(#315) College hockey recruiting preview for August 1

Tomorrow (August 1) is a big day on the college hockey recruiting calendar. Programs can begin to offer scholarships to players entering their junior year of high school, and those players can also commit to programs.

Teams have been able to speak to these players since Jan. 1, but no scholarship offers are allowed until Aug. 1.

Usually, there is a flurry of activity in the first few days of the recruiting cycle. However, this year's cycle began last week when a pair of players accelerated their studies and reclassified as seniors, opening their ability to commit earlier.

Forward Conrad Fondrk committed to Boston University. He would have been on my top-10 list today had he not already announced his commitment. Boston College landed forward Gavin Cornforth a few days later. Cornforth had interest from all of the major Boston schools and visited Merrimack, where his dad (Mark) was a standout defenseman.

Here are 10 more names I’m watching closely when the recruiting cycle opens tomorrow: