We recently asked people around the hockey world who they think are the best recruiters in college hockey.

This was inspired by our friends on the college football side — they did a similar piece last year. The panel was comprised of voters from across the hockey spectrum and included NHL scouts, USHL executives, agents and fellow coaches in college hockey. There were over 20 voters, and I strived for an equal balance between those based in the western and eastern parts of the college hockey world.

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Each voter was asked for a top five, with five points being awarded for a top-place vote and a single one given for a fifth-place vote. “Best recruiter” meant different things to different people, and some pointed out that recruiting is a team effort, but voters were asked to combine the coaches’ ability to identify talent and to convince the players to commit while incorporating the caliber of program they work for when considering the talent they bring in (to prevent this from becoming a list of the premier schools’ coaches).

1. Todd Knott — Associate Head Coach, Minnesota State (Mankato)

Mankato is not a big town by any means and there’s a lot of competition in the state of Minnesota for hockey talent. Yet Mankato, led by head coach Mike Hastings, has made the Frozen Four two years in a row and lost in the championship game in 2022 despite having very few high-profile names on the roster.

The panel of sources gave a large share of the credit for this accomplishment to Todd Knott, who was represented on almost every ballot and ran away with the No. 1 spot on this list.

“Mankato is not scouting the same players Michigan and Minnesota do. Todd Knott is scouting the shittiest leagues and somehow finding good players that help his program contend for a national title. You watch at the end of this season, a bunch of their guys are going to sign NHL contracts,” said one NHL source.

Said another source:“Knott is simply the best in the business. He can identify and recruit talent as well as anyone. He’s honest and relentless in his effort.”

2. Tavis MacMillan — Assistant Coach, Denver

Not surprisingly, the defending national champions in Denver are featured prominently in this ranking. MacMillan has led Denver’s recruiting efforts for seven years and was an NHL scout for eight years prior. He’s been part of two national titles and, after a clear No. 1 in Knott, was the clear No. 2 among the voters. When discussing MacMillan and Denver’s recruiting, the panel often pointed out that they get the good players but are very targeted in their approach.

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“They don’t throw around scholarships and then decommit kids like some of the other big schools,” said one voter.

Another voter added, “MacMillan is a very good evaluator. Denver builds a narrow net of the players they want to bring in, and then they recruit them early and go after them hard.”

What stood out about Denver’s championship team is they had the high NHL draft picks, but also had good upperclassmen like Cole Guttman and Brett Stapley to form a well-rounded club.

3. Jared DeMichiel — Associate Head Coach, Michigan State University

DeMichiel was an assistant to Greg Carvel at UMass for the past six seasons; he was a critical component to the turnaround of that program and a part of their 2021 national title. “He’s an elite recruiter,” said one voter. “He helped build UMass into a national contender. He leaves for MSU and all of a sudden they’re getting top players like Christian Humphreys to commit to them over the usual go-to programs.”

“Success and good players tend to follow him around,” said another voter, referencing his team at St. Lawrence.

A third voter added, “He’s very good at building relationships. You look at how UMass got Cale Makar to stay with them, he was a big part of that.”

4. Jerry Keefe — Head Coach, Northeastern

Keefe is currently the head coach of Northeastern, but he was the assistant to Jim Madigan for a long time and was credited by the panel for the successful recruiting Northeastern did during that era.

“In the backyard of Boston College and Boston University, what he’s been able to build and the caliber of players he’s been able to get is very impressive,” said one voter.

Another voter said, “He’s shown he can bring equal talent to that of BC and BU that are under-appreciated and build a consistent contending team.”

5. David Carle — Head Coach, Denver

The reigning champions got a lot of love in this survey. “When you look at the roster, they have the best players on paper a lot of years, and a lot of credit goes to Carle for that for me,” said one voter.

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“MacMillan does a lot of the heavy lifting at Denver, but Carle is a great recruiter in his own right and helps to finish the deal there,” said another voter of Carle, who was an assistant coach at Denver for five years before taking the head job.

