We may all be eagerly watching the OHL this season, with two of Florida’s most exciting forward prospects in Juho Lammikko and Lawson Crouse reuniting for the Kingston Frontenacs, but there’s another place you should be looking if you want to keep up on the prospects who haven’t joined the pro ranks yet: college hockey. In this edition of College Cats, we’ll be looking at the plethora of players Florida will be watching over the next one to four years as they continue on their college careers.
Florida has had some great success with college prospects in recent years, most notably with Bjugstad, Grimaldi, Brickley, Matheson, and Rau. Brickley in particular has amply demonstrated that even guys who don’t look great in college might turn out to be the next big thing in the pipeline, so there’s reason to pay attention to all of these guys. Take a deep breath — there’s a lot of them!
Forwards
Matt Buckles, C, Cornell
Drafted 97th overall in 2013, Buckles has had an unremarkable college career. In 29 games played in 2013-14, he scored four goals and had no assists. He nearly tripled his points in 2014-15, but still managed only eight goals and three assists. On the positive side, Cornell is not a particularly high-scoring team and Buckles finished second on the team in goals and sixth in points.
October Schedule
10/24 – vs Ryerson
10/25 – vs Laurentian
10/30 – at Niagara
10/31 – vs Niagara
Miguel Fidler, LW, The Ohio State University
Picked 143rd overall in 2014, Fidler spent 2014-15 in the USHL, tallying 27 points in 60 games as he tied for 121st in league scoring. He began the year on a weak Lincoln Stars team, where 27 points was good for fifth on the team, but was traded to the Madison Capitols after 46 games and only managed 6 points in 15 games with them. Prior to playing in the USHL, Fidler was a two-time Minnesota high school state tournament champion with Edina. This year will be his first at Ohio State.
October Schedule
10/9 – vs Bowling Green
10/10 – at Bowling Green
10/16 – vs Miami (Ohio)
10/17 – at Miami (Ohio)
10/23 – at Providence
10/24 – at Providence
10/30 – vs Mercyhurst
10/31 – vs Mercyhurst
Joe Wegwerth, LW, Notre Dame
Another 2014 draft pick, Wegwerth was drafted 92nd overall. Described as a potential power forward by Panther GM Dale Tallon, Wegwerth had nine points in sixty games with the USNDP’s U18 team in his draft year. He went on to tally 30 points in 59 USHL games last season, good for 101st in the league. Like Fidler, Wegwerth was traded from a weak team to a stronger one midway through the season. His 30 total points would have been good for second in Green Bay, but he finished the season on a much stronger Cedar Rapids team, where he only managed 9 points in 21 games. He had a much better playoff performance, with three points in three games. He will start at Notre Dame this year, a stronger program than either Cornell or Ohio State, though still not a top tier team.
October Schedule
10/16 – at Penn State
10/17 – at Penn State
10/23 – vs Minnesota-Duluth
10/24 – vs Minnesota-Duluth
10/31 – at Connecticut
Christopher Wilkie, RW, University of North Dakota
Picked 162nd in the 2015 draft, Wilkie is one of the newest Panthers and our player to watch among the forwards. North Dakota is an extremely strong program and Wilkie also had the strongest season out of Florida’s prospects leaving the USHL for college this year, leading the Tri-City Storm in points with 55 in 59 games, good for fourteenth in the league. Last year was Wilkie’s second with the Storm; he led them in points in 2013-14 as well, with 36 points in 57 games.
October Schedule
10/09 – vs Lake Superior State – Ice Breaker Tournament (in Portland, ME)
10/10 – vs Maine – Ice Breaker Tournament (in Portland, ME)
10/16 – at Bemidji State
10/17 – vs Bemidji State
10/23 – at Vermont
10/24 – at Vermont
10/30 – at Colorado College
10/31 – at Colorado College
Defense
Ian McCoshen, Boston College
After two years of being the guy we said “oh yeah, he’s also there” about, McCoshen is finally the Panthers prospect to keep an eye on if you’re watching Boston College. He’s also likely Florida’s top college prospect, with his strongest competition coming from Michael Downing. Drafted 31st overall in 2013, McCoshen will likely be the best defenseman Boston College has, following the departures of Mike Matheson and Noah Hanifin to the professional ranks. McCoshen was third in points by BC defensemen behind Matheson and Hanifin in 14-15 and received a Hockey East All-Star Honorable Mention. He will serve as one of BC’s assistant captains this season.
