O'Connell: BU Prepared For Early Departures

Despite Skepticism, Terriers Staff Confident of Plan Going Forward

by Mike McMahon/Staff Writer (@MikeMcMahonCHN)

Boston University's season only ended one week ago, but in the seven days since the Terriers lost to Northeastern in the Hockey East semifinals, five drafted players have signed NHL contracts and moved on to professional hockey.

Dante Fabbro, Chad Krys and Jake Oettinger all signed within two days of BU's loss to Northeastern. Freshman forward Joel Farabee signed later this week with the Philadelphia Flyers and Shane Bowers signed yesterday with the Colorado Avalanche.

Players signing NHL deals before their senior year — especially players who were drafted in the early rounds of the NHL Draft — is not a situation unique to BU, but the sheer bulk of signings on Comm. Ave definitely raised some eyebrows on social media.

It didn't raise eyebrows with BU head coach Albie O'Connell, who wasn't fazed, saying that the Terriers have been preparing for this for two seasons.

Juniors Dante Fabbro (Nashville), Chad Krys (Chicago) and Jake Oettinger (Dallas) will all graduate and earn their degrees this summer.

"This is the state of college hockey," O'Connell said Friday. "Each one of the juniors were offered contracts last year and decided to come back to BU. They've all taken summer courses and they're all leaving with their degree. It's not like they played a year and ran out. Those guys did it the right way and they took time to develop their game and now they're ready to move on."

Sophomore Shane Bowers, who was selected in the first round, signed later in the week after taking some time to decide on his future.

Bowers had 21 points (11 goals, 10 assists) in 37 games this season.

"Shane had two good years and I think the decision was really hard for him," O'Connell said. "He was torn on whether to start his pro career or come back to BU. Shane is a terrific student and he's pretty far ahead in his classes. We talked and he's going to take some classes this summer and then some next summer and he made a commitment to us that he's going to get his degree.

"I know he was 50-50 on what he wanted to do and I think Colorado made a good pitch. It's a good opportunity for him and, for all of our guys, it's their dream to play in the NHL. The reality is that he could have gone to Major Junior but he chose college and he gave us two terrific years. Knowing he's committed to getting his degree makes me really happy."

Farabee might have been the only surprise. Despite leading the Terriers with 36 points (17 goals, 19 assists), there was a belief among some in the Flyers organization that Farabee could have used more time in the college game to get stronger.

"I think Joel wanted to give it a shot," O'Connell said. "He probably sees (Clayton) Keller and (Brady) Tkachuk, who came and left, and those guys had a high level of success (in the NHL). It's not easy to have the types of years those guys had in college. Eichel dominated. Keller dominated. Brady has a really good fallback game on top of having a good year. He's a big man. He has more than just his offensive game.

"I think Joel, in his mind, thinks he's ready to go. He's going to finish up this year and we hope he gets his degree. He said he would in time."

The NCAA transfer portal, and specifically the graduate transfer rule, has thrown a wrinkle into college hockey recruiting as well. Now a program like BU, which typically attracts early-round draft picks, can bridge themselves in a certain position for a year by taking a grad transfer for one season.

For example, with Oettinger signing this season and Vincent Purpura, who played 152 minutes this year, the only goaltender returning, it's possible the Terriers could look for a grad transfer between the pipes to bridge themselves for a season until Drew Commesso, a top prospect for the 2020 NHL Draft, is ready the following year.

"We have our antenna up to see if something might work anywhere on our roster," O'Connell said. "We're comfortable with who we have coming in and who we have coming back, but if there's someone out there who can help us and it's a good fit, we'll obviously look at it. We have in the past with Drew Melanson and Max Willman. (The grad transfer) is an opportunity to bring in someone with experience, but it has to be the right fit."

The coaching staff remains intact

Yesterday, it was reported that assistant coach Len Quesnelle was going to be leaving the coaching staff, but O'Connell was quick to deny that report via Twitter and reiterated that there are no plans to change anything.

CHN also reported the story of Quesnelle's departure, then later retracted it and apologized.

"I haven't thought once about changing our staff," he said. "We have a veteran group here and as the year went on, we gelled as a staff. Both guys were adjusting to me at the beginning of the year, but by the second half, we had a good rhythm as a group. I trust them the road. They're both really professional and veterans to college hockey. I'm fortunate to have them both. I don't know where that information came from in cyberspace, but sometimes stuff gets out there and it's inaccurate."

BU will be looking for a new director of hockey operations after Brittany Miller resigned this week. Miller began with the program as a student manager and was later hired full-time by David Quinn as director of hockey operations.

"Britt did a terrific job with the roles she was given," O'Connell said. "I think we're going to sit tight for a week or two before we do anything with that spot. There are a couple of people we've been thinking about. Britt was really terrific and she did a great job. She's moving on to something different and we wish her well. She was at BU for a long time."

Prior to Miller, Scott Young served in the role for a year before transitioning to assistant coach; Young is now the Director of Player Development for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"We're going to look for someone who can impact our team on the hockey side and also help our from an admin role," O'Connell said.

BU's recruiting class is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation by NeutralZone.net, only behind Michigan. The class includes some top players from the U.S. National Development Team Program.

Some of the top players committed for next season include Robert Mastrosimone, who was on the U.S. Under-18 team, as well as Trevor Zegras and defenseman Alex Vlasic.

"We've been preparing for these moves for two years," O'Connell said. "I think we have the best recruiting class in the country coming in next year. We brought in Vinnie Purpura knowing that Jake might sign and we wanted to get him in and get him comfortable. I think everyone is panicking a lot more than we are. We're excited about next year. Patrick Harper is one of the most dynamic players in college hockey, and he showed that in the second half of the year. Our core is there and we have a big junior class moving up.

"Down the stretch this year we got healthy and played some of our best hockey. Some of our best team hockey. We're excited to do more of that."

