Notre Dame hockey opens its 2024-25 season Friday night with an exhibition against the United States National Team Development Program (USNTDP). A number of questions surround the Irish roster, including replacing key talent at all three positions. Like the Irish will attempt to do this season, we’ll build this article from the goal out.
Goaltenders
It’s hard to underestimate the value former netminder Ryan Bischel brought to the Irish, starting every game in goal over the last two seasons and making more saves than any goalie in the country during that span. Now, the two-time Mike Richter Award semifinalist is gone, and Notre Dame has a massive hole to fill at goaltender.
For the first time since 2022, Notre Dame will have a competition in the crease. With training camp concluding this week, it’s shaping up to be a three-way fight between returning backup junior Jack Williams and two additions to the Irish roster.
Freshman Nick Kempf, a USNTDP product, is expected to be the goaltender of the future. Kempf performed well at the national junior level, posting a .919 save percentage at the IIHF Under-18 Men's World Championship in May. But the Irish also brought in junior transfer Owen Say, the only player of the three with any level of collegiate game experience. Say started all 31 games at Mercyhurst last year, and his 50-save performance against the Irish at Compton Family Ice Arena last year caught head coach Jeff Jackson’s eye. The two newcomers present different styles in addition to their varying levels of experience.
“They're kind of two opposite types of goalies,” senior forward Tyler Carpenter said. “Nick is very positionally sound. Coming down on him you don't see a lot of net and like I said, he's very sound and very structured. And then Owen is just an unbelievable athlete, like he makes the craziest saves, probably one of the most flexible kids I've ever seen.”
With so much competition in goal, expect Notre Dame to use its netminders in tandem. The Irish are unlikely to settle on a number one goaltender in the first month of the season, and the process could take even longer.
“It's going to be a competition back there,” Jackson said. “I'd say the two new guys right now are a little bit ahead of Jack, but that could change from day to day, from week to week, you know. It just depends on them.”
Notre Dame fans will get an early look at the team’s all-important prospects in goal as early as this weekend. In a team media availability on Monday, Jackson said he is likely to use all three goaltenders in the exhibition on Friday.
Defense
Notre Dame’s defense corps will have to acclimate to the goaltender rotation from the start. They will also have to acclimate to the loss of their two most important offensive play-drivers from last year, Ryan Siedem and Drew Bavaro, who both signed professional contracts.
In their stead, Notre Dame added four newcomers, including the late addition of graduate student Luke Robinson. Robinson, a two-year hockey captain and captain of captains at the Air Force Academy, was admitted on a graduate school scholarship to the Mendoza College of Business. The Irish did not find out that Robinson would be attending Notre Dame until late spring.
Former Miami (Ohio) defender Axel Kumlin, a junior, joins Robinson as Notre Dame’s defensive transfer additions. The Irish also added two long, lanky freshmen in 6-foot-5 Jimmy Jurcev and 6-foot-4 Jaedon Kerr. With 10 defensemen on the roster, Notre Dame now faces a bit of a logjam.
“We've carried nine defenseman in the past, but we've never carried 10,” Jackson said. “That's going to be the big question mark is, can we get these guys enough reps in practice to where they're all benefiting and developing at the rate that we need them to after that.”
Expect sophomore Paul Fischer, junior Michael Mastrodomenico and graduate student Zach Plucinski to factor significantly on defense.
Forwards
Notre Dame’s forward group will rely on key players having breakout seasons in order to reach three goals per game for the first time since 2022. Of the 15 rostered forwards, 11 return from last year’s team which came close to clearing that threshold.
In particular, the group of six sophomore forwards will be called upon to form the framework of the Irish offense. Led by New York Islanders second-round selection Danny Nelson and Philadelphia Flyers draftee Cole Knuble, the sextet accounts for 31 of Notre Dame’s returning 49 goals scored from last season. The majority of those goals (20 of 31) were scored in the second half of the season. No longer freshmen anymore, Nelson, Knuble and company may be able to get off to a faster start with a year of experience under their belts.
Around them, a cast of more familiar faces will return — seniors Justin Janicke, Tyler Carpenter, Hunter Strand and junior Niko Jovanovic are back. So is graduate student Grant Silianoff, adding sandpaper to Notre Dame’s lineup for a fifth season.
Notre Dame also added a pair of graduate student transfers up front in former Princeton captain Ian Murphy and Minnesota Duluth’s Blake Biondi. Both have shown a knack for the net in the past and would like to get back to their scoring ways.
“Blake Biondi’s been one of our best players in camp,” Jackson said. “There's a guy that had 17 goals as a sophomore and then had injury issues for a couple of years. So, you know, if we have three or four guys that have breakout type of years ... all of a sudden we're a much better hockey team.”
With no firmly established top scorer on its roster, Notre Dame is betting on such breakout seasons to muster more scoring. According to College Hockey News, the Irish have averaged more than three goals a game just twice in the last eight seasons.
