Eagles Land Second Mattila Brother

Julius Mattila, brother of recent Eagle commit Jesper Mattila, has committed to Boston College for this fall. The former Western Michigan recruit and forward for the Ilves U20 squad recorded 56 points in 46 regular season games before notching 8 points in 7 postseason contests. Julius was ranked 115th by NHL Central Scouting for European skaters. His brother finished the season as the team's top defenseman, posting 37 points in 47 games and was pegged at 83rd by Central Scouting.

I have not seen these guys play but from what I have been able to gather, it seems as if BC picked up two pretty good players that have a chance to come in and play right away. Assuming McCoshen signs, Jesper will likely be competing with fellow freshmen Luke McInnis, Mike Campoli, and Connor Moore for playing time. Julius certainly has a shot to garner top twelve minutes, especially with the speed and skill he brings to the table. Finnish scout Marco Bombino described Julius as a "skilled forward who is tenacious and competes hard- he is certainly a nice get for BC." We will get deeper into potential lineup scenarios as the summer goes on but as of right now, I think both brothers will get a chance to play on opening night, assuming they continue to get stronger during the offseason.

Julius' commitment gives BC a whopping eleven members in the incoming class and I would not be surprised if the staff went out and added one more forward. The blue line, while extremely young and inexperienced, is fine in terms of numbers and if McCoshen does shock the world and come back, then BC will be looking at nine defensemen vying for six spots. If I had to guess, I'd say four of the five incoming forwards will get a look on opening night but of course, that number could change between now and October.

Connecticut Forward Commits to BC

A hectic 24 hours continued on Saturday afternoon as the staff secured a commitment from Salisbury School forward Jacques Bouquot, a 2000 birthdate out of South Windsor, Connecticut. The 6'0 forward recorded 15 points in 26 games for a very deep Salisbury team this season and is generally regarded as one of the top 2000's in New England. He was taken 57th overall (fourth round) in the USHL Draft this past week by Sioux City.

Bouquot is another solid add for the staff, giving them their second commit in under a day's time and fourth in the class of 2018 along with TJ Walsh, Pat Giles, and Adam Samuelsson. With Salisbury losing a good chunk of its top players from last season, I'm sure Bouquot will see an increase in playing time and should develop into a top end player sometime in the future.

Go Eagles

White Staying and Staff Picks Up Top Goaltender

After a month of constant departures, BC got some terrific news yesterday as freshman forward Colin White will return for another year, per TSN's Darren Dreger.  The Hanover native recorded 43 points on the season, second to Ryan Fitzgerald for the team lead. There is no doubt the Eagles lose a lot of talent, especially up front, but they return their top four skaters and there are increasing signs that Ian McCoshen, the best defenseman in the country as far as I'm concerned, may come back for one more run at a national championship- a final decision has yet to be made. With some open scholarship money, I expect the staff to bring in at least one more forward because for the first time in a couple years, they may have a bit of a logjam on the blue line, if McCoshen stays. As of now, they have four defensemen coming in (McInnis, Campoli, Moore, Matilla), but only Santini is gone from last season.

 Late last night, the staff picked up a commitment from top 1998 goaltender Ryan Edquist, a former Minnesota recruit, giving BC two of the best incoming goaltenders in the country to replace Thatcher Demko. Edquist is not a giant at 6'0, but led Lakeville (MN) to a perfect 31-0 record plus a state championship in 2015 before turning in a solid season with the Madison Capitols of the USHL in 2016. BC is in a bit of a tricky situation with four talented goalies on the roster but Chris Birdsall was riddled with concussions for the entire season and there is no word on his health status. Ian Milosz was brought in on an emergency basis but from what I'm hearing, there is a good chance he returns next season. The staff will only have a handful of practices to decide on a starter for the Icebreaker and honestly, I would be surprised if it wasn't Woll. In saying that, Edquist and likely Milosz will certainly get more than their share of looks throughout the campaign. 

Have a nice weekend. 

Go Eagles!