Your 2016-17 RPI Engineers

Over the weekend, the Troy Record's Ed Weaver had a story on the Class of 2020, the incoming freshmen for next season. As with his story a few weeks ago that included the particulars of the schedule, this is out in advance of the official release, but as it includes quotes from Seth Appert regarding the incoming players, we may as well take it to the bank on its reliability.

The incoming class is about what we expected following the most recent recruiting news from last week, in which defenseman T.J. Samec, who turned 21 three weeks ago, announced his commitment. That meant he had to be part of this year's class, and it created a few questions as to what that commitment meant for the expected roster - and basically everything we guessed on Twitter came true.

So without further ado, here's what we're looking at for the upcoming season.

Forwards

Gone: Milos Bubela, Travis Fulton, Mark Miller, Zach Schroeder.

Returning: Riley Bourbonnais, Lonnie Clary, Jimmy DeVito, Kenny Gillespie, Viktor Liljegren, Drew Melanson, Lou Nanne, Jesper Öhrvall, Alex Rodriguez, Evan Tironese, Jake Wood.

Arriving: Todd Burgess, Jacob Hayhurst, Patrick Polino, Brady Wiffen.

Among the guaranteed starters are Bourbonnais, DeVito, Liljegren, Melanson, Nanne, Öhrvall, Tironese, and Wood. When available, expect them in the lineup without fail, because that's pretty much what the case was for these eight forwards last season. Based on their play late last season, it's likely that Gillespie and Rodriguez have a higher likelihood of joining that group as well.

Wiffen we're listing as "arriving" even though he's been in Troy and training with the team (and going to class) over the past season. He is quite obviously an addition to the team since he has yet to officially skate even in an exhibition, and will be a sophomore next season. His designation as co-most improved on the team from last year (alongside Parker Reno) is impressive considering that he never got the opportunity to suit up in an official game, which heightens the likelihood that we'll see him more often than not on the ice.

Among the other new faces, it's hard not to see Burgess getting plenty of opportunities early in his collegiate career. As the NAHL's leading scorer - by a lot - who has earned glowing reviews for his play and could possibly hear his named called in the NHL Draft next month at the age of 20 (a rare occurrence), he seems more likely than not to have the capacity to step in and start contributing immediately.

There has been less banter in the last year on Hayhurst in part because he managed just 9 goals this year in 57 games for Cedar Rapids in the USHL, but it's worth bearing in mind that he only just turned 19 in January. There's still an upside to his game that we'll probably see as he continues to develop, and we'll probably see a good amount of him early in the Cherry and White.

It's hard to keep 12 players healthy for an entire season (as we've seen recently), so players that end up 13th and 14th on the depth chart are probably going to see a fair amount of ice time as well - good news for guys like Polino and Clary. The former may well see plenty of spot duty in the Fulton role of the undersized energy guy. The latter last season got a few looks at the ice in 11 games but will probably have to step things up to regularly crack the lineup this year.

As it stands, there are 15 forwards on the roster. This is probably enough, but we know Appert prefers to carry 16 and it's been a struggle to stay there. There was supposed to be 16 last season, but the late word on Wiffen that he was ineligible kept it at 15. Appert is quoted in Weaver's story that they "may add another forward," so we'll keep eyes peeled on that front.

Defensemen

Gone: Chris Bradley, Phil Hampton.

Returning: Bradley Bell, Tommy Grant, Meirs Moore, Mike Prapavessis, Parker Reno, Jared Wilson.

Arriving: Charles Manley, Will Reilly, T.J. Samec.

From the looks of things, five of the six regular spots in a healthy lineup are pretty much sewn-up. Prapavessis, Reno, and Wilson proved completely indispensable last year, Moore missed just one game during his freshman season, and Grant earned pretty much universal praise for his play late in the year in place of an injured Reno - and indeed, was named the team's Rookie of the Year. All five are likely to be regulars in the lineup when healthy.

That leaves a sixth spot open between Bell, Manley, Reilly, and Samec. There's a lot we don't know about all four of these players, but it's likely that we'll see a situation where the sixth spot will go to whoever earns the time in practice on a week-in, week-out basis.

With Bell, the question is on what the reason was for his lack of playing time last season - he appeared in just three games last year, and he was dressed as a forward in one of those games. In his first two years, he's seen the ice in just 22 games total. Manley we've known about for the last five seasons and all we really know for sure about him is that his arrival has been twice delayed - he's been described as a puck-mover but his junior stats haven't made that readily apparent. Reilly and Samec, meanwhile, were very recent additions (with Samec in particular committing only last week). Reilly brings additional offensive potential to the table, while Samec brings size and physical play.

As we've seen in recent years, that sixth defenseman spot is sometimes taken regularly (as it was last year with Hampton, who was arguably well higher than sixth on the depth chart by the end of the year), and sometimes it's a game-to-game concern. A betting man would probably lean closer to the latter for this coming season, but having those top five spots pretty much locked down already is a great place to be.

Goaltenders

Gone: Sam Goodman, Jason Kasdorf.

Returning: Cam Hackett.

Arriving: Chase Perry.

The situation in net will get interesting as the Engineers will have a returning ECAC All-Rookie selection in Hackett and a transfer NHL draft pick in Perry to choose from, both sophomores but both with very strong bonafides. We're likely to see both Hackett and Perry earn a solid amount of ice-time. This will be the first time that the Engineers have had both of its top two netminders in the same class since 2004.

There will be a third goaltender added to the list at some point, however this is mostly function over form in terms of how it will impact the team. The new practice goaltender will replace Goodman, who played the final 46 seconds of the season for his first and only experience in net - this is traditionally the norm among third-string goalies. Once we know who that is, the situation in net is likely to be stable for at least the next two, if not three seasons.

Overall outlook

The bottom line on this team, as it has been the last two seasons, is going to be a need to get some offense. The pundits will probably question the defense because of Kasdorf's graduation, but that shouldn't be an area of major concern, not with what returns on the blue line and the displayed abilities of both Hackett and Perry.

The good news is that there are plenty of avenues for new offense that wasn't there last season, far more than this team has had in recent years. Tironese and Wiffen are in many ways new additions over last season. Tironese will be a redshirt freshman after missing nearly the entire year to an injury picked up in the Union weekend. At the time of his injury, he was leading the team in scoring with 7 points in his first 6 games. Wiffen led the OJHL in scoring in 2015, and Burgess did the same in the NAHL in 2016. Those three additions, especially if they can contribute out of the gate the way Tironese did last year, could be a huge shot in the arm offensively.

Then you have other cases. Melanson had a hard time staying healthy last season after a very promising freshman campaign. Bourbonnais led the team in scoring, but was on a more torrid pace before he got injured and wasn't quite the same when he got back. Liljegren seemed to do everything but score on occasion, as did Öhrvall, his countryman. Nanne became a serious redirect threat and one of the more dangerous scorers in the league in the second half of the season.

That's eight players with the demonstrated potential to do great things on offense. The key will be for them to tap that full potential in the coming season. If they can do that, great things could be in the offing.

The Engineers last averaged 3 goals scored per game in 2002. Perhaps not coincidentally, that is also the last year they made it to Lake Placid. There are only four teams that have gone longer without registering 3.00 GPG in a season - American International, Army, Alaska-Anchorage, and Lake Superior State. Literally every other team in the ECAC has done it. Even Alabama-Huntsville has done it. And since 2002, the Engineers have exceeded the national median GPG only twice - in 2004 (21st out of 58) and 2013 (26th out of 59). Five times since, they've been in the bottom 10 nationally on offense (2003, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2015). It's been far too long since this was a goal-scoring team.

Maybe it's time for that to change - and maybe this might be the year that it does.

Taking a quick peek at upcoming classes of recruits...

2017-18
Out: Bourbonnais, DeVito, Wood, Reno
In: Emil Öhrvall, Cory Babichuk (?), Austin Cho.

Certainly the blue line has been firmed up to some extent for 2017. With only Parker Reno graduating, the likelihood is that Cho will be his replacement, with Babichuk ready to come in if Mike Prapavessis signs with the Dallas Stars after this coming season. Cho had initially been set for 2016, but had a tough start to his season in the BCHL. Babichuk might be best moved to 2018 given his own rough 2015-16 campaign, but he should at least have a year of AJHL hockey under his belt by the end of next season.

Meanwhile, it's forwards that are needed to fill out the smaller-than-usual Class of 2021. Öhrvall is a tremendous first entry here, but two more forwards are likely needed at a minimum, depending on whether a 16th forward is added for 2016.

2018-19
Out: Gillespie, Liljegren, Nanne, Melanson, Bell, Prapavessis, Wilson
In: Jon Bendorf, Jacob Modry, Babichuk (?)

If Babichuk is indeed coming in 2018, this class is certainly out of the gate well in terms of assembly. There's still a need for at least three more forwards and probably one more defenseman, but there is certainly time to put those pieces in place. We should learn more about this class in the coming months.

We're also likely to land the first RPI recruit born in the year 2000 sometime in the next year. This is probably the first possible class where we'd see such a recruit playing for the Institute.

A Rigged Game

College hockey has a remarkable ebb and flow to it, historically. Ten years ago, it seemed like nothing could ever stop the WCHA. From 2000 to 2006, the conference won the national title six times. From 1994 through 2010, there were no first-time national champions.

And now look at things. Since 2007, just one WCHA crown (and in modern terms, one Big Ten and one NCHC national championship). Since 2011, four of five national champions have been first-timers. And they're from places you wouldn't expect. Yale. Union. Providence. Your last three in a row, none of which were highly fancied at the beginning of their seasons.

Welcome to the new landscape of college hockey. It's all part and parcel of a history that created nationally recognizable programs in places like Colorado College and Clarkson and, until a couple of years ago, a highly insular structure with no national conferences to speak of.

And then along came the Big Ten.

