An update on Gophers hockey recruiting -- who is leaving, who is coming

The Gophers will lose seven players for sure off this season's team -- all are seniors -- after this season. They are:

Five forwards

Taylor Matson, team captain, third-line center, one of team's best penalty killers, fast

Jake Hansen, big second-line winger, hangs around net on power play, physical, getting lot of assists

Nick Larson, fourth-line wing, another valuable penalty killer, chips in with big goals sometimes like last Sat. vs. UND

Nico Sacchetti, has played little so far, third- or fourth-line player, showed flashes in past

Joey Miller, barely plays but shows energy when he gets on the ice, good teammate

Kent Patterson, iron man, always plays, five shutouts, sub-2.00 goals-against avg., playing like all-american

Jake Kremer, practice goalie, thankless job

Then there is the chance someone could turn pro and leave early. Most likely flight risk:

Nick Bjugstad, first-line sophomore center has NHL size, off to great start with eight goals, Florida 1st rd. pick in '10

NEXT WAVE OF RECRUITS

Forwards

Connor Reilly, Penticton (BCHL), age 20 now, 6-0, 170 ... 10 g, 17 assists -- 27 pts. in 17 games ... signed Nov. 2010

Ryan Reilly, Penticton (BCHL), 20, 5-8-1/2, 165 ... 6-8--14 in 17 games ... signed Nov. 2010

A.J. Michaelson, Waterloo (USHL), 17, 6-0, 185 .... 1-1--2 in 10 games ... expected to sign in next week

Justin Kloos, Lakeville South (MSHSL), 17, 5-9, 177 ... will sign Wed., if roster spot opens, will play next season at U

Mike Reilly, Penticton (BCHL), 18, 6-0, 165 ...10-11--21 in 15 gms ... will sign in next week, Columbus 4th rd. pick in '11

Brady Skjei, u-18 U.S. team (USHL), 17, 6-2, 203 ... expected to sign, playing in Swiss tourney, eligible for 2012 NHL draft

Goalie

Adam Wilcox, Green Bay (USHL), 18, 6-0, 171 ... 4-2 with 2.67 gaa, .906 save pct., Tampa Bay 6th rd. pick in '11

Gophers will add walk-on goalie, too, for practice

Committed players, coming in for 2013-14 at earliest

Forwards

Taylor Cammarata, Waterloo (USHL), 16, 5-6, 145 ... 3-8--11 in 11 games, prolific scorer at Shattuck-SM last season

Gabe Guertler, Fargo (USHL), 16, 5-9, 170 ...4-1--5 in 12 games, from Plantation, Fla.

Vinni Lettieri, Minnetonka (MSHSL), 16, 5-8-1/2. 165 ... junior at 'Tonka, 14-13--27 in fall Elite League, Lou Nanne's grandson

Defensemen

Mike Brodzinski, Blaine (MSHSL), 5-9-1/2, 182 ... junior in high school, older brother headed for St. Cloud State

3 FUTURE GOPHERS IN INT'L MEETS

Forward A.J. Michaelson of Waterloo (USHL) and defenseman Mike Reilly of Penticton (BCHL) are playing for the U.S. team competing in the World Junior A Challenge in Surrey, British Columbia. Both are expected to be part of the Gophers' next incoming freshman class.

Forward Mario Lucia, Reilly's Penticton teammate, is on the U.S. team, too. It is the three-time defending champion in the Challenge but lost its first game on Monday, 1-0 to Sweden on a goal in the last seconds. ... Lucia, of course, is Don Lucia's younger son and was a Wild's second-round draft pick in 2011. He will sign with Notre Dame, his dad's alma mater.

Lakeville South senior center Justin Kloos, who will sign with the Gophers in a ceremony at school on Wednesday morning, recently finished a big season in the Upper Midwest Elite League. Kloos, who played for Team Southeast, led the league with 17 goals and 47 points in 21 games. His team was 14-4-3 (third number is overtime losses) and was the Elite League regular-season champion.

Kloos' high school team was 16-9-2 last season when he had 90 points; it lost in the section finals.

One of his Team Southeast teammates was Jake Guentzel, whose father Mike is the Gophers' associate head coach. Jake, playing on the same line with Kloos, was second in the Elite League in points with 41. He had 14 goals.

REILLYS LIKE PENTICTON

The parents of the three Reillys, Mike and Lisa, visited Penticton about three weeks.

He said Connor and Ryan are staying with one billet family, Mike, their upimger brother, and Mario Lucia with another billet family.

"The USHL might ask why would a group of kids from Minnesota go up there?" Mike Reilly, sr., said. "It's a good opportunity to experience something different."