dubuque (USHL) | NAHL / Midget AAA | 7 | 4.25 |
| Cameron Wright | F | Bowling Green | 1998 | St. Michael’s (OJHL) | CAN Midget | 7 | 3.75 |
| Cole Hults | D | Penn State | 1998 | Madison (USHL) | Midget AAA | 7 | 4 |
| Nick Swaney | F | Minnesota Duluth | 1997 | Waterloo (USHL) | MN HS | 7 | 4.5 |
| Casey Mittelstadt | F | Minnesota | 1999 | Eden Prairie (MN HS) | MN HS | 7 | 5 |
| Marc Johnstone | F | Sacred Heart | 1997 | Chicago (USHL) | Midget AAA | 7 | 3.5 |
| Steven Jandric | F | Alaska Fairbanks | 1997 | Vernon (BCHL) | Midget AAA | 7 | 3.75 |
| Charlie Kelleher | F | UNH | 1998 | Sioux City (USHL) | USPHL / Midget AAA | 7 | 4.25 |
| Mikey Anderson | D | Minnesota Duluth | 1999 | Waterloo (USHL) | MN HS | 7 | 4 |
| Brennan Kapcheck | D | AIC | 1997 | Philadelphia (NAHL) | US Prep | 6 | 3.75 |
| Scott Perunovich | D | Minnesota Duluth | 1998 | Cedar Rapids(USHL) | MN HS | 6 | 4.25 |
| Max Johnson | F | Bowling Green | 1998 | Sioux Falls (USHL) | MN HS | 6 | 3.75 |
| Shane Bowers | F | Boston University | 1999 | Waterloo (USHL) | CAN Midget | 5 | 5 |
| Tarek Baker | F | Wisconsin | 1997 | Sioux City (USHL) | Midget AAA | 5 | 4.25 |
| Nick Austin | D | Colgate | 1997 | Madison (USHL) | MN HS | 5 | 3.75 |
| Linus Weissbach | F | Wisconsin | 1998 | Tri City (USHL) | Sweden | 5 | 4.5 |
| Mario Ferraro | D | Massachusetts | 1998 | Des Moines (USHL) | OJHL / CAN Midget | 5 | 4.75 |
| Phillip Knies | F | Miami Ohio | 1998 | Sioux City (USHL) | Midget AAA | 5 | 4 |
| Josh Norris | F | Michigan | 1999 | NTDP U18 | Midget AAA | 5 | 5 |
| Jack Adams | F | Union | 1997 | Fargo (USHL) | MA HS | 5 | 4.25 |
| Logan Ferguson | F | Holy Cross | 1997 | Canmore (AJHL) | CAN Midget | 5 | 3.75 |
| Cale Makar | D | Massachusetts | 1998 | Brooks (AJHL) | CAN Midget | 5 | 5 |
| Brady Tkachuk | F | Boston University | 1999 | NTDP U18 | Midget AAA | 5 | 4.75 |
| Wyatt Kalynuk | D | Wisconsin | 1997 | Cen. Illinois (USHL) | MJHL / CAN Midget | 5 | 4.25 |
Our findings show that of the 32 leading scorers in the freshman class, over 65 percent came from the USHL. Just over 12 percent came from NTDP and the final 21 percent came from a mix of the AJHL (6%), NAHL (6%), BCHL (3%), OJHL (3%) and MN HS (3%)
| League | # | % |
| USHL | 21 | 65.6% |
| NTDP | 4 | 12.5% |
| NAHL | 2 | 6.3% |
| AJHL | 2 | 6.3% |
| BCHL | 1 | 3.1% |
| OJHL | 1 | 3.1% |
| MN HS | 1 | 3.1% |
Before their junior hockey careers, these players came out of Midget AAA (34%), Minnesota High School (28%), Canadian Midget (19%), US Prep (9%), Massachusetts High School (6%) and Sweden (3%). There were five prospects who played junior hockey in between this stage and their final league; they played in the BCHL (1), OJHL (1), USPHL (1), NAHL (1) and MJHL (1). This shows that these 32 skaters chose a league out of high school or midget and they remained in that league until they went to college.
| League Prior | # | % |
| Midget AAA | 11 | 34.4% |
| MN HS | 9 | 28.1% |
| CAN Midget | 6 | 18.8% |
| US Prep | 3 | 9.4% |
| MA HS | 2 | 6.3% |
| Sweden | 1 | 3.1% |
The birth year breakdown is interesting because there are no ’96-born players listed in the top 32 scorers. The data shows 21-year-old-old freshman are more likely to make immediate impacts given their longer junior hockey careers. However, not a single 21-year-old is in the top 32 freshman scorers in from the opening month. Of the top scorers, 37.5 percent are ’97s (20-year-olds), 40.6 percent are ’98s (19-year-olds) and 22 percent are ’99s (18-year-olds).
| Birth Year | # | % |
| 1996 | 0 | 0 |
| 1997 | 12 | 37.5% |
| 1998 | 13 | 40.6% |
| 1999 | 7 | 21.9% |
Lastly, the star rating breakdown shows that over 78 percent of these players were ranked four stars and above, with only one player rated a 3.5 (Marc Johnston from Sacred Heart).
| Star Rate | # | % |
| 5 | 5 | 15.6% |
| 4.75 | 3 | 9.4% |
| 4.5 | 2 | 6.3% |
| 4.25 | 7 | 21.9% |
| 4 | 8 | 25.0% |
| 3.75 | 6 | 18.8% |
| 3.5 | 1 | 3.1% |
What does this all mean?