"Men’s ice hockey is slightly more important to the Big Ten Network’s revenue stream than women’s field hockey, yet the conference was willing to blow up college hockey for a few hours of auxiliary programming," writes Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune this week. It's a perfect breakdown of why the hockey version of the Big Ten came into being, and what it did to the college hockey landscape. It was about programming for a conference television network focused on football and basketball, but needing other attractions to really make it tick. And it completely unraveled the long-standing order of things, especially out west.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the Big Ten bigfooting the rest of college hockey. It didn't.

For a small conference - the smallest member-wise in college hockey - the Big Ten outpunches its size. Its six member schools have combined to win 23 national championships, more than any other conference (17 for the NCHC, 13 for Hockey East, 8 for the WCHA, 7 for the ECAC). But that's an accounting of the past, and this is now.

In its first season, the Big Ten did earn two of the #1 seedings in the NCAA tournament. But last year, its champion - Minnesota - could only manage a #3 seed, and the Gophers were the only Big Ten entrant, unceremoniously dumped by Minnesota-Duluth in the first round. Wisconsin labored last season as one of the worst teams in the nation, and this year, the entire conference outside of Michigan and Penn State is slouching out of the gate with pretty rough records.

So where's the problem? How did big money Minnesota, with its 10,000 seat arena and regional TV contract get embarrassed on national television in 2014 by a small liberal arts school in Upstate New York that plays its home games in a tea cup?

The answer lies heavily in the difference in the way Union and many small schools have been recruiting. If you've been paying close enough attention, the recent Frozen Four appearances by Bemidji State, RIT, Ferris State, and Union should not be blowing your mind. They're instructive instead. These schools don't grab the blue-chip prospects ready for college hockey when they turn 18. Those players go to Boston University (like Jack Eichel), or Michigan (like Dylan Larkin), or Wisconsin (like Nic Kerdiles). And they don't go there very long. Eichel and Larkin left after their freshman years, Kerdiles after his sophomore year.

No, Union built a national championship on the backs of older players who developed longer in junior hockey. Guys that were more experienced as freshmen at the age of 20 or 21 than even those blue-chippers. The next first-round draft pick may not be coming to play for Quinnipiac, but they'll gladly live with bringing in an older player who's going to be around for four years - and potentially playing as seniors at the age of 24 and 25. It's a great equalizer.

And the Big Ten has decided that it isn't fair.  (If you haven't read the story yet, click the link. Adam Wodon of College Hockey News breaks it down very well.)

Their solution? Without consulting the rest of the college hockey world at the annual meeting in Naples, FL, they decided instead to unilaterally submit legislation to be voted on by the NCAA - which they can do because they're the only "all sports conference" in college hockey - that would reduce the age limit before recruits will lose eligibility from 21 to 20.

The big, bad Big Ten needs the playing field leveled against those piteous little upstarts in Canton, NY and Duluth, MN, don't you see? It's just not fair.

Now, hockey does differ from most NCAA sports in the average age of freshmen, but it differs from most NCAA sports in a lot of other ways, too. Major league draftees don't lose eligibility. The aforementioned lack of "all sports conferences." The season length is longer. And of course, the sheer number of "play-up" teams. These are all by-products of college hockey's long-term niche presence and the nature of youth and junior hockey structures.

The Big Ten's excuse for all of this is that they're simply trying to bring hockey closer to being in line with the rest of the NCAA, even though it would be completely unacceptable to require recruits to be on campus immediately after they graduate high school. And why is that? What's the rationale?

We wrote five years ago about the recruiting game and how the NHL was changing things. The NCAA is becoming an ever increasing route for players to reach the pros - more than 30% of NHL players are NCAA alums now, as opposed to just over 20% a decade ago, and far less a decade before that. There was a time that even the very best players would stay for their entire four-year college career before jumping to the NHL. Today, pro contracts can frequently be in the offing even for guys that aren't likely to get a whole lot of ice time at the highest level, to say nothing of the blue-chip prospects.

Ironically, when we wrote that, we were expecting Brandon Pirri and Jerry D'Amigo to return to Troy for their sophomore seasons - and they didn't. So schools like RPI aren't looking for the Pirris and D'Amigos anymore. They're looking for the Chase Polaceks and Nick Bailens. It's the Mat Bodies and Jesse Roots of the world that are winning national championships. It's guys that are staying in college, finishing their education, and playing for four years that are powering the best teams in the country.

Most players who are playing in juniors into their early 20s aren't going to be NHL prospects - if they were, they'd have been pushed to college already, or headed off to major junior. But these players are also far more likely to graduate one day - which is supposed to be the point first and foremost.

Now, does this proposal explode the system? Not entirely. Players are still going to be able to mature in juniors for a couple of seasons before coming to college. But it stinks for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the underhanded way the Big Ten went about doing this. They are trying to ram it through with a vote among college administrators of whom a majority doesn't care a lick about hockey (which should sound familiar if you remember the Prop 65 battle a decade ago). They're doing it over the protestations of the vast majority of college hockey coaches (who opposed the measure 49-11 in a straw poll of all 60 of them), and probably worst of all, it skews things more in the favor of the schools that already have a lot of the advantages when it comes to recruiting in the first place.

Yes, these same institutions who don't bat an eye at accepting the commitment of players not even old enough to drive - and sometimes not even old enough to be in high school - have a problem with RIT stocking their roster with 21-year-old Canadian freshmen. Hear that? That's the sound of the world's tiniest violin. Getting beat by 24 and 25 year olds? Why don't you recruit some 20 and 21 year old freshmen yourself? Seems reasonable enough. Instead of adapting, however, these schools just want to rig the game in their favor instead.

College hockey continues to change. Beyond the Big Ten, it started changing again last year when Arizona State decided to go varsity, a move which could well encourage more big money schools to do the same in parts of the country previously untouched by college hockey. It's good for the sport. But it brings with it the challenge of maintaining traditions. I always love to point out the 1996 national championship game between Michigan and Colorado College as a perfect example of what makes college hockey special - in any other sport, the Wolverines would easily crush the Tigers, but in hockey, the titan and the minnow can meet on equal terms. Perhaps the 2014 title game is an even better example - the minnow won.

But we risk losing that if legislation like this is allowed to go through, especially in the manner that the power schools are trying to accomplish it. And that would be a complete shame.

Desertion

It's a kick in the gut no matter when it happens and where it happens - a promising young player decides to take off for major junior.

These things tend to happen far more frequently with top level programs, the ones that grace the NCAA tournament more often than not. Those programs are usually more easily able to absorb the hit.

So it's an extra whammy when it happens to RPI. It's even worse when it's a goaltender.

That's what's happened to the Engineers. Alec Dillon, who's been expected on campus this coming August since back in September 2013, is off to the Edmonton Oil Kings of the WHL. RPI's plans for the most crucial single position in the game, set for nearly two full years, have just been thrown in the garbage.

We've warned that Dillon was a flight risk in the past. Edmonton specifically went out of their way to acquire his rights despite his "commitment" to RPI. But we thought his year spent in the USHL was a pretty solid sign that he was bound for Troy after all, especially since he could have been in the WHL this past season if he'd wanted to be. Oops.

What changed, and when? We may never know. Perhaps the Los Angeles Kings decided their property would develop better in major junior than in college (they of incumbent starting goaltender Jonathan Quick, a UMass alum). Perhaps Edmonton waved enough money and fed enough lines. Doesn't matter. The result from our perspective is still the same. It's another kick in the stomach for a program that has had plenty of them in the recent past.

Appert's comments to Ken Schott pretty much tell the entire story:

“I was surprised because he had given us his word for two years,” Appert said Saturday. “That’s the way we recruit. We recruit personally. We have a good relationship. My deal is that we don’t mass recruit. I’ll give you my word that we won’t recruit another goalie. If you give us your word, it’s a done deal and not continue to explore options. 

“He, obviously, decided to change his mind on that.”

We mentioned when the incoming freshmen press release came out that Seth Appert believed a Kasdorf-Dillon platoon was possibly the best one-two punch in net in the entire nation. Now, we'll never know. It leaves the team in a precarious position heading into next season, as the goaltending corps now comprises a very talented but often injured starter and a senior who played club hockey for two years.

The reaction from these parts is more annoyance than disappointment. We've written at length about the CHL/NCAA divide. It's something every single NCAA program with talented players has to deal with pretty much all the time - if you think the Engineers are safe from Mike Prapavessis potentially ending up in London some day just because he's played a complete season in the Cherry and White already, think again.

So let's not waste words on what could have been. Dillon made his choice, and no matter what you think of it, moving on from it is in everyone's best interest.

Moving on means finding another goaltender for 2015-16. As you can imagine, the options aren't vast with puck drop only about four months away. #1 goaltenders these days are usually found a couple of years in advance (like with what's his name that isn't coming).

What's out there? We'll spitball for you. Here are a few potential names that could (and should) drop in the next month or so. Ages are as of August. Bear in mind that RPI's academic standards may potentially make some players ineligible, but that's nothing we'd know anything about. These names are ranked more or less in the order of preference in terms of who we'd like to see fill the void.

Adam Huska - 18 - Zvolen, Slovakia

It isn't known 100% if Huska is even looking at playing college hockey, but if you want a netminder on the NHL's current radar, Huska is really the top one available for next season that could potentially accept an NCAA scholarship. He was ranked as the 5th best North American goaltender eligible for the 2015 NHL Entry Draft in the midterm rankings (as he was on Green Bay's roster in the USHL at the time), but has since slid to 16th, still better than prospects bound for places like Boston College and Minnesota. His countryman and teammate on last year's Slovakia U-18 team, Matej Tomek, is bound for North Dakota. If he's willing to spend a full year in the USHL next season, he could find himself a similar gig with a power program. If RPI could tempt him to become the second Slovak on the roster next season, they could find themselves with a large (6'3") goalie who could make that one guy who just left easily forgotten.

