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BC lost Thatcher Demko to the Vancouver Canucks this offseason. Very sad. But Demko was one of the most talented goaltenders to come through Boston College — possibly ever — and he would have been very silly to not sign this year after showing the world that his surgically repaired hips don’t lie.
But being one of a handful of schools with a legitimate claim to being college hockey royalty, BC probably has top goalies pounding on their door for the opportunity when the starter leaves for wealthier pastures.
The Eagles are well-stocked with future goaltending talent as two! of the best goaltenders of this recruiting cycle are on the Heights as freshmen.
#31 Joe Woll
Woll has been committed to BC for about a year and a half, and has the pedigree to be BC’s next big thing between the pipes. Like Demko, he’s a big boy — a whopping 6’3”, 194 pounds -- so he could take a snooze and would still take up a lot of the net.
Woll was the first pick of the 3rd round of this year’s NHL draft at #62 overall, going to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s got quite a pedigree: Woll was part of Team USA for the U18 World Championships, helping the Americans to a bronze medal with the best save percentage (.947) and GAA (1.37) in the tournament. He was also at summer evaluation camp for next year’s World Junior team. Woll is expected to start, but he’s certainly got competition.
#35 Ryan Edquist
Edquist was a surprise commitment during the summer. After Demko signed with the Canucks, BC had rising sophomore Ian Milosz and (highly touted) incoming freshman Joe Woll ready to play. But Edquist, a very highly regarded goalie himself, decommitted from Minnesota, of all places, to sign with Boston College.
Edquist is very, very lanky at 6’0” 165 pounds. He was the starting goaltender for Lakeville North, who won the Minnesota Class AA State Championship (a thing they really care about out there, by the way) in 2015 with a perfect record. He’s very talented, and will give Woll an unexpected challenge for the starting spot — a great problem for the Eagles to have.
Make sure you check out Joe’s forward profiles and Laura’s defenseman profiles. BC has buckets of young talent coming to the Heights this year, and with so many players leaving for the pros, they’ll need quite a few to contribute.