While the sample size is small–many of these players haven’t even played 25 percent of their season yet–it shows some trends. First, there isn’t a single 21-year-old in the top 32 freshman scorers, meaning this year we are not seeing many immediate-impact older freshman. The average age of this collection of players is 19. Secondly, we are seeing all the five-star prospects in the top 32 as well as many 4.75-4 star players, which shows that high-caliber performance at the junior level translates well to the NCAA.
Highlights:
Player: Cameron Wright of Bowling Green is a pleasant surprise as the only three-star caliber prospect (3.75 star) in the top 10 in NCAA freshman scoring. He also comes right out of St. Michael’s in the OJHL, which makes him the only representative from that league.
League: The USHL dominated in this study, proving to be the leading producer of NCAA talent in North America. It’s also important to note that 28 percent of these players came from the Minnesota High School system.
School: There are schools with multiple players on the top 32 scoring list, but UMass Amherst’s top-rated freshman all made the list: Cale Makar (5 Star), Mario Ferraro (4.75 Star), John Leonard (4 Star) and Oliver Chau (4 Star). Second to UMass Amherst is a three-way tie between UNH, Wisconsin and Minnesota Duluth with three players each. UNH has Max Gildon (4.75 Star), Benton Maass (4 Star) and Charlie Kelleher (4.25 Star); Minnesota Duluth has Nick Swaney (4.5 Star), Mikey Anderson (4 Star) and Scott Perunovich (4.25 Star). Lastly, Wisconsin has Linus Wiessbach (4.5 Star), Tarek Baker (4.25 Star) and Wyatt Kalynuk (4.25 Star). Boston University and Bowling Green have two players on the list, while the rest have just one.
Goaltenders
The goaltending stats are less reliable than skater stats because some of these goalies have only played in two games and have faced less than 60 shots. So we looked at the top 10 freshman goaltenders who had played in at least two games with a save percentage of .900 or higher.
| Name | Pos | College | BY | Previous Team | Prior League | SV % | Rate |
| Matthew Galajda | G | Cornell | 1997 | Victoria (BCHL) | CAN Prep | 0.98 | 3.75 |
| Eric Dop | G | Bowling Green | 1998 | Tri City (USHL) | Midget AAA | 0.93 | 3.75 |
| David Hrenak | G | St. Cloud | 1998 | Green Bay (USHL) | Slovakia | 0.92 | 4 |
| Darion Hanson | G | Union | 1997 | Vernon (BCHL) | USHL / NAHL | 0.92 | 3.75 |
| Brian Wilson | G | Niagara | 1996 | Powell River (BCHL) | AJHL / CCHL | 0.92 | 3.5 |
| Dylan St. Cyr | G | Notre Dame | 1999 | NTDP U18 | Midget AAA | 0.91 | 4 |
| Matt Murray | G | Massachusetts | 1998 | Fargo (USHL) | AJHL / CAN Midget | 0.91 | 4 |
| Keith Petruzzelli | G | Quinnipiac | 1999 | Muskegon (USHL) | Midget AAA / MA HS | 0.91 | 4.75 |
| Jeremy Swayman | G | Maine | 1998 | Sioux Falls (USHL) | Midget AAA | 0.9 | 4 |
| Mareks Mitens | G | Lake Superior | 1998 | Philadelphia (NAHL) | Latvia | 0.9 | 3.75 |
All of these goaltenders came from junior hockey, with 50 percent from USHL, 30 percent from BCHL and one from NTDP and NAHL.
| League | # | % |
| USHL | 5 | 50% |
| BCHL | 3 | 30% |
| NAHL | 1 | 10% |
| NTDP | 1 | 10% |
There was only one ’96 netminder in the group and only two ’97s and ’99s. The other 50 percent were ’98s.
| Birth Year | # | % |
| 1996 | 1 | 10% |
| 1997 | 2 | 20% |
| 1998 | 5 | 50% |
| 1999 | 2 | 20% |
The highest rated goalie in the country was Keith Petruzzelli, but the majority of goalies in this list are either 4 stars or 3.75 stars. One was a 3.5 star and another a 4.75 star.
| Rate | # | % |
| 4.75 | 1 | 10% |
| 4 | 4 | 40% |
| 3.75 | 4 | 40% |
| 3.5 | 1 | 10% |
At the end of the November we will circle back and run a similar analysis while including the Ivy League Schools as well as other players who may have been injured. It is important to check the
Photo Credit: Hickling Images