Matt Jurusik - 18 - La Grange, IL

Ranked 21st among North American netminders on the CSB's midterm rankings, Jurusik was unranked in the final accounting but still had a pretty outstanding season as the top choice goaltender for the Janesville Jets of the NAHL. The Jets were the NAHL's top team during the regular season, and Jurusik's play (1.57, .939 in 40 games) was a big reason for that. He led the Jets deep into the playoffs with a further 1.89, .931 in 9 games. He earned a bronze medal with Team USA's Ivan Hlinka tournament team last summer. At 6'1", he'd be exactly the same size as the netminder he'd be replacing on the roster. Like Huska, he'd represent a potential future #1 goaltender for the team, and he would certainly benefit from a season as Kasdorf's understudy, as he may still be a little bit raw for the NCAA right out of the gate - but the talent is certainly there, as he demonstrated this season, his first since graduating from the Midwest's Tier 1 Elite League. He's going to be playing college hockey eventually, the only question is when. As with Huska, he might be a 2016 arrival for a program with more visibility, but who knows if he could be tempted into the NCAA for next season with the chance to platoon right away?

Cam Hackett - 19 - Sault Ste. Marie, ON

Formerly committed to Cornell, Hackett has been in limbo this season after he decommitted from the Big Red in February 2014, about 14 months after giving his verbal. He had originally been slated to arrive in Ithaca this past fall - supposedly, his decision to look elsewhere was driven by Cornell's request that he delay his arrival by a year. This season, with the Lincoln Stars of the USHL, he had a stat line of 3.85, .895 in 43 games as Lincoln struggled through a difficult campaign that could have been far worse without him. A fairly high (4th-round) OHL draft pick by the Owen Sound Attack, Hackett probably could have played this past season in major junior had he been so inclined to do so, but as with that guy that just departed for the WHL, that option does still remain open to him. As with Weyrick, the fact that he was previously associated with an ECAC team is a solid indicator that he'd be a fit academically, and he is similar in stature at 6'2". The Big Red beat out interest from BU, Michigan State, North Dakota, and Wisconsin to initially land Hackett. Those are the kind of teams usually on the lookout for the best of the best and little else.

Blake Weyrick - 19 - Malibu, CA

A former Brown commit, Weyrick is an alum of the US Under-17 and Under-18 teams (though he played second-string most of the time to current Michigan State goaltender Edwin Minney). He's an interesting option that would fall into the category of "high-risk, high-reward." You don't make a U-17 or U-18 roster without having a lot of great potential, but over the course of the last three seasons, he hasn't seen a great deal of playing time. His NHL stock fell precipitously last season, going from 3rd among North American goaltenders, a sure draft selection in the midterm rankings, to 15th in the final rankings, ultimately going undrafted. This year, he was beaten out by some guy who just bolted for the WHL for the starting job with Tri-City of the USHL, eventually landing in the NAHL with Janesville, but he spent much of the season as the second choice to Jurusik. There's a lot of potential here. He got into Brown but decommitted over a lack of financial aid. He's likely got the academic background that would work at RPI, he'd likely at least be able to earn an athletic scholarship, and the school could certainly represent a new beginning for him. Appert could take a flier on the 6'3" Weyrick and see if he develops into the potential that once had him as a surefire top-end NHL draft pick.

Jared Rutledge - 21 - Chicago, IL

Rutledge would be an intriguing option for the Engineers because of his eligibility situation. He played 10 games at Michigan in 2012-13, putting up a pretty rough stat line of 4.24, .854 before leaving to return to the USHL, where he's been the past two seasons. That means he's got only two seasons of NCAA eligibility remaining - potentially allowing RPI a bit of a bridge to go out and find a new top-end netminding prospect.  He was the starter in the season opener for the Wolverines his freshman year despite an eye injury that required surgery during the preseason. This season in the USHL, he served as the backup in Tri-City for some guy who just went to the WHL, putting up an impressive 2.20, .920 line in 20 games. Rutledge also saw six games between the pipes for Janesville of the NAHL (there they are again!). He would be eligible to play immediately, but at 5'11" is definitely short by Seth Appert goaltender standards.

Jonah Imoo - 21 - Surrey, BC

Another interesting older possibility for RPI, Imoo has aged out of the BCHL after three full seasons as a starting netminder in the league. In 2012, he was named the top goaltender in the World Junior A Challenge while leading Canada West to the silver medal. As the Merritt Centennials' starter this year, Imoo has the top numbers from the BCHL among uncommitted goaltenders. His father, Dusty, is a goaltending development coach for the Winnipeg Jets, but some scouting reports from a few years back suggested that he needed to become a bit more consistent. If he's worked out those issues since then, his 6'1" frame is probably enough to fit into the RPI system, but bringing him in would probably require the Engineers to go out and find an even stronger goaltending recruit for 2016.

Kevin Aldridge - 21 - Beverly Hills, MI

The Engineers have been picking up players from the Fairbanks Ice Dogs of the NAHL left and right, so why not one of their goaltenders? Aldridge was the top choice netminder for Fairbanks in 2014 when they won the NAHL title (along with Viktor Liljegren and future Engineer Todd Burgess). He then headed to Lake Superior State, where he made only two starts and four total appearances (4.80, .833) before leaving school in December and returning to Fairbanks. He left in part because he had been recruited by the previous coaching staff, and the current one wasn't giving him much ice time. The first major hangup with Aldridge is that he would require a waiver from the NCAA to be able to play next season since he suited up for LSSU last year, and those waivers have gotten pretty stingy in recent years. The second is that he stands just 5'8", which is absolutely lilliputian for the way Appert wants his goalies.

Colin DeAugustine - 20 - Burgettstown, PA

The Youngstown Phantoms were the best team in the USHL during the regular season, led by its strong offense but also by its solid platoon in between the pipes. BC commit Chris Birdsall had the better numbers, but not by much over DeAugustine (31 games, 2.68, .910). An older goaltender who hasn't yet caught on with a college program, he could fit in well as an experienced guy who'll make for a more than capable backup to Kasdorf in the coming year. He made several highlight reels in March with this idiotic save that shows off his flexibility, but like Aldridge, count his size against him in RPI having a great deal of interest in his services. He's slightly taller at 5'9", but he still doesn't quite fill the goalmouth the way pretty much all Appert recruits have in the past.

Your 2015-16 RPI Engineers

Hot on the heels of a later than usual schedule release comes an earlier than usual incoming freshman release from RPI. We were closer this year than in most recent years to figuring out exactly who was coming in and who was not - ultimately, only Carlos Fornaris and Charlie Manley were among the potential recruits for this season whose arrival will be delayed until 2016.

With that in mind, here's the early look at how the transition from last season into next is looking now that we know who's comprising the roster.

Forwards

Gone: Jacob Laliberte, Mark McGowan, Matt Neal.

Returning: Riley Bourbonnais, Milos Bubela, Jimmy DeVito, Travis Fulton, Kenny Gillespie, Viktor Liljegren, Drew Melanson, Mark Miller, Lou Nanne, Zach Schroeder, Jake Wood.

Arriving: Lonnie Clary, Jesper Öhrvall, Alex Rodriguez, Evan Tironese, Brady Wiffen.

The Engineers get some much needed depth up front by replacing three graduating seniors with five incoming freshmen. The extent that defensemen were being forced to play forward last year was pretty rough with only two reserve forwards when the team was healthy, which was basically never last year.

All but two of the returning Engineers played regular roles on the offense last season - Gillespie got plenty of playing time late in the season due to injuries, while Fulton, who has played a spark-plug role since his arrival, suffered a season-ending injury midway through the year. Even among those who were dressed when healthy, Bubela, Melanson, Nanne, and Schroeder all missed significant amounts of time.

Clary should fit a physical role that DeVito and Wood specialize in and also the energy role we've seen from Fulton. He provides good coverage in those often less appreciated areas of the game. Öhrvall, Tironese, and Wiffen project as goal-scorers, while Rodriguez should be an outstanding playmaker. Those four will likely find it hard to all be dressed together, but expect at least Tironese (assuming he's ready to go injury-wise, since he's coming off a season-ending shoulder injury) and Öhrvall to find regular niches in the lineup, while Wiffen and Rodriguez are also likely to be dressed more often than not, depending on the situation.

Ultimately, this is a group that simply has to be improving on its 1.88 goals per game average from last year, and there's going to be a healthy amount of competition for ice time with the added depth. Even for players who were among the top forwards on last year's team, anyone not pulling their weight could well find themselves in a suit and tie on game night.

Defensemen

Gone: Luke Curadi, Curtis Leonard.

Returning: Bradley Bell, Craig Bokenfohr, Chris Bradley, Phil Hampton, Mike Prapavessis, Parker Reno, Jared Wilson.

Arriving: Tommy Grant, Meirs Moore.

The blue line was about to get considerably smaller, before Grant's commitment late last month, as Moore and Charlie Manley both stand quite a bit shorter than the men they would have replaced together in the rear echelon. Instead, it only gets a little bit shorter (Grant stands 6'3") and it gets a little more offensive-minded with the addition of Moore, and that's certainly the direction the Engineers seem to be moving in.

Assessing the defense is a touch easier than assessing the offense if only because there are fewer defensemen than there are forwards. Three of the six spots are basically filled already on a healthy team: Bradley, Prapavessis, and Wilson are guys who are going to dress when they're healthy and available no matter what. We saw that last year with them already, and those three guys are definitely the core of the defense this coming season. A fourth spot is all but a lock for Bell, who fought injuries last season but came on strong in regular play late in the year and into the playoffs.

That leaves five players competing for the remaining two spots, and we can probably count on one of them becoming a regular. Bokenfohr and Hampton will be seniors, but have basically spent their first three years making spot appearances. Bokenfohr tends to run hot and cold (rarely in-between) and can be semi-regular when he's playing well. Hampton does well when he's called upon to fill in but he hasn't really approached a potential regular starting role the way Bokenfohr sometimes has.

