Arizona State is knocking on the doorstep of being a top-notch school in NCAA Division I college hockey. The program has carefully laid the groundwork to make great strides already as the youngest in the country.
The Sun Devils made history with their first-ever postseason bid following a program-best 21-12-1 season only less than a month ago. Now, it’s evident that the upward trend of success is bound to continue as ASU announces its official 2019 recruiting class.
"We believe this class from top to bottom has the potential to make the most immediate impact yet, as it has everything and rounds out our roster incredibly well at every position," ASU head coach Greg Powers said. "The balance, depth, and most importantly, competition in practice created from our depth will lead to another big step forward for our program. Every single one of these players wants to 'Be the tradition', so we expect them to come right in and help us continue to enhance our culture.”
Six skaters, composed of four forwards and two defensemen, round out the group coming to join Powers and his squad in Tempe. The Sun Devils have the No. 16-ranked recruiting class in the nation according to neutralzone.net.
Let’s take a closer look at the new Sun Devils:
Logan Jenuwine
Logan Jenuwine, a skater from Romeo, Michigan, highlights a very complete class for the Sun Devils. The 20-year-old announced his commitment to ASU back on February 26th and has a 4.00 rating from neutralzone.net.
The forward has been absolutely tearing it up in the NAHL posting 104 points, including 60 goals, with the Amarillo Bulls this season. In what will be his last of three seasons playing junior hockey, he’s currently doing unprecedented things.
Jenuwine recently broke the NAHL record, already shattering the Amarillo franchise mark, previously set by Chris Brooks in 1993 for goals scored in a single regular season when he netted his 56th goal of the year on March 29th. The record stood for five years longer than Jenuwine has been alive which is incredible to say the least. He finished the NAHL regular season averaging more than a goal a game.
ASU has much to be excited about for years to come in Tempe with the left-handed shooter. Amarillo head coach Rocky Russo described him as “a pure goal-scorer”, and that’s exactly what he is.
Coming to college next season, Jenuwine brings the ability to put the puck in the back of the net. Although the team’s offensive production drastically improved in 2018-19, ASU is in need of someone besides soon-to-be junior Johnny Walker who has that raw scoring talent.
The 2016 Mr. Hockey recipient, awarded to the best player in Michigan high school hockey, finds the puck on his stick more often than not. Jenuwine has a very high hockey IQ and knows where to be on the ice to provide copious offensive power.
He’s a sniper through and through with an accurate shot and strong location skills. It’s early but a potential line pairing for him would be with Calgary Flames draft pick Demetrios Koumontzis, who is a dynamic play-maker, precisely what Jenuwine needs to finish the play.
James Sanchez
James Sanchez hails from Northbrook, Illinois, near the Chicago area and will be joining Sun Devil Hockey as a junior. The winger and left-handed shooter committed to the program on November 14, 2018 and is also given a 4.00 neutralzone.net rating.
The Dubuque Fighting Saints pipeline continues with Powers connecting to several players in the past and present from the USHL team. Before playing with the Saints, Sanchez had already played two years of collegiate hockey with the Michigan Wolverines from 2016-18.
In his career at Michigan, he posted 21 points in 61 games played. Sanchez also carries two years of experience in the USNTDP. He is the second-ever player from the U.S. development program to come to ASU (Josh Maniscalco was the first last season).
Sanchez is a power forward-type player that brings the essentials to the ice that aren’t all about putting up numbers. He’s a proven team player with the kind of winning attitude Powers looks for in his skaters and currently wears the ‘A’ patch on his sweater for the Fighting Saints posting 40 points in 45 games.
His college experience will help with the youth and inexperience that ASU battles being a relatively fresh program still, and he’s primed to make a strong impact right away. The depth Sanchez can provide on potentially the third or fourth line is crucial now that the Sun Devils will not have their most productive seniors in Anthony Croston and Dylan Hollman anymore.
William Knierim
Another forward from Dubuque, William Knierim will make his way to Tempe for the 2019 season. The 21-year-old stays connected with Sanchez and Jacob Semik who are all current alternate captains for the Fighting Saints.
The 6-foot-4, 225-pound winger announced his commitment back on January 6th. Like Sanchez, Knierim is going to begin his Sun Devil Hockey career as a junior, having played two collegiate seasons already at Miami University (Ohio).
This team player adds evident size for the Sun Devils, something that’s much needed after ASU struggled against physical and sizeable teams like Cornell and Clarkson in 2019. The right-handed shooter is finishing his third full junior season, all with Dubuque.
Knierim scored 18 goals and 29 assists in 60 games played with the Fighting Saints in their recent regular season. He’s been a critical piece to the USHL program in Iowa, and he has the ‘Be the tradition’ characteristics, such as hard work and grinding for a full 60 minutes, required to wear an ASU jersey.
Even though he’s big, the Skokie, Illinois native has proven he can score. Knierim also has outstanding two-way ability, and he can come in and have great success right away under Powers.
Jacob Semik
The last player to commit from Dubuque is Jacob Semik who did so this month on April 4th. Semik is 19 and is a left-shooting defenseman from Canton, Michigan.
Semik has spent all three of his junior hockey seasons with the Fighting Saints and tallied 46 total points in the span. He was originally committed to the University of Michigan before deciding to switch his path to Arizona State for college.
Wearing the ‘C’ for Dubuque, Semik is a player that has strong leadership qualities. He’s a guy that will hold teammates accountable, similar to the way ASU co-captain Tyler Busch has been described by his peers.
Semik is skillful with the puck and is another player with a strong hockey IQ. He is the third of four players in the recruiting class with a 4.00 rating from neurtalzone.net and is a quality addition for ASU to round out an already strong defensive core.
Jax Murray
Jax Murray, 20, is the first Minnesota native to commit to ASU as