Carter Casey
2023-2024 Team: Grand Rapids

After rotating with juniors Ryan Kerr and Ryder Miskovich last season, Casey took over the Grand Rapids net and led the Thunderhawks to a fourth-place finish at last spring's Class AA State Tournament. The sophomore stopped 25 or more shots eight times in his 863 minutes of action and officially introduced himself as the next great Grand Rapids netminder with a ridiculous 54-save performance against juggernaut Minnetonka in a 3-1 loss last December. 

On the season, Casey posted a 10-7 record, a goals-against average of 2.42, and a .913 save percentage. 

Outside of the Minnesota bubble, Casey has been named to the Hlinka Gretzky Cup tryout roster, one of four goaltenders who will compete for a chance to represent Team USA at the international tournament in mid-August. 

Dylan Dean
2023-2024 Team: Long Island Gulls 15-Only 

The Maple Grove native has not followed the traditional Minnesotan route to this point, opting to move to Mount Saint Charles Academy for the 2022-2023 season and then to the Long Island Gulls, which have grown into a burgeoning Minnesota development pipeline. Former 2007-born standouts Malachi McKinnon (Forest Lake) and Poul Andersen (St. Louis Park) have also played for the Gulls in past seasons.

Dean led the Gulls to the 2024 15-Only national championship game this spring in Fargo, North Dakota, where the Gulls fell 4-1 to the Chicago Mission. Despite missing time to injury, Dean tied for fifth in scoring for the Gulls with 36 goals and 74 points in 60 games. 

Considering he's spent the last two seasons in Rhode Island and New York, an ECAC or Hockey East team could be in the mix for his services. 

Jimmy Egan
2023-2024 Team: Mahtomedi

Listed at 6-foot-2 and 181 pounds according to Elite Prospects, Egan isn't lacking for suitors at the junior level, especially after exploding for nine goals and 52 points last season as a sophomore at Class A powerhouse Mahtomedi. 

Egan led the Zephyrs in assists and was also the team's key face-off man en route to a fourth-place finish at this year's state tournament after a devastating 7-6 overtime loss to Hermantown in the semifinals. In that game, Egan helped power a stunning comeback to the Zephyrs, who had gone down to the Hawks 4-0 after the first period. Egan finished with three assists in what will go down as one of the greatest state tournament games ever played. 

Also on Egan's resume are two standout performances at USA Hockey National Select camps. This spring, Egan tied for fourth in scoring at the USAH National Select 16 camp, recording seven assists and eight points in five games. 

AJ Francisco 
2023-2024 Team: Hermantown

Like his father before him…and his grandfather…and his great-grandfather, Francisco will likely matriculate to the University of Minnesota Duluth. However, that won't stop any Division I program that thinks it has a chance from pitching one of the top 2008-born players in the country. 

Francisco played defense and forward during the 2023-2024 high school season, leading Hermantown to a Class A runner-up finish with 13 goals and 30 points. Francisco posted those totals despite missing eight of the Hawks' games while competing for Team USA at the Youth Olympic Games. To cap his sophomore season, Francisco led the Class A State Tournament in scoring with five goals in three games. 

Francisco will skate for the National Team Development Program's Under-17 team this season. 

Nate Garski
2023-2024 Team: Grand Rapids

Garski scored one of the most memorable goals in boys' state tournament history last spring, sending Grand Rapids to the Class AA semifinals with a last-second goal against White Bear Lake in the opening round. 

Garski finished the season tied with his senior brother Jacob for the team's scoring lead, tallying 18 goals and adding 21 assists for 39 points. His strong play has continued this offseason, scoring three goals and totaling four points in five games at the USA Hockey National Select 16 camp. 

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound forward was selected by the USHL's Des Moines Buccaneers in the seventh round of this year's Phase I Draft. 

Tristan Kriech
2023-2024 Team: Elk River

Compared to some players on this list, Kriech's eight goals and 18 points last second for Elk River appear modest. It's also easy to point to his five power-play goals and assume that more than half his tallies were thanks to the man advantage. 

But it would be dangerous to overlook a player like Kriech. 

Eighteen points in his first season of high school hockey is a great start, and should Kriech continue to add to his game and adjust to the high school level, he could be a 30-goal, 50-point player by his senior year. He's proven he can score before, netting 15 goals and totaling 30 points with the Green Giants (District 10) during Minnesota Hockey Tier I High Performance play before his second season of Bantam hockey. 

Kriech is also 6-foot-4 and nearly 175 pounds, making him the type of player that college coaches want to keep warm while maintaining a close eye on his development. 

Nate Pederson
2023-2024 Team: Shakopee

It's been quite a year for Pederson, who's been busy since helping Shakopee to its first South Suburban Conference title with 20 goals and 52 points during his sophomore campaign. He was invited to audition for the NTDP's U17 team, then averaged a point per game during the USA Hockey National Select 16 camp with two goals and three assists. 

Pederson was the 12th overall pick in this year's USHL Phase I Draft, selected by the Lincoln Stars. He will play for Team USA this August in the Five Nations Tournament as one of four Minnesotans to make the team. 

Griffin Sturm
2023-2024 Team: St. Cloud Cathedral

Sturm is listed at 5-foot-7 on Elite Prospects, but college coaches will love how the St. Cloud Cathedral defenseman analyzes an opponent and then attacks on offense. They would also likely love having one of the most technically sound defenders in the country on their blueline. 

Sturm scored 10 goals and totaled 29 points this season for the Class A state champion Crusaders. He averaged nearly a point per game and finished with a sparkling +55 plus-minus. His +55 was tops among Crusader defensemen and ranked fourth on the team after forwards John Hirschfeld, Andrew Dwinnell, and Joey Gillespie. 

Sturm showed well at the USA Hockey National Select 16 camp with a goal and four assists in five games and was selected 49th overall by Lincoln in this year's USHL Phase I Draft. He was an eighth-round pick of the WHL's Portland Winterhawks a year ago. 

Tate Swanson
2023-2024 Team: Hibbing/Chisholm

Swanson represents the youth movement of the Hibbing/Chisholm varsity program, which last season featured a large sophomore class and two freshmen, Jackson Strukel and Joey Gabardi. 

Swanson knows how to win - his Bantam A Bluejackets captured the 2023 state title, and his varsity squad won 19 games before falling to eventual Class A State Tournament runner-up Hermantown in the Section 7A finals. He also led the Bluejackets in both assists (36) and total points (48) this season. Should he play all four years of his high school career, Swanson is staring down the barrel of 200 career points. 

In his last season of Bantam hockey, Swanson racked up 54 goals and 85 assists for 139 points in 48 games, according to Elite Prospects. As mentioned in the Tristan Kriech capsule, Swanson could be a player that college coaches want to reach out to early and monitor over the next two to three seasons.   

Casey Vandertop 
2023-2024 Team: Edina

A favorite among scouts and coaches alike, Vandertop has emerged as a potential stud for the state's top high school program. In his first high school hockey season, Vandertop recorded 12 goals and 31 points in 31 games, including a hat trick in the Hornets' Class AA State Tournament quarterfinal win over Elk River. 

Vandertop possesses decent size at 5-foot-10 and can play all three forward positions, slotting in at center this past season for the Hornets. Vandertop will compete this August for Team USA at the Five Nationals Tournament. 

Like a handful of other players on this list, Vandertop was picked in this year's USHL Phase I Draft, selected by the Lincoln Stars in the fourth round.