Grant, Moore, and Reno remain as options, and as an upperclassman, you'd have to think Reno's got the inside edge. The junior-to-be out of Edina, MN has played 38 games in two years, which is a little under 50% of the total games the Engineers have played in that stretch (that's 11 more than Hampton and five less than Bokenfohr, who have accrued their totals in three years).

Best guess is that the order of likelihood for that fifth regular spot is going to be Reno, Bokenfohr, Moore, and Grant, with Hampton very likely to remain a capable reserve. Expect the two freshmen, however, to get a decent amount of playing time in that sixth spot if they aren't regularly starting.

Goaltenders

Gone: Scott Diebold, Jake Soffer.

Returning: Sam Goodman, Jason Kasdorf.

Arriving: Alec Dillon.

As always, goaltending is the most straightforward of the positions, but it gets a little murky this season with an unusual couple of occurrences and a medical redshirt involved.

Goodman became a de facto part of the varsity squad during the 2013-14 season when the former club netminder stood in as the practice goalie following Kasdorf's season-crushing shoulder injury in October 2013, and he became a full member at the beginning of last season. That led into the departure of sophomore Soffer, who decided to forgo two and a half seasons of eligibility to go pro - in the business world.

Add in the graduation of Diebold, and you've got two departing and two returning goaltenders, with one position open. Goodman, as far as we know, is firmly a practice and emergency goaltender, and Kasdorf, of course, is the rock upon which RPI will build its hardware dreams in 2015-16. That leaves open the #2 position, and in this case, it's more of an understudy than a backup.

That's the term we have long been using to describe Dillon's upcoming freshman season at RPI, and it rings true because he's preparing to become the top guy once Kasdorf moves on for Buffalo (which is almost certainly going to happen after next season, despite the academic senior's remaining redshirt year). He's practically ready for a full-time gig in the NCAA right away. After all, he did lead the USHL in goals against average last season. But he'll be able to be gradually introduced this way rather than being tossed onto the fire - and he makes for excellent insurance against another potentially devastating injury to Kasdorf, who has yet to stay healthy for an entire season in Troy in three tries.

Appert said in the press release announcing the incoming class that the Kasdorf-Dillon tandem "should" be the best duo in the nation between the pipes. That's entirely possible.

Overall outlook

Hard not to see a team that should be at least somewhat improved over last season on both ends of the ice. Most of RPI's best offensive talent is young - freshmen and sophomores - but the added depth and hopefully a good offseason of development for the rising sophomores should add a bit more kick to the attack in the coming year. The defense has shown potential to be stingier than they were last season, and all fingers are crossed that Kasdorf is able to get through the season without injury. That by itself will go a long way toward making the Engineers competitive again within the ECAC.

2016-17
Out: Bubela, Fulton, Miller, Schroeder, Bokenfohr, Bradley, Hampton, Goodman, Kasdorf(?)
In: Todd Burgess, Carlos Fornaris, Jacob Hayhurst, Emil Öhrvall(?), Austin Cho, Charlie Manley.

The Engineers are about where we'd like them to be about a year out from the expected announcement of the Class of 2020. Cho is a solid bet to get drafted in the NHL Entry Draft next month, he projects as a replacement on the blue line for Bradley. Charlie Manley's arrival has been pushed back twice now, we will be watching to see if he can find himself a job in the USHL, hopefully the third time is the charm. If the younger Öhrvall brother is coming in 2016, we can probably close the book on forwards for this class, but don't be surprised to see him come in 2017 instead, in which case, we're looking for one more forward. Diebold's functional replacement will likely need to be coming to RPI in this class, and that's a name we're hoping to see in the next few months.

By the way, an interesting little side note on Manley - with his arrival now pushed to 2016, he's now slated to replace either Bokenfohr or Hampton, both graduating, on the roster. Manley committed to RPI in December of 2011, Bokenfohr in February 2012, and Hampton in May 2012.

2017-18
Out: Bourbonnais, DeVito, Wood, Reno, Kasdorf(?)
In: Emil Öhrvall(?), Cory Babichuk.

Not a bad start for what should be a smaller than average Class of 2021, especially if this is the class Emil Öhrvall is targeted for. As mentioned above, a goaltender isn't likely a strong necessity here, so after a couple more forwards this class should be in the books. Don't be shocked if we find the first member of the Class of 2022 before the end of this calendar year.

Being a Little Forward

Once again, the fluid nature of recruiting and timing for a recruit's freshman year is leading to a bit of ambiguity as to what RPI's incoming class is going to look like. Last year, most of the confusion focused on the defensive situation. This year, it's up front as roster depth, injuries, and the ages of new recruits - including one who just committed last week - comes into play.

The situation on defense is pretty well known. Luke Curadi and Curtis Leonard have graduated, they project to be replaced by Meirs Moore and Charlie Manley. Scott Diebold graduated, he will be replaced by Alec Dillon.

At forward, it's not as clear cut. Seven forwards have been recruited by Seth Appert, Bryan Vines, Nolan Graham, and Marc Cavosie. Certainly, not all will be enrolled at the Institute by August, but just who will be isn't easy to know for sure.

The forward situation was dicey for RPI this season. With only 14 forwards on the roster, the Engineers were exposed to injury problems, and when the injury bug struck, the team had few options. Three different defensemen spent time occasionally playing forward this season because of the lack of depth. Therefore, with three forwards graduating - Jacob Laliberte, Matt Neal, and Mark McGowan - we should expect at least four, and possibly five forwards coming on board this season.

However, all seven forward recruits that are in the pipeline at the present time have been at various times linked with a potential 2016 arrival. So who's in the Cherry and White come October? Here's the analysis.

Sure Things
Brady Wiffen: There's nothing at all that points to Wiffen being anywhere but at the Institute next season. He's out of junior eligibility and he just completed a highly successful season in which he scored almost as many goals as the Engineers did this year. RPI needs at least four forwards, and he's easily one of them.

Jesper Öhrvall: The Swede's commitment to RPI came just a week shy of a full year from the time countryman and former Ice Dog Viktor Liljegren decided that the Institute was where he'd ply his trade. The only real difference is in age - while Liljegren had another year of junior eligibility when he committed, Öhrvall turns 21 in November, so he's got to come in for next season. He had injury problems this season, missing 33 games with a concussion and a neck injury, but he didn't lose his entire year to the maladies, and he picked up well when he got back on the ice. One of those four spaces is definitely his.

The Known Future
Jacob Hayhurst: Last year, Hayhurst was part of the future because he was too young to be on board for this season. This year, he's a high school graduate (or at least will be shortly), but everything has pointed to another year of juniors - specifically, in the USHL - to prepare him to be one of the key elements of the Class of 2020. It's no longer outside the realm of possibility, but the Engineers have too many other options available to rush him into college and start burning eligibility now.

Todd Burgess: With Öhrvall's commitment, we can safely say that his teammate in Fairbanks, Burgess, will be coming in 2016. There had been some possibility that he'd be in for 2015, but given his age and the readiness level of other commits, it's a very easy bet to make that he'll wait another year before college. It'll be interesting to watch where he goes this summer. He's not yet attached to a USHL team, but don't be surprised to see him move there next year.

Unknowns
Evan Tironese: Quite a change from last year at this time, when we had Tironese listed as a sure thing to be on campus in August 2014. Whoops. The highly awaited Tironese was long expected for this past season, but a rough experience in the USHL led him back to the BCHL, where he was on pace for a tremendous year before a shoulder injury sidelined him in November after just 19 games. Now the question is whether he's ready for college hockey right away coming off that long-term injury, or whether he should utilize that last season of junior eligibility to fully prepare for the NCAA. It's not outside the realm of possibility that Öhrvall is being brought in partially to allow Tironese that buffer time. Gut instinct says he's probably ready to come in regardless of the missed time - unless his injury won't allow him to be ready to play in October. That may be enough to see him back in the BCHL next year.

Alex Rodriguez: Twist our arms, and we'll still list Rodriguez as a likely fall arrival in Troy. By most accounts, he had a pretty decent year in the USHL, despite the lack of flashy offensive numbers that he became known for in high school. But, like Tironese, he does have another year of junior eligibility remaining, and if it's desired that he take another turn in the USHL - this time likely playing on one of Sioux City's top lines as many of the Musketeers' top offensive threats move on to college - that's something that's entirely possible. But it's not really necessary, either.

Carlos Fornaris: Like Tironese, Moore, and Manley, Fornaris was originally expected for 2014 when he committed to RPI, but was put off to 2015 likely due to his rough outing in the USHL in 2013-14. By most accounts he has had a far better year in the NAHL playing for Topeka, and while his offensive numbers, like fellow Miamian Rodriguez, don't exactly stick out, he doesn't project as a goal-scorer for the Engineers anyway - he's more likely to be a puck-mover and a playmaker similar to Mark Miller. If that's not the case, he does still have another year of junior eligibility at his disposal. So if four is the number, he's a candidate to be held for 2016.

Analysis
Five forwards wouldn't be out of the question. That would give the Engineers 16 on the roster, which is what they had from 2011 through 2013. It would also give them 28 total players, which is pretty high - although there may be a higher than normal number of non-scholarship skaters for a 26-man roster as it sat this season. It kinda feels like we can pencil in everyone in the "unknown" section for a 2015, at least as things stand now. If RPI lands another forward with a high probability of immediate arrival, we'll know at least one of the "unknowns" will be held back a season.

If it does end up being only four forwards, though, Tironese may again be the odd man out for the second year in a row - but probably only if there's any doubt whatsoever about where he's going to be physically come the start of the season. A very bright looking season was cut very short. Was that 19 game stretch enough to wipe out the issues he had playing in the USHL in 2013-14? Maybe. But for a player with the talent and promise of Tironese, it wouldn't be a complete shock if he's not added to the fold unless he's absolutely, 100% ready to roll.

