(Photo: Tyler Paley/WCSN)
The Arizona State hockey team added seven signees for their 2016-17 season, which will be its first full season in the NCAA.
Despite the Sun Devils’ new standing at the NCAA level, head coach Greg Powers and the Sun Devils will welcome in a heralded recruiting class that includes seven players who are all expected to contribute immediately.
Perhaps the best of the bunch is forward Brett Gruber, who had 35 points in 60 games last season with the Green Bay Gamblers. His best season came in 2014-2015 when he scored 67 total points in 57 games. Powers mentioned Gruber as someone who can play on the top lines immediately.
Another player who was an early signee is goalie Joey Daccord, who may challenge Ryland Pashovitz, Robert Levin and David Jacobson for playing time next season. He is a butterfly style goalie who was ninth in the USHL in wins last season with 21 while playing for the Muskegon Lumberjacks.
He was a seventh round pick in 2015 by the Ottawa Senators. Wade Murphy was the lone Sun Devil on last season’s roster who was previously selected in the NHL Draft.
The final early signee is forward Georgy Gorodetsky, who is one of two players in the class born outside of North America. The Russian born player has 66 total points the past two seasons in the USHL.
ASU will also bring in a pair of brothers, Brinson and Steenn Pasichnuk. They won’t be the first pair of brothers to lace up the skates for the Sun Devils, as Liam and David Norris did it last season.
Both bring in impressive resumes, with Brinson, a defenseman, is listed as No. 115 on NHL’s Draft Prospect List and Steenn, a forward, averaged a point per game last season.
The two other signees are forward Tyler Busch and defenseman Jakob Stridsberg, who are also likely to get chances to contribute as freshmen. Busch had 77 points in 61 games for the Spruce Grove Saints of the AJHL last season, a league based in Alberta, Canada.
Powers was eager to recruit Stridsberg, as he was one of the top scoring defensemen in the NAHL last season, scoring 45 points in 45 games.
The impressive haul will raise expectations for a hockey season that already has its fair share of buzz. It is almost a formality that the Sun Devils will improve on last season, and the incoming recruits will play a big role in their success.