6. Ben Barr — Head Coach, Maine

Barr came over to Maine after over a decade as an assistant coach in the college ranks with various successful programs. “He has a proven track of record of bringing in players that eventually lead to championships,” said one voter. “He set the foundation at Union and Providence (who both won national titles shortly after his departure). He never got to celebrate his work until he won at UMass, but his fingerprints were on those rosters.”

A second voter added, “He’s a great recruiter. Time will tell if he has the same kind of success at Maine, but there’s no doubting he knows how to identify talent and build relationships with players.”

Historically, he’s raised the Barr of every program he’s been a part of. Sorry, not sorry.

7. Jason Herter — Associate Head Coach, Western Michigan

Herter is at Western now after he was the assistant at Minnesota-Duluth for a decade, spearheading their recruiting during their highly successful runs where they made the Frozen Four in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021, winning the tournament twice (2018, 2019). Duluth has gained a reputation in college and NHL circles for consistently acquiring undervalued players who competed hard and have churned out several good pros in the process.

“He was the guy who got (Duluth) their players for their runs. Western is going to be in good hands and between him and (head coach Pat) Ferschweiler they’re going to overachieve,” said a voter.

Said another: “He has a philosophy and he doesn’t deviate from it. He doesn’t get seduced by the shiny objects and sucked into an arms race. He follows through on what he wants and ultimately wins.”

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8. James Marcou — Assistant Coach, Harvard

Marcou has only been an assistant at Harvard for three years but has quickly garnered the appreciation of his peers. The primary obstacle Marcou faces, unlike his competition, is his school’s admissions department.

“Getting both good players, and players who can get into the school is not an easy feat,” said one voter. “Harvard has strict academic criteria and no athletic scholarships yet they still get some of the best commitments.”

“James finds a good blend of high-end players and students and knows how to manage the recruiting timelines to get the commitments,” said a second voter.

9. Andy Slaggert — Associate Head Coach, Notre Dame

Slaggert has been an assistant at Notre Dame since the mid ’90s. “Notre Dame has to compete with the Ivys regarding academics and the players they’re recruiting,” said one voter. Notre Dame may not get the high-end prospects, even though they’ve had some decommit at the last second recently, but their recruiting still draws praise from the hockey world. “Andy is the quiet one. He finds good players consistently who play their style and does it under the radar.”

10. Joe Pereira — Associate Head Coach, Boston University

Pereira was an assistant at the University of Connecticut for a decade. While the school never became a true player in Hockey East, in recent years they have begun bringing in high-profile pro talent, such as projected 2023 first-round pick Matthew Wood, a pick Pereira had a hand in. Shortly after joining Boston University for the upcoming season, Macklin Celebrini, projected lottery pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, committed to BU. “He hunts and is persistent with players and families,” said one voter.

Honorable mentions also receiving votes (in alphabetical order):

Greg Brown — Head Coach, Boston College
Greg Carvel — Head Coach, UMass
Joe Dumais — Associate Head Coach, Quinnipiac
Pat Ferschweiler — Head Coach, Western Michigan
Josh Hague — Head Coach, Union
Mike Hastings — Head Coach, Minnesota State (Mankato)
Tyler Helton — Assistant Coach, Connecticut
Dane Jackson — Associate Head Coach, North Dakota
Adam Krause — Assistant Coach, Minnesota-Duluth
Brett Larson — Head Coach, St. Cloud State
Nate Leaman — Head Coach, Providence
Mike Levine — Associate Head Coach, Northeastern
Kris Mayotte — Head Coach, Colorado College
Steve Miller — Associate Head Coach, Minnesota
Bob Motzko — Head Coach, Minnesota
Brandon Naurato — Head Coach, Michigan
Dave Noel-Bernier — Associate Head Coach, Nebraska-Omaha
Garrett Raboin — Head Coach, Augustana
Scott Sandelin — Head Coach, Minnesota-Duluth
Ben Syer — Associate Head Coach, Cornell

(Photo of Tavis Macmillian, left, and David Carle: M. Anthony Nesmith / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)