Boston College Hockey Recruiting

Jacob Tortora, a BC hockey commit, has been named to the 2017 U.S. Men's National U18 Team Roster. Tortora is the only future Eagle to make the final cut. The U18 team will compete at the 2017 International Ice Hockey Federation Under-18 Men's World Championship from April 13-23 in Slovakia.

Yes, you read that right, a kid born in 2000 committed to Boston College hockey yesterday. Patrick Giles, a 6'3'' 15 year old (!!!) from Maryland, became the second youngster to commit for the 2018-2019 season, joining wunderkind T.J. Walsh.

Giles is considered one of the top players in his age group in the country, but he's also, you know, 15, so let's not think about this too much for now. Congrats to Patrick on the commitment and welcome to the Heights (eventually).

Defenseman Josh Couturier has signed his NLI to play hockey at BC for the 2015-16 season. BCEagles.com profiles the blueliner, who is a native of Newburyport, Mass.

Good news: according to SB Nation College Hockey's Jeff Cox, the USHL's Youngstown Phantoms have signed 2016-17, highly-touted BC commit Jacob Tortora to a tender. What does that mean and why is it good?

Essentially, this teams that Yougnstown is extremely confident Tortora will play in the USHL in 2015-16 because if they're wrong and Tortora decides to go play in major juniors in Canada, Youngstown wastes a first round pick in the Futures Draft. The NCAA does not consider the USHL a "pro" league and ad such, playing in it does not end NCAA eligibility.

That's not the case for players who jump to the Canadian Hockey League, a huge fear after Tortora was drafted in the first round by the OHL's Barrie Colts. While Tortora could still theoretically end up in Barrie, either this year in spite of the Youngstown contract, or next season in spite of the BC commitment, this news is a good sign that Tortora's plans at least for now keep him in the United States and NCAA-eligible.