Schlossman: How Cole Reschny and Keaton Verhoeff could have a Zach Parise-like effect

GRAND FORKS — Zach Parise committed to UND on the opening night of Ralph Engelstad Arena.

He met with then-coach Dean Blais after UND lost to rival Minnesota on Oct. 5, 2001, and pledged to be in Grand Forks the following year.

It was a monumental recruiting victory that went well beyond getting a transformational player who was a Hobey Baker Award finalist in both of his collegiate seasons.

Parise’s commitment produced a domino effect that’s still being felt on campus 25 years later.

Parise was a superstar at Shattuck-St. Mary’s Prep School in Faribault, Minn. Once he chose UND, it became the place nearly everyone at Shattuck wanted to go.

The list of players who followed Parise from Shattuck to UND in the next few years: Jonathan Toews, Drew Stafford, Ryan Duncan, Taylor Chorney, Chay Genoway, Chris Porter, Brady Murray, Brad Miller, Ben Blood and Matt Smaby, who was just named UND’s associate head coach.

What happened last week has potential to be just as impactful.

On Thursday night, Western Hockey League stars Cole Reschny and Keaton Verhoeff called UND head coach Dane Jackson back-to-back to pledge commitments to UND.

Reschny is a center who could go in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft later this month.

Verhoeff is a right-handed defenseman who could become the highest NHL pick to ever play at UND, a distinction that currently belongs to Toews (No. 3). Verhoeff, who will be 16 years old for a couple more weeks, is projected to go in the top five of the 2026 NHL Draft.

Both will impact next season significantly.

UND entered the offseason in desperate need of centers, especially ones that can play among the top two lines. It got one in veteran Ellis Rickwood of Clarkson. Reschny will be the other.

Reschny can be an impactful offensive player and give UND’s power play a pop after losing last year’s main flankers.

Verhoeff may be the youngest player to ever suit up in a game at UND. Soon-to-be UND Hall of Famer Dave Hudson was 16 when he came to campus, but freshmen were ineligible in the 1960s, so he was 17 by the time he played.

Considering Verhoeff’s youth, there should be realistic expectations. But adding a 6-foot-4 smooth-skating offensive defenseman to the right side of UND’s loaded defensive corps will make the Fighting Hawks deeper and more dangerous.

Assuming both stay for 2026-27, they could be two of the country’s best.

But the impact of their commitments may go beyond their on-ice performance.

Players from the three Canadian major junior leagues — the Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Maritimes Hockey League — are eligible this season for the first time in decades.

To this point, Reschny and Verhoeff are the two biggest prospects from the WHL to commit to an NCAA school.

News of their commitments spread throughout Canada. WHL commissioner Dan Near held a press conference Saturday at the Memorial Cup — Canadian major junior’s version of the Frozen Four.

Near spent most of the presser answering questions about Reschny and Verhoeff leaving the WHL for North Dakota instead of the fact that one of his teams, Medicine Hat, was about to play in the Memorial Cup final.

A former NHL player told the Herald he was in a Western Canadian rink over the weekend and all anybody was talking about was North Dakota, Reschny and Verhoeff.

If UND wasn’t already on the radar of all the top young prospects in Western Canada, it is now.

Jackson said at his introductory press conference that he wanted to own recruiting in Western Canada.

While other NCAA schools have been working on major junior players since the rules change was announced in November, general manager Bryn Chyzyk jumped into it six weeks ago and has already come out with Reschny, Verhoeff and Cooper Williams, a top 2008-born forward.

There will be other top-end players from Western Canada who are the subject of major recruiting battles in the coming years.

If a steady stream of them follow Reschny and Verhoeff to UND — like, perhaps, generational defenseman Landon DuPont of the Everett Silvertips — we may some day look back on last week like the night Parise committed.

Jackson, Chyzyk and assistant Dillon Simpson purposely left a some roster spots open in order to pursue a couple big-time CHL players.

They were willing to wait until late June or early July if needed.

That decision is looking brilliant right now as they landed their top choices in Reschny and Verhoeff.

There’s still one forward spot left to fill.

Now that UND landed a prominent center, there’s leeway to go several different directions with the last spot. It could be a center or winger. It could pursue a projected four-year player or, with this new momentum, the Fighting Hawks could target another high draft pick in the CHL.

On the back end, UND appears to be set — or close to it.

There’s potential to grab a ninth defenseman, but if UND is confident in Bennett Zmolek’s recovery from hip surgery, it also may stick at eight. It’s unclear yet what UND will do there.

After a frantic April and May, UND is opening June in a terrific spot.

• Former UND center Brad Malone retired from his playing career last spring. He became the head coach of the Oshawa Generals this year and led them to the OHL finals. Now, he’s been hired as an assistant coach for Wilkes Barre-Scranton Penguins, the top affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
• Drake Caggiula, the Most Outstanding Player of the 2016 NCAA Frozen Four, has signed with Laussane in Switzerland. Caggiula played eight NHL seasons and 289 regular-season NHL games for the Edmonton Oilers, Chicago Blackhawks, Arizona Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins. He also played 170 AHL games.
• Former UND defenseman Andrew Peski has re-signed with Rungsted in the top Danish league. Peski tallied 20 points in 42 games for Rungsted last season, his first in Europe.
• The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler posted his final 2025 NHL Draft rankings this week. He has Reschny at No. 15.