UPDATE (4:12pm - 4/13/2015): Well, that didn't take long. Four and a half hours after this post originally went live, an eighth name was added to the list of forward recruits.

Lonnie Clary: The Riverside, CA native who committed to the Engineers today from the Fairbanks Ice Dogs (making him the second Ice Dog commit in as many weeks, and fourth in a little over a calendar year) turns 21 in September, which means he'll be incoming for this season. That makes for three '94 birth year forwards who lose eligibility if they aren't enrolled for this coming season. The early word on Clary - capable offensively, but a cursory look at his stats suggests an intimidating presence as well: he has accrued 333 PIM in three seasons in Fairbanks.

If we needed proof that one of the three "unknowns" is not coming to Troy in August, Clary is pretty much all we need. RPI might bring in five forwards (and probably will at this point), but not six. The only way the Engineers will see Tironese, Rodriguez, and Fornaris all on campus this fall is if one of the forwards currently scheduled to return next season has left or will leave school. Stay tuned.

Pipeline 2015: For Brains and Intellectual Worth

Last year, RPI's recruiting picture was a bit jumbled and difficult to predict, especially as it pertained to defensemen. This year, things are an awful lot clearer, and as you're about to see, there are a few players coming in who could be fairly exciting to watch fairly quickly.

Welcome to Without a Peer's annual "pipeline" feature, which every year in mid-to-late January takes a close look at the future of RPI hockey by running down the details of players who have made their commitments to don the Cherry and White in the coming years.

The Engineers are currently expected to lose one goaltender (Scott Diebold), two defensemen (Curtis Leonard and Luke Curadi), and either three or four forwards (Matt Neal, Mark McGowan, and Jacob Laliberte), depending on if Zach Schroeder returns for his redshirt season. Additionally, there was no replacement for Mike Zalewski on the roster when he departed this past summer (Viktor Liljegren was functionally a replacement for Ryan Haggerty when he left), so it's likely that we'll see him replaced as well with a fourth (or fifth) forward.

The eleven players profiled below are all expected to be arriving in Troy at some point over the next three seasons, though the vast majority of them will be coming in time for next year. Consider this, as every season, a sneak preview of the upcoming freshman class with a couple of glances into the farther future.

Thanks once again to Reilly Hamilton, who has produced some awesome looking graphics for each incoming recruit. The recruit's current jersey number is followed by their position and their birth year. The "projection to replace," as in years past, is an attempt to visualize where they will fit onto the roster compared to contemporary recruits and graduating/departing players, and isn't necessarily a direct correlation of talent, play style, or output expectations.

Goaltenders

Team: Tri-City Storm (USHL)
Projected to replace: Scott Diebold

Expectations are high and continuing to rise for Alec Dillon. A season after establishing himself as one of the best players in the BCHL, he has moved up to the top junior league on the continent for college-bound players, and he has only continued to excel. After being selected by Tri-City in the 2nd round of the USHL draft last May, he beat out former US Under-18 goaltender Blake Weyrick for the starting job and has since become one of the top everyday netminders in the league.

The Los Angeles Kings called his name with the 150th pick in last year's NHL Entry Draft, the final selection of round five. That makes him the third straight top-end RPI netminder to arrive on campus as a draftee, following Allen York (Columbus) and Jason Kasdorf (Winnipeg).

All signs point to an August arrival for the behemoth netminder. Following the draft, he indicated that he'd be open to doing whatever it was that the Kings wanted from him in terms of his development, but it sounds like the Kings aren't pushing for Dillon to play for the Edmonton Oil Kings of the WHL - if they were, he probably wouldn't have signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the Engineers this past November (he was even wearing Scott Romfo's 2005 Black Friday jersey when he did it - Romfo is a fellow Tri-City alum), and more to the point, he'd probably already be in Edmonton.

Kasdorf will have two seasons of eligibility remaining when Dillon arrives, but it's tough to say that he will utilize both of them - Kasdorf is, again, an NHL draft pick himself, and one that his hometown Jets seem to covet. The most likely scenario probably has Dillon spending his freshman year as Kasdorf's understudy, learning the NCAA ropes without having to get tossed on the fire immediately, then graduating to the top job in 2016-17 after Kasdorf completes his undergraduate degree.

That seems to be the way Appert has preferred to bring his goaltenders in. York, you'll recall, spent most of his freshman year backing Mathias Lange, and the plan with Kasdorf was to have him back Bryce Merriam, although that went out the window when Kasdorf proved too valuable to leave on the bench as he led RPI to a 2nd place finish in the ECAC. So while we'll get to see Dillon in uniform next season, we'll probably only get to see him in "preview mode" until 2016, when he likely assumes the mantle as the starting goaltender. Kasdorf, of course, has been fairly injury prone (he's missed games to injury in each of the last three years), so having a netminder of Dillon's caliber waiting in the wings is a benefit to the team even if he doesn't see much ice.

Forwards

Team: Alberni Valley Bulldogs (BCHL)
Projected to replace: Matt Neal

We had expected at this time last year to be seeing Tironese in an RPI uniform by now, but a tough season in Green Bay probably helped move that projection back by a season. At any rate, it's in keeping with the tradition of being semi-wrong about when some recruits are coming in - if we'd been right more frequently over the years, Drew Melanson would be a sophomore, Riley Bourbonnais would be a junior, and Jacob Laliberte would have graduated by now.

Tironese's move to the USHL last season was a bit surprising, since he was expected to be one of the top players in the BCHL, but he was quoted in a Green Bay newspaper saying that the RPI coaching staff preferred him in the USHL - and that's been a preference of the coaching staff for a while, it seems. His production suffered a bit in Wisconsin but wasn't horrendous - he finished with 10 goals and 28 assists, good for fourth on a middling Gamblers team.

He told The Province in Vancouver that his experience in Green Bay was less than what he'd been looking for, and that he felt more comfortable in the BCHL. So he came back for his swansong third season in the league, one that was originally expected to take place last season. Once he returned to his old stomping grounds, the offensive prowess that he displayed in his first two BCHL seasons was back in spades.

Unfortunately, with Tironese, what you see is what you get as far as his season stats are concerned - he suffered a shoulder injury in November that has ended his year (at about the same time shoulder injuries were attacking the Engineers, no less). The next time he suits up for a game, he should be in the Cherry and White.

At the time he suffered the injury, he was the leading scorer in the entire BCHL, scoring at a clip of 1.7 points per game. As we've mentioned in the past, the USHL is probably the top college-prep league on the continent, but the BCHL certainly isn't that far off. Anyone who can lead that league in scoring, as he was certainly on pace to do, is likely to have a very solid career in college hockey. One of last year's leaders was Landon Smith, now of Quinnipiac, who had 19 points in his first 20 college games. It's a reason why, as long as Tironese's shoulder heals well, we're still as excited to see him play in Troy as we were when we first heard of his commitment in May of 2012.

Team: Topeka RoadRunners (NAHL)
Projected to replace: Mark McGowan

The end of Carlos Fornaris' season last year was troubling to say the least, but he does at least seem to be getting a new lease on his hockey career in the NAHL.

In February 2014, Fornaris was suspended by the USHL for checking from behind. In March, he was hit with a four-game ban for the same infraction. Then, when the playoffs rolled around, he was suspended for the playoffs for an unspecified violation of team rules, which forced Cedar Rapids to call up one of its affiliate players to fill in.

The final suspension especially was an indicator that Fornaris may have worn out his welcome in Cedar Rapids. He did return to join the RoughRiders for the preseason but was not retained on this year's roster. His final scoring line for last season was six goals and seven assists in 41 games - even when he was healthy and available, he was frequently in and out of the Cedar Rapids lineup.

Fornaris was not without a team for long, however, as he quickly caught on in the NAHL with the Topeka RoadRunners. He's gotten some regular ice time in Topeka, which is pretty vital in and of itself in order to prepare for life in the NCAA. On a team full of players that are a year older than him, Fornaris is certainly holding his own and making contributions offensively. He surpassed his output from all of last season in Cedar Rapids in just over half as many games in Topeka, so if he can keep the trend up for the remainder of the season, it's likely to represent a significant improvement despite now playing in a lower-level league.

As we mentioned in last year's pipeline, Fornaris has a reputation as a better than average stickhandler who relies on those skills to beat defenders and create offensive opportunities for himself. Given his smaller stature, that's probably a necessity, and we wouldn't be a bit surprised if there was a little speed that went with those stickhandling skills.

On a completely RPI level note, the RoadRunners had a Star Wars night a couple of weeks ago, wherein the team dressed as Jedi Knights in a game against the Wentachee Wild, dressed as storm troopers. Fornaris scored two goals in a 3-1 win for the "Jedi." So if nothing else, the Force is strong with this one.

Team: Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)
Projected to replace: Jacob Laliberte

OK, go ahead. Get it all out of your system. We'll be here when you're done.

Set to become the most popular athlete in New York State named Alex Rodriguez when he arrives in the fall, Rodriguez is a graduate of the esteemed Shattuck St. Mary's program in Minnesota. He has long been an acquaintance of fellow Miamian Carlos Fornaris - the two played on the same squirts team (not just in the same league - on the same team) in Miami when they were nine, and now they'll be coming to college together in Troy.

Rodriguez spent five years at Shattuck, where he was lauded for his work ethic and especially for his forechecking ability. In two seasons with the varsity squad, he posted 48 goals and 107 points in 105 games. He was rated as a "B" prospect by NHL Central Scouting in their preliminary rankings for the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, which indicated a possible mid-round selection, but he ultimately went undrafted last year, something that's at least partially attributable to his size, as the NHL tends to covet players bigger than Rodriguez.

Originally slated to be headed for the BCHL's Surrey Eagles, Rodriguez was instead taken in the 3rd round of the USHL Draft last May by Sioux City. There may have been some push from the RPI coaching staff on that move, considering that his commitment came in March of last year. That commitment came literally on the same day that Ryan Haggerty signed with the New York Rangers, so he may have been waiting in the wings to commit as soon as a scholarship was made available. After all, it was not surprising in the least that Haggerty, after the season he had last year, would make the jump to the pros. At the time of his commitment, Over The Boards (a college hockey recruiting website) had Rodriguez ranked 8th among uncommitted players, but he was also the oldest player in their ranking.

Rodriguez's numbers this season look a bit out of place for a guy who was one of the biggest point producers for one of the nation's top prep teams, but it's worth pointing out that the Sioux City team he's on is pretty much bursting at the seams with offensive capacity - the Musketeers have five players in the USHL's top 25 scorers, an impressive feat for a 17 team league. So it's likely Rodriguez just hasn't been playing on one of the top two scoring lines this year. We noted this same phenomenon with Haggerty before his arrival, as he'd been playing on the fourth line for the US Under-18 Team, which is always loaded with offense. They may simply be utilizing his forechecking skills more effectively on the third or fourth line.

Overall, we project Rodriguez as a player who should be able to contribute fairly quickly. He's likely to see a solid amount of ice time in his freshman season, potentially on special teams as well as playing a possible role on a second or third line.

Team: Trenton Golden Hawks (OJHL)
Projected to replace: Mike Zalewski

We thought RPI's recruiting for 2015 was pretty much done by September of last year, so when Brady Wiffen's name came down the pike, it meant one (or both) of two things: either one of the forwards we had penciled in for 2015 was getting pushed back to 2016, or Zach Schroeder wasn't expecting to return for his redshirt season next year.

To be fair, it could also be a third option by itself - RPI simply needs more bodies up front, since the Engineers are presently at a paltry 14 designated forwards on the roster, which means the team can only afford a pair of injuries to centers and wings. Already, three different defenseman (Luke Curadi, Phil Hampton, and Craig Bokenfohr) have played forward this season. So we'll go ahead and put Wiffen down as Mike Zalewski's replacement.

But back to Wiffen - his numbers are rather gaudy, some might say they're downright Lalibertian in nature, given where he's coming from. That's probably enough to give some folks pause. After all, there was a great deal of hype for Laliberte for the numbers he produced in Ontario, but he hasn't scored in bunches during his time in Troy. That's the one real caveat. On the other hand, that's still a heck of a lot of points - and it's worth pointing out that while the OJHL isn't up where the USHL and the BCHL are, it's not a slouch of a league, and Laliberte came out of the lower-end CCHL in eastern Ontario.

We're going to be cautiously optimistic on Wiffen being a strong pickup for RPI. If he were doing what he's doing now in an upper-tier league, he'd be an instant head-turner. He may well be a strong contributor right off the bat, especially since he's going to be an older freshman.  He's already 20 - in fact, he'll be 21 when he dons an Engineers sweater next year - so count on seeing him in Troy next season.

A 2010 OHL Draft selection of the Kingston Frontenacs, Wiffen is a veteran of Ontario junior hockey. He's now playing in his fifth season there after two years in the Junior B GOJHL followed by three in the OJHL. This season, he competed in the Central Canada Cup for one of the OJHL's four all-star teams, scoring 2 goals and 2 assists in 3 games for OJHL Hawerchuk, making him one of the tournament's top scorers.

As of this writing, Wiffen is second in scoring in the OJHL, and the league's leading goal scorer. He is described thusly in his team bio: “Big, strong, heady, leader, playmaker, scorer, grinder, gritty, versatile, coachable and deceptively fast.” Sounds like just about everything you want in a scoring forward. He's shown steady improvement in each season at the higher level, he's got size, and he's got a scoring touch. Hopefully, he can help inject a little more life into the RPI offense next season, especially when being added alongside players like Tironese and Rodriguez.

Team: Fairbanks Ice Dogs (NAHL)
Projected to replace: Mark Miller OR Zach Schroeder

The Engineers are plucking players from an increasingly diverse location set these days. There are the usual set of New Yorkers and Ontarians that have long been the backbone of RPI rosters since time immemorial, but now there's a growing group of players from locations that have rarely or never been represented on the Engineers. Two Europeans are featured on the current roster. Two South Floridians are coming next year. In all likelihood, a year later, they'll be joined by the first Arizonan to play at RPI.

Committing to the Engineers on the same exact day in April 2014 as his then-teammate Viktor Liljegren (and apparently completely coincidentally, too), Burgess is a product of the NHL's frequently maligned expansion into Phoenix. Born just a couple of months after it was announced that the Winnipeg Jets would move to Arizona, Burgess is part of the vanguard of young Arizonans who grew up with NHL hockey right on their doorstep. A product of the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes, a youth hockey program that operates from the Arizona Coyotes' training facility in Scottsdale, Burgess led the Jr. Coyotes' minor midget team in scoring in 2013 as a 16 year old, but instead of moving up full time to the major midget squad for 2014, he instead got about as far as one could get from Phoenix to continue his career - Fairbanks, Alaska.

The NAHL isn't a league that features an awful lot of 17-year-old players. Usually, at 17, you're either still playing in high school, in midgets, or you're good enough to be playing in a top level junior league. But Burgess made the jump to the league and had a fairly successful season despite being one of the youngest players on the ice, not just on his own team but in the entire league. He collected just five goals and 11 assists in 39 games, but that's pretty decent considering his age. After a slow start while adjusting to the higher level, he settled in nicely.

Burgess missed the first 12 games of this season to an injury, but has been a regular in the lineup ever since and, as you can see, is hovering near the very productive point-per-game mark - despite remaining one of the youngest players on the Ice Dogs.

Like most 18-year-olds he does have a bit of filling out to do, but he fits in nicely heightwise. The question is whether Burgess will come to Troy in time for next season, or whether he'll spend a third year in juniors. As things stand, if Zach Schroeder leaves and the Engineers seek to expand their complement of forwards, Burgess would almost certainly be coming next year. If Schroeder stays at RPI, Burgess would almost certainly spend that third year in juniors. Assuming Burgess is aimed to 2016, don't be surprised if the coaching staff seeks to move him to the USHL for next season.

Team: Toronto Patriots (OJHL)
Projected to replace: Milos Bubela

Playing in the same league as Brady Wiffen, he's put up a very solid number of points and he's doing it at the age of 17 (he turned 18 yesterday). He ranks 8th in the OJHL in scoring players under the age of 19, leading his team in scoring - and leading forwards on his team in scoring by a significant margin. To be managing more than a point per game at his age in this league is a solid accomplishment.

A teammate last year of Mike Prapavessis, Hayhurst is always closer to being the smallest guy on the ice than being the biggest, if not being the smallest guy outright. As you'd expect for a smaller player, Hayhurst is blessed with a serious amount of speed, and he uses that speed to burn past defenders wide in the neutral zone, which is a great skill for creating odd-man rushes. In fact, speed is a word that is used repeatedly any time anyone's talking about him. When the Kingston Frontenacs drafted him in the 10th round of the 2013 OHL Draft, their head scout was quoted saying, “when we looked at all the reports on him the same words kept popping up: speed, speed, and more speed.” He plays with a tremendous amount of energy and he's not afraid to take the punishment that any forward is going to pick up playing near the net.

Like Wiffen, Hayhurst participated in the Central Canada Cup in November, and perhaps fittingly, played on the OJHL Oates squad, named after a guy you've probably heard of who spent a few years in Troy. The Oates team won the tournament, with Hayhurst scoring a goal in the championship game. For his 18th birthday yesterday, Hayhurst was a participant in the CJHL Prospects Game, a collection of the top 20 eastern-based NHL draft eligible Junior A players in Canada against the top 20 western-based draft-eligible players. He scored a goal for Team East and just missed scoring a second one on a breakaway.

Hayhurst was drafted in the fifth round of last year's USHL draft by Cedar Rapids, a relatively high draft position for a guy who would fill an import slot and who was unlikely to leave Ontario for this season. Almost everything we've seen has Hayhurst staying in juniors next season pretty much no matter what, so the question is whether he stays with the Patriots, where he could really shine offensively next season, or whether he moves on to Cedar Rapids, where he probably won't produce quite as huge numbers but where, again, we know RPI prefers to have its crop ripen due to the competition level.

Our money is certainly on the USHL. Expect a move to the States next season, followed by an on-campus arrival in August of 2016 where he'd be one of the key additions to what looks to be shaping up as a team with a significant amount of speed and scoring touch.


Defensemen

Team: Estevan Bruins (SJHL)
Projected to replace: Curtis Leonard

The long hockey journey of Charles Manley continues in a fairly unlikely place this year: Saskatchewan.

To recap, Manley is a Western New York native who went to Connecticut for prep school and to play midget hockey with the Selects Hockey Academy. He got a taste of the USHL during winter break of his junior year of high school, playing a few games with Waterloo. Following that junior year, he appeared set to join Waterloo full time the following year, but didn't make their roster. Instead, he played for the Austin Bruins of the NAHL. His season there last year was tough to draw too many conclusions from, with some of our thoughts from last year's Pipeline being that his youth may have played a role in his odd numbers, considering that most of his teammates were two or three years older.

Since Waterloo retained his rights, we hoped we'd finally see Manley pull a full season in the USHL, but come the end of September, he was released from their camp once again, and he didn't catch on in the NAHL, either. For a few weeks in late September and early October, there was concern that he might not find a gig at all until he turned up in Estevan. The SJHL isn't a place where you find a high number of college committed players, but quality wise it isn't a lower tier league. It's probably about on par with the NAHL, where he played last year. Not the best, not the worst. The major difference is simply orientation - most SJHL players are likely to be either heading to the WHL, or are even former WHL players themselves. He's one of only three players in the league slated to join an NCAA Division I program next season, and four D-I commits overall.

Last season in Austin, Manley put up just a goal and five assists in 58 games played. It was the first real year that we got to see some really solid numbers on him, and a lack of scoring isn't necessarily an issue for a defenseman, of course. The word on Manley was that he was a puck mover, something that Seth Appert has certainly valued in a blueliner for the last several seasons, so much so that he brought in three freshmen this season that fit that mold. If that is the case, the distinct lack of assists is troublesome, but the real answer at this point is that it's tough to know exactly what to expect from Manley when he arrives in Troy.

He's not the first recruit we didn't know a great deal about by the time they arrived - Mark Miller was much the same way, and he's played a significant role since day one. Perhaps Manley will end up in a similar position once he arrives - from Western New York to Connecticut to Iowa to Minnesota to Saskatchewan... and finally back to New York this coming season.

Team: Victoria Grizzlies (BCHL)
Projected to replace: Luke Curadi

Moore's first year out of high school was a rough one. Saddled first with a team that didn't have interest in using him as a power play quarterback and offensive-minded defenseman, he was frequently not even dressed for Sioux City in the USHL. Put on waivers and dealt to Fargo, he got more ice time there, but was playing for the worst team in the league by far, which put a serious damper on his output.

Originally expected on campus in 2014 when he committed in May 2013, his tough season combined with the commitments of Jared Wilson and Bradley Bell probably added up to an extra season of junior development for Moore.  Sometimes, a player just ends up finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time in his career, and that more or less seems to apply to Moore last season.

Heading north of the border, Moore seems to have found his groove once again in terms of being able to move the puck and contribute offensively. It appears that he's getting plenty of opportunities to head up the Grizzlies' power play, and he's the team's top scoring defenseman. In fact, Moore ranks among the top scoring defensemen in the entire league, which is a lot closer to what we'd been hoping to see last year.

Last year, we compared Moore to Nick Bailen in terms of his capabilities. They are roughly the same size and project to fill similar roles on the power play, but RPI is certainly trending toward having more offensively capable defensemen - again, all three freshmen brought in this year on the blue line fit that mold - so Moore should fit in very well with this scheme. We also suggested that he might fit well on a pairing with a more traditional defenseman like Parker Reno, though he may also have some utility filling in up front when necessary as well as Luke Curadi currently does, and as Bryan Brutlag did before him. Like Mike Prapavessis now does with some frequency and Bailen did all the time as well, we won't be shocked to find Moore anywhere on the ice, even deep in the attacking zone.

All in all, we're still excited to see what Moore can bring to the program. He was outstanding for one of the best high school teams in Minnesota, Duluth East, especially in his last three years there. He has the pedigree - we mentioned last year that his father played on the Minnesota-Duluth team that RPI battled in the '85 Frozen Four - and he's got the bonafides. Adding him to a team that already looks ready to be full of guys who can work the puck along the blue line (and beyond) could be a real treat.

Team: St. Andrews College (CISAA)
Projected to replace: Chris Bradley

We saw Cho scoping out RPI at last year's Big Red Freakout!, although it wasn't until his commitment a little over two weeks later that we knew who he was. It didn't take long to get the feeling that he was a pretty solid pickup.

Cho was listed as a "C" prospect in the NHL Central Scouting preliminary rankings in September, and was ranked 125th among North American skaters in the midterm rankings (released just yesterday), suggesting that he has a chance of being a late round draft pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft this June. He was the only high school athlete in Ontario on either list - but of course, most draftworthy players throughout Canada are playing at least Junior A hockey, if not major junior hockey by the time their draft year comes up. St. Andrews College, however, boasts not only an excellent hockey program, but also an outstanding educational regimen (the combination of which should be solid preparation for being a student athlete at RPI).

OHL scout Sean LaFortune says Cho is "a good skater, smooth on his edges," who "plays a safe and controlled game." A November 2013 critique of Cho by the US Hockey Report following SAC's participation in a tournament in Vermont suggested that he probably didn't have the skill to be an offensive or a stay-at-home defenseman in Division I, but that he had time to develop as a hybrid, which has been precisely what we've just been repeatedly talking about when it comes to RPI blueliners. Given his size, which is closer to the standard for defensemen than any of the other currently recruited blue liners, he may have to focus more on the defensive end at the Institute - while still having an offensive capacity. That'll likely make him very similar to the man he's probably going to replace on the roster.

Drafted in the sixth round of the USHL draft by Lincoln in May 2014, Cho's rights were dealt to Cedar Rapids for "future considerations," which could mean that Lincoln doesn't think Cho is ever coming to the league - frequently, that trade is only completed if the player in question eventually comes to play for his new team. However, Cho is almost a mortal lock to be playing in the USHL next season, assuming Cedar Rapids is willing to use one of four import slots for him (and they likely would be). Given that Manley and Moore were originally expected on campus for this season, that RPI graduates only two defensemen this year, and that there's a pretty good glut of defensemen on the current roster, there's no real chance that Cho will be in an Engineers' uniform in 2015, but mark him down for a 2016 arrival as long as he doesn't have any major hangups in Iowa.

It's hard to get a strong idea of what to expect from Cho in part because he's not playing against an overly talented opposition in high school. There's at least some expectation that he'll be a decent player at the highest amateur levels, given the attention that he's earned from NHL scouts, his late-round selection in the 2013 OHL Draft (12th round by Sault Ste. Marie), and his relatively high USHL draft selection. Cho's former teammate at St. Andrews College, UNH freshman Warren Foegele, was taken in the 3rd round of last year's NHL Draft based solely on his accomplishments with the Saints, lending just a bit more credibility that the numbers are legitimate.

Nonetheless, next year is certainly going to be one to watch with Cho. In Cedar Rapids, he'll likely be playing with future Engineer Jacob Hayhurst, so expect plenty of reasons to be checking in on the RoughRiders' progress in the coming season.

Team: CAC Gregg Distributors (Edmonton) Canadians (Alberta Midget AAA)
Projected to replace: Parker Reno

RPI's most recent commitment came in early November of 2014. There's still a lot that we don't know about Cory Babichuk - first and foremost, his size. His Elite Prospects page lists him at a lilliputian 5'4". A post on the Hockey's Future forum from April 2013 (when he was 14 and still playing bantam) also lists this as his height, calling into question 5'4" as a current height since most young men aren't fully grown at 14. A report by Gazette writer Ken Schott the day Babichuk committed had his height at 5'5", which is what recruiting guru Chris Heisenberg lists him at as well. College Hockey Inc. now keeps a list of college commitments, and lists Babichuk at 5'10". We're going to be optimistic and say he's grown quite a bit.

For comparison, the median height on the RPI women's team right now is 5'6" - so unless College Hockey Inc. is right and Babichuk gained six inches in the last two years (not outside the realm of possibility), we're talking about an unusually short-of-stature player. That doesn't mean he's going to struggle. After all, Theoren Fleury had a noteworthy 16-year NHL career at just 5'6". You just don't see it very often.

That Hockey's Future post also comprises most of the scouting report we've seen on Babichuk (as you can see, we don't even have a known picture of him to use). According to the observer, he possesses "puck management skills and his containment game is of a player much bigger and older." The post largely talks about how he would be overlooked in the WHL draft because of his size, but that his pedigree would make him a top major junior talent if he had the size to go with it (he was, in fact, not drafted).

In his final year of bantam in Edmonton, Babichuk was third on his team in scoring - as a defenseman - with 23 points in 33 games. In minor midget last season, he was fourth on his team in scoring with 29 points in 35 games. As you can see by his numbers for this season, he's basically still maintaining that general pace in major midget. They're excellent indications of - stop us if you've heard this already - another puck moving, offensive minded defenseman. Even if the most optimistic estimate of his height is true, that's probably got to be a given if he's going to survive even in Junior A, let alone in college.

At any rate, we know for sure that Babichuk won't be here next season, because he's only 16 and doesn't turn 17 until September. He has to graduate high school before coming to college, naturally. His arrival is expected for 2017, which makes him the likely first confirmed recruit for the RPI Class of 2021.

The Sherwood Park Crusaders of the AJHL currently have his junior rights, we'll have to see if the RPI coaching staff tries to swing him toward the BCHL instead, either next year or the year after. We should have another two years to watch him develop in juniors, which will give us plenty of time to hammer down exactly how tall he is and to get a better feel for what his full skill set is.

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Finally, as always, we leave you with a cursory glance at how recruiting is shaping up for the somewhat more distant future, that is, beyond next season. More and more frequently, we're seeing teams round out recruiting about a year out from the start of the season, and some teams are loading up for the more distant future. Maine last year took a commitment from a 13-year-old with an anticipated arrival for the 2019-20 season - which is essentially a 10-year commitment (assuming he doesn't leave school early) to a player who has barely even been alive that long. That's the first of six players born in the year 2000 that have made college commitments, even though they're just now starting to turn 15.

RPI's not quite on that level (and probably won't be due to the academic rigors required). But we still have a few years down the road that we can examine.

2016-17
Leaving: 1-2 goaltenders, 3 defensemen, 3-4 forwards
Currently incoming: 1 defenseman, 1-2 forwards

All things being equal, RPI is moving along nicely timewise in assembling the Class of 2020. Expect in the next 7-8 months to see at least one more defenseman, probably two more forwards, and a goaltender who would likely be backing Dillon as a freshman make commitments, with the rest of the class being filled out quickly thereafter. The uncertainty on goaltenders and forwards revolves entirely around whether Kasdorf and Schroeder use their redshirt seasons. With Kasdorf, however, it's fairly inconsequential to the recruiting process, as Sam Goodman's graduation would require a third goaltender regardless. So we'll probably see a goaltender who could play regularly if he had to added to the team here - Scott Diebold's functional replacement.

2017-18
Leaving: 0-1 goaltenders, 1 defenseman, 3 forwards
Committed: 1 defenseman

Babichuk is the start of a smaller than normal class for 2021, barring any early departures. We may learn one or two new names for this class before the beginning of next season, but we don't usually find more than that, especially with a class this small. The goaltender for this season would surely be a practice netminder (if there even is one to bring in), so the focus now is definitely on forwards.

Your 2014-15 RPI Engineers

Last week, the annual press release highlighting the incoming freshman class was released, and as we've mentioned a few times here, it's getting harder and harder to figure out exactly what incoming classes will look like until we see that release. Sure enough, when it came out, there were three surprises - one of which was at least a little bit expected after some news that came just before the release, one of which was a mild surprise, and one that came pretty much out of the blue.

So, without further ado, we present a first official look at the 2014-15 Engineers, by position.

Forwards

Gone: Ryan Haggerty, Brock Higgs, Johnny Rogic, Matt Tinordi, Mike Zalewski.

Returning: Riley Bourbonnais, Milos Bubela, Jimmy DeVito, Travis Fulton, Jacob Laliberte, Mark McGowan, Mark Miller, Matt Neal,  Zach Schroeder, Jake Wood.

Arriving: Kenny Gillespie, Viktor Liljegren, Drew Melanson, Louie Nanne.

The biggest changes for RPI this coming season are coming up front - a team that relied too heavily on a few players to score goals last season is going to have to do without practically all of the players that they relied on, especially Haggerty and Zalewski, who left with eligibility remaining.

For the last several years, we've been looking to see if the Engineers were going to increase the number of forwards they had on their roster. There were frequently in the last several recruiting classes opportunities to do just that. Before the defection of Zalewski to the pros, it looked possible that we'd see one extra forward.

In 2010, RPI had 17 forwards available to them. Unless something changes between now and the start of the season - to possibly include a defenseman moved up onto a wing - the Engineers will have only 14 forwards on their roster, including four freshmen. That means that while last year's freshmen forwards were infrequently seen, this year the team will be forced to dress a minimum of two freshmen in every game they play.

That might not be terrible, however. Neal and Laliberte return for their senior seasons as the team's bonafide scoring leaders, each having contributed 20-point seasons in their last two campaigns. Bubela struggled to score points last season after an impressive and eye-opening freshman year. After that, there isn't a lot of demonstrated scoring prowess among returning forwards.

Schroeder has shown a serious amount of potential, but has been slowed by injuries. Last year's freshmen simply didn't see the ice with much frequency, dressing just 51 times out of a possible 111 and scoring only 2 goals and 7 assists in those 51 games.

It adds up to a number of good options to fill the void left by the departed forwards, and adding to that list will be four freshmen with a good amount of potential. Gillespie comes in with about as much junior experience as one can accrue. Liljegren may end up being a sneaky "get" for RPI, considering that he is coming off a great junior season and was an unknown quantity to college scouts before this season. Melanson has been long awaited for his speed and puckhandling, and Nanne is an NHL draft pick who displayed offensive talent at a high level in Minnesota and British Columbia ahead of his injuries. Both of the latter two have represented the US in international play.

The trick is going to be a solid improvement on offensive output from somewhere between 4-6 forwards over last season in order to not only fill in the offense that has left but to give the team at least a couple of scoring lines that opposing defenses will find difficult to handle (and hopefully, a strong third line as well).

The unexpected omission from the incoming class is Evan Tironese, who apparently will be heading back to juniors for a fourth season, following two in the BCHL and one in the USHL. Tironese had been aimed on 2014 since his commitment in May 2012, and it didn't seem that his performance was much of an indicator that he wouldn't be ready for college hockey this year. At this point, you start to ponder whether there's been an admissions issue, a scholarship issue (availability or simply timing), or some other off-the-ice concern. All of it is simply conjecture and, honestly, not important as long as Tironese is still committed to the program, which doesn't appear to have changed at all.

Defensemen

Gone: Bo Dolan, Guy Leboeuf.

Returning: Craig Bokenfohr, Chris Bradley, Luke Curadi, Phil Hampton, Curtis Leonard, Parker Reno.

Arriving: Bradley Bell, Michael Prapavessis, Jared Wilson.

The blue line is an area where the Engineers return a wealth of experience and add some significant talent as well. Bradley, Curadi, and Leonard are proven multi-year must-start elements, which gives us half of RPI's healthy lineup component right off the bat - when these guys are ready to go, they're certain to be playing as they represent the core of the Engineer defensive effort.

Bokenfohr certainly made it impossible for him to be a healthy scratch during the latter half of last season, and Reno definitely looked like he belonged in the lineup before Bokenfohr's emergence kept him out late in the season. That adds up to five known good quantities for six defensive slots.

The biggest name joining the mix is Prapavessis, who is very likely to be arriving on campus as RPI's third NHL draft pick on the roster. Based on the season he just concluded, he's going to be tough to keep out of the lineup as well - even before you talk about guys like Bell and Wilson who also project to be pretty decent options for the Engineers, though Bell's learning curve (see what I did there?) for the college level may be a little steeper given the league he's coming from.

Bell's arrival for this season is a minor surprise, and it likely stems from the return to juniors for both Meirs Moore and Charlie Manley. The latter's return is not too shocking, and after Moore was taken in the first round of the NAHL Draft, his omission wasn't that shocking either. We've previously chronicled the concerns that both have had over the past season.

It appears that RPI is going to have some very solid defensive options out of the lineup at any given time, which is the very definition of a good problem for a team to have. This is an area where the Engineers look to be stronger this coming season than they were last year.

Hampton is the one question mark in the back. He's appeared in only 14 games in his first two seasons in Troy (of a possible 74), at the same time that three solid recruits come in to replace two graduating seniors. That would seem to move him even farther down the depth chart. With one extra defensive recruit incoming and one fewer than needed forward recruit incoming, perhaps Hampton or some other defenseman is being groomed for a move to the wing? It's purely speculation, of course, but it would make the numbers work better and might make for better utility of the team's skaters overall. We've seen it in the recent past with Bryan Brutlag starting his career at RPI as a defenseman and ended it purely as a forward.

Goaltenders

Gone: None

Returning: Scott Diebold, Jason Kasdorf, Jake Soffer.

Arriving: None

Goaltending is always the most straightforward of the positions. The big part of this coming year, obviously, is Kasdorf's return. Diebold did a solid job for most of the year as the top dog last season, but what he accomplished didn't approach what Kasdorf did as a freshman, so the position of #1 goaltender really hasn't moved at all, unless Kasdorf's rehab goes poorly or he has a hard time bouncing back from the surgery.

The full season as the top choice that Diebold has may ultimately help give RPI an additional advantage between the pipes. His numbers last year weren't super-star level, but they certainly weren't bad, either. He's certainly proven that he's a very capable Division I netminder, and he'll be far more reliable than most #2 options around the league.

Beyond that, in the limited viewing opportunities that we got of Soffer last season, he seems to be far ahead of the usual "practice goalie" options that we've seen over the years. It makes for a goaltending situation that won't have too many question marks, which is a good place for any team to be as a goaltender is the one player that can sometimes singlehandedly steal games - and Kasdorf, as a freshman, was one of the best in the nation at doing just that.

Overall outlook

Last year at this time, the Engineers looked like a team with few flaws. As it turned out, the rock they looked to have in net was upended when Kasdorf went down to a rather freakish injury - that really ended up turning the entire season on its ear in the end. This time around, it's fair to say that barring another freak incidence, the defense and goaltending looks overall pretty solid. Both would appear to be upgrades over last year's end result, especially with the offensive touch that Prapavessis brings to the table.

The main concern is going to be what kind of offense RPI can muster. Haggerty leaving was something everyone could see coming from a mile away. Zalewski would have been an important element, perhaps the most important element of the 2014-15 offense. The good news is that there are a lot of potential answers, the Engineers are simply going to have to find answers that work. The defense might be able to bail out the offense some nights, but if there's one thing the ECAC has proven time and time again, no team can survive long without consistent production from both sides of the puck.

Now, as we typically do, let's take a quick peek at what future versions of the Engineers are looking like early on...

2015-16
Out: Laliberte, McGowan, Neal, Curadi, Leonard, Diebold
In: Todd Burgess(?), Carlos Fornaris, Alex Rodriguez, Tironese, Charlie Manley, Meirs Moore, Alec Dillon

The good news is that RPI basically already has its recruiting done for 2015, although one can never be 100% certain anymore. Where there was a great deal of question about exactly who would be coming in this coming year, six of the seven recruits listed here are practical guarantees for 2015, with only Burgess being a possible 2016 arrival. As of now, unless something changes - for instance, another recruit or two, or an early departure - replacements are already in place for everyone graduating after the upcoming season.

The need for forwards this season was originally expected to be five, but with Haggerty's early exit and Schroeder's redshirt, the requirement is currently just at three. Since it's unknown if Schroeder will use the extra season his redshirt gives him, it's still hard to say for certain whether Burgess will come in 2015 or 2016, but there aren't really any scenarios in which Tironese, Fornaris, or Rodriguez wouldn't be coming this season.

Manley, Moore, and Dillon are practical locks too, with the only question on Dillon being whether he chooses to spurn the almost certain money offers that will be coming his way from the Edmonton Oil Kings, who own his rights in the WHL. Don't be surprised to see a goaltender recruit be confirmed in the next 7-9 months who could potentially arrive in 2015 if he had to, but would otherwise be a potential replacement for Kasdorf down the road.

2016-17
Out: Bubela, Fulton, Miller, Schroeder, Bradley, Bokenfohr, Hampton, Kasdorf(?)
In: Burgess(?), Jacob Hayhurst, Austin Cho

Not uncommon to see very little hammered down for two years out - in fact, this time last year, there were no known recruits for 2015-16 (we thought it possible that Prapavessis would be incoming that year), and a year later that class is pretty well set up. That puts RPI ahead of the game, with two likely recruits (both of whom seem to be anticipation-builders) and a third that will be in for either 2015 or 2016. Stay tuned in the coming months, as we should be seeing a number of new names pop up for 2016 over the course of the next year - and hopefully starting soon.