Olsen to UMD

Well...I don't know how the hell they pulled it off, but UMD landed blue chip defenseman Dylan Olsen. Olsen had been strongly considering Wisconsin and North Dakota as well. I had really, really wanted this guy in Cardinal and White BAD. Unfortunately, "technically" right now we don't lose any defensemen. We all know that McBain is gone for sure, and McDonagh is likely to go. We're required to show a player how much scholarship money we have due to Big 10 rules. Obviously we don't know until McBain and McDonagh sign deals so it does hamper us in that aspect.

Losing Olsen doesn't kill us though, since we still bring in second round pick Justin Schultz and John Ramage from the NTDP. Olsen would have looked reaaaaal good in Red though...dang.

Update: I didn't have a ton of time this morning to talk about Olsen, but I the more I think about it, the more I realize what UMD had going for it in the Olsen sweepstakes. Drunk Hockey Guy (Huge UMD Fan) pointed out on the North Dakota board that UMD has a nice "in" with Camrose where Olsen plays. Matt McKinght, Mason Raymond, McGregor Sharp, Evan Oberg, and Mike Conolly have all played at Camrose and UMD.

UMD also can guarantee plenty of playing time for Olsen. Not that he would really have struggled for playing time at North Dakota or Wisconsin with the talent he has, but he probably wont be thrust into high end playing situations like he will at UMD. Depending on departures, those huge PP minutes will be going to guys like Gardiner, Goloubef, and Smith. Even after those 3 guys, (keep in mind I'm planning on losing McDonagh and McBain) Schultz who was a second rounder and Ramage from the NTDP should see big time minutes next season. And we're not even counting Little, Springer, or Johnson who are already here.