This week’s D-I commitments include a pair for Michigan Tech, who added the No. 2 uncommitted ’03 from our rankings as well as a 4-star defenseman from Slovenia. Other teams adding players included Ohio State, Lake Superior State, and Alaska Anchorage.
’03 (F) Henry Bartle (★★★¾) to Michigan Tech for 2023
Bartle is from Spring Lake, Minn. and he’s currently in his second season for the Des Moines Buccaneers in the USHL. This season he has six points (4g, 2a) in 11 games. Last season he had 24 points (4g, 20a) in 56 games. Prior to the USHL, he played for Centennial High School in Minnesota. As a senior he had 42 points (14g, 28a) in 21 games.
Among 2003’s, Neutral Zone had Bartle ranked as the No. 2 overall uncommitted ’03 on the board. Bartle was ranked No. 45 in Neutral Zone’s Top 300 2003 National Rankings.
NZ Scouts: “He’s a tall, athletic, balanced skating forward who can play with power and finesse. He has good speed up the wall, he makes quick decisions and has a quick and accurate release on his snap and wrist shots. He makes a crisp pass and hits his targets and has improved his confidence and is taking pucks end to end or carrying through the neutral zone when he has a lane. He goes hard to the net with his stick on the ice, he can bear down on loose pucks and finish in tight and does a nice job receiving hard passes without having to slow down and catch it. He protects down low along the boards, he can power through contact and get from the corner to the net with the puck for quality shooting lanes. He is more savvy than he gets credit for; when he doesn’t have a passing lane on the rush he can slow it down and buy time and hit a late trailer or he would throw a low wrister off the pad to generate a juicy rebound for his teammate crashing the net.”
’04 (D) Maks Percic (★★★★) to Michigan Tech for 2024
Percic is from Slovenia and he has yet to play his first game in the U.S. That will likely come next season.
This season he’s playing in Finland and he has 10 points (3g, 7a) in 21 games. On top of playing juniors in Finland, he has played internationally for Slovenia’s U18 team.
NZ Scouts (NHL Report): “He plays a hard heavy game and won 59% of his puck battles. He has the natural strength to clear shooting lanes and he will only get stronger.”
’05 (F) Noah Powell (★★★½) to Ohio State for 2024
Powell has two points (1g, 1a) in eight games in his first USHL season this year for Dubuque. Last season he played for the Chicago Mission’s 16U AAA team and he had a total of 29 points (14g, 15a) in 25 games. Powell has taken part in USA Hockey’s Select 16 and Select 17 camps the last two seasons.
Prior to the Mission he played for Team Illinois (he’s from Illinois) and he played two seasons at Shattuck St. Mary’s. Powell was ranked No. 109 in our Top 250 2005 National Rankings.
NZ Scouts (USHL Game Report): “Powell is a hard-working, hard-nosed player. He scored a nice goal by driving hard to the net for a loose puck. Really battles. The only negative was he was a bit slow on the back-check a couple of times … but overall was very solid.”
’02 (D) Cameron Kungle (★★★½) to Lake Superior State for 2023
Kungle is a 6-foot-2 defender from Red Deer, Alb. He has played the last three seasons for the Cranbrook Bucks in the BCHL and he has 12 points (1g, 11a) in 15 games this season. In total, he has appeared in 83 BCHL games and he has 9 goals and 23 assists for 32 points.
Kungle was ranked No. 121 in our Top 200 2002 National Rankings.
’03 (F) Karter McNarland (★★★¾) to Alaska Anchorage for 2023
McNarland is from Saskatoon and he has 16 points (4g, 12a) in 18 games for the Powell River Kings in the BCHL this season. McNarland is in his second season in the BCHL with the Kings, and he has 12 goals and 32 assists for 44 points in 67 games.
McNarland was ranked No. 53 in our Top 300 2003 National Rankings.
NZ Scouts (BCHL Report): “Did a great job in the face-off dot as he was able to win lots of key draws throughout the game. For example on the 1st goal of the game he was able to win a draw cleanly right back to his defenseman who hammered it home. Additionally did a good job in the offensive zone by finding the soft spots and getting pucks on net. Missed a couple close opportunities where he was able to sneak in behind the defenders receive passes and get pucks on net.”
