Mittelstadt undecided about future hockey plans; Gophers recruit still longs for state title

Casey Mittelstadt appreciated the shout-out.

Gophers men's hockey coach Don Lucia indirectly highlighted Mittelstadt, the 17-year-old Eden Prairie High School star, during the coach's final radio show of the season, last month. Lucia said this highly valued recruit has significant playing time awaiting him at the college level next season.

Mittelstadt was listening and knew the message was for him. He's the only high school junior with the option of accelerating his education and development by enrolling at the University of Minnesota next fall at age 17.

The young star might be tapping the brakes on the acceleration process, though. At least for now, he's focused on one acceleration at a time as he prepares for the U18 world championships as the second-youngest player on the roster.

"My dream my whole life was to be a Gopher, so it's definitely something special to hear coach saying that," Mittelstadt said after Thursday's practice with the U.S. National U18 Team at the Schwan Super Rink in Blaine.

Though a nice gesture and smart recruiting move by Lucia, Mittelstadt isn't sure where he'll play hockey next season.

"Honestly … I have no idea. My parents always think I'm hiding something from them, but I have no clue what it'll be," he said. "The littlest thing could be a tipping point for me. I'm not too difficult of a person, so we'll see.

Denmark, Finland and the U.S. arrived in Blaine Tuesday for pre-world championship training camp.

The U.S. will play exhibition games Friday night and Sunday afternoon. Practice is open to the public, games are $5 with children under-10 admitted with no charge.

The world championships run April 14-24 in Grand Forks, N.D.

Six Minnesotans are on the U.S. roster – goaltender Jake Oettinger (Lakeville), Defensemen Matthew Hellickson (Rogers) and Ryan Lindgren (Minneapolis), forwards Joey Anderson (Roseville), Kieffer Bellows (Edina) and Mittelstadt – highlighted by Gophers recruits Mittelstadt and Lindgren.

Mittelstadt is only one of three players on the roster that doesn't play full-time with the U.S. National U18 Team. The forward led Eden Prairie to the Class 2A championship game last month, finishing the season with 80 points in 31 games (including 21 points in six postseason games). The Eagles lost to Wayzata 5-3 in the final.

Mittelstadt is touted as one of the top prospects for the 2017 NHL Entry Draft and could be an early first-round pick.

"I don't think there is really any rush," to accelerate, he said. "Obviously, it'd be really cool to be a Gopher and to me that's not even rushing it, that's just kind of one of my options. There have been guys in the past, like [Nick] Leddy and [Kyle] Rau, obviously they're both making it in pro hockey right now and they both came back for their senior year [at Eden Prairie].

"I think if one thing were to make me come back, it would probably be going back to March 5 when we lost [in the state championship game]. I think that would be one thing keeping me back."

The desire to win a state championship could keep Mittelstadt in high school for one more year, but his skills are ready to make jump. He described himself as someone that likes to push the pace, but slow down if the game calls for it. He also sees the ice well and scores goals when the team needs them. He totaled five goals in the state tournament, including a hat trick in the semifinals.

Nick Bjugstad was the last Gophers recruit to accelerate from high school to the U in 2010. He played three college hockey seasons before jumping to the NHL with the Florida Panthers.

The Gophers are fighting to secure another high-end recruit, forward Rem Pitlick, for next season's incoming freshman class. Pitlick led the USHL in scoring this season, but said he is 99 percent sure he'll return to juniors next season instead of enrolling at the U.

"We played together a couple years ago in model camp and we actually played really well together," Mittelstadt said about Pitlick. "He's super skilled and sees the ice very well. What it comes down to, though, is us as individuals doing what we think is best. I think it will be good for the program either way, because we'll both end up there either way.

"My dream is to be a Gopher and my other dream is to play pro hockey."

Mittelstadt said he gets occasional tweets from Gophers fans eager to see him play at Mariucci Arena. Even Mittelstadt's future Gophers teammates would like to see him in uniform next season.