ASU hockey's National Letter of Intent Day (NLI) day is April 15, and as of now the Sun Devils are expected to sign 15 players to the new Division I squad. You can see them all at House of Sparky's recruiting database, but here's a primer of what the recruiting class could bring to Tempe.
Nine of those players are forwards, and a few stand out. Overall, the first player to commit was Cody Gylling, a 5-foot-9 forward from Chandler. He also came two points shy of putting up a point per game in the NAHL (50 points in 52 games).
For size, no one comes close to Louie Rowe. The East Lansing, Michigan, native stands at an imposing 6 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs 228 pounds. He racked up 39 points in 58 USHL games. For speed, Charlie Zuccarini might be the fastest player in the BCHL. Originally from Shelton, Connecticut, he ran through the league this year, scoring 27 goals to go along with 30 assists for 57 points in 45 games. Zuccarini's 57 points led all 2015 ASU commits.
Fellow BCHL forward and Mt. Pearl, Newfoundland, Canada, native Matthew Kennedy hit a hot streak once he announced his commitment. He had 29 points in 35 games before his commitment and 24 points in 15 games after for a total of 53 points in 50 games.
On the defensive side of things, the last blue line commit may have the biggest impact, at least offensively. Nick Gushue from West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, put up 35 points in 58 BCHL regular season games, then added 13 more points in 17 playoff games. He is also the biggest, measuring 6-foot-4 and weighing 210 pounds.
Four defensemen committed to the Sun Devils, including Liam McGing, the epitome of a defensive defenseman. McGing registered only four points- two goals and two assists - but the recruit from Chicago prides himself on his defense and his stay-at-home game could factor nicely into ASU's plans.
Coach Greg Powers recruited two goalies and of the two, watch for Sakatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, native Ryland Pashovitz to make his appearance known. After dominating the USHL, he took his talents to Des Moines of the USHL and will make his first trip to the Southwest soon.
The 15 players came from three leagues: eight from the USHL, five from the BCHL and two from the NAHL. Two (Gylling and Anthony Croston) are from Arizona and three are from Canada.
While college hockey is limited to 18 scholarships, there is not a limit to how many players can be on a roster. Teams can dress the standard 20 players - 12 forwards, six defensemen, two goalies- per game, so the roster size can be expected to be between 25 and 28 players.
So if 25-28 players will compose ASU's roster and 15 new ones are coming in, that means between 10 and 13 will be ACHA holdovers. Who those are remain to be seen.