October Schedule
10/9 – at Army
10/11 – at Rensselaer
10/16 – vs Wisconsin
10/23 – at Colorado College
10/24 – at Colorado College
10/30 – vs Denver
Michael Downing, University of Michigan
While I gave the edge to McCoshen as far as Florida’s top NCAA prospect goes, Downing was the other side of the coin I flipped to figure that one out. Downing was drafted 97th overall in 2013 after two seasons with the Dubuque Fighting Saints (where he overlapped with Matheson). He has spent the last two seasons at Michigan, where, along with CBJ 2015 first rounder Zach Werenski, he is expected to be key for their defense this year.
October Schedule
10/16 – vs Mercyhurst
10/18 – vs Mercyhurst
10/23 – at Union
10/24 – at Rensselaer
10/30 – vs Robert Morris
10/31 – vs Robert Morris
Ben Gallacher, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Gallacher has had one of the more interesting development paths among current Panthers prospects. He was drafted 93rd overall in 2010 and played in the AJHL before joining Ohio State for one year. After that year, he withdrew and played a year in the USHL before finally joining UMass Amherst. The lone senior defenseman for Amherst this year, Gallacher finished second on their team in defenseman scoring last year. He plans to sign a professional contract, presumably with Florida, at the end of this season after exhausting his NCAA eligibility.
October Schedule
10/9 – at Colorado College
10/10 – at Colorado College
10/16 – vs Sacred Heart
10/23 – vs New Hampshire
10/30 – vs Maine – Capital City Classic
10/31 – vs Princeton or Yale – Capital City Classic
Eddie Wittchow, University of Wisconsin
A sixth round (#156 overall) in 2011, Wittchow is one of Wisconsin’s captains for this season. Normally, when I talk about Wittchow, I point to his point totals and his career games played and rest my case, but Connor Brickley’s incredible professional results after terrible college numbers make me a little more cautious about that assessment. Still, I have to point out that he has only ten points in 86 college games and the rule generally is that if you don’t score before you turn pro, you aren’t going to after. We’ll have to wait to see what happens with him this year.
October Schedule
10/9 – vs Northern Michigan
10/9 – vs Northern Michigan
10/16 – at Boston College
10/17 – at Boston University
10/23 – at Ferris State
10/24 – at Ferris State
10/30 – vs Arizona State
10/31 – vs Arizona State
Goalies
Evan Cowley
Goalies are weird, so here’s a picture of Evan Cowley’s cat, which will tell you about as much as the stats will about his potential (i.e. we just don’t know.)
I’m trying to take a picture of the best dog in the world for National Dog Day, but my cat keeps getting in the way. pic.twitter.com/Xk6PxDcWoN
— Evan Cowley (@ECtendy31) August 26, 2014
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More seriously, Cowley is probably the College Cat I’m most excited about, because Florida needs a goalie like he has the potential to become in the system. He was drafted 92nd overall in 2013 and spent 2013-14 backing up Panthers prospect Sam Brittain. In 2014-15, he split the net with Tanner Jaillet and that should continue again this year. In 20 games, he had three shutouts and a .924 save percentage, good for third in the NCAA.
October Schedule
10/9 – at Air Force
10/10 – vs Air Force
10/16 – vs Michigan State
10/17 – vs Michigan State
10/30 – at Boston College
10/31 – at Boston University
That wraps it up for this update on “College Cats”! Make sure to check back on TSS for more info on your favorite Collegiate Cats!
Angie can be reached for contact on Twitter.
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