Last week was a busy one for St. Cloud in terms of recruiting, as the Huskies bolstered their blue line for the future with two new defensive recruits.
First up was Minnetonka HS senior defenseman Jimmy Schuldt. Schuldt will likely play one year of junior hockey before joining the Huskies to start the 2014-2015 season. He is currently playing for Team Southwest in the Upper Midwest Elite League. His older brother Joe plays for the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL and is currently committed to play for Michigan Tech next season.
Schuldt has long been considered one of the more skilled players in his age group, but seems to have taken a big leap forward over this past summer in terms of becoming a smarter, more effective defenseman. He was rated as a 'C' prospect by NHL Central Scouting in their preliminary rankings.
Schuldt also becomes the eighth defenseman from the state of Minnesota born in 1995 to secure a college commitment, joining Gage Ausmus(Denver), Jordan Gross(Notre Dame), Michael Brodzinski(Minnesota), Willie Raskob and Blake Heinrich(Minnesota-Duluth), Hunter Warner(Minnesota State), and Teemu Kivihalme(Colorado College). That's a spectacularly deep class of players already, with players like Tommy Vannelli, Johnny Austin, Parker Reno, and Neal Pionk seemingly poised to join them.
The Huskies also picked up a commitment from 6'6" Muskegon Lumberjacks defenseman Ben Storm. Storm is originally from Calumet, Michigan and played high school hockey in Michigan last season. Storm was also a standout high school football player, and had agreed to play college football at Michigan Tech, before deciding to try and secure a Division I hockey scholarship.
This isn't the first time St. Cloud has ventured into the upper peninsula of Michigan to find a big defenseman. Alum Jeff Finger and current defenseman Kevin Gravel also hail from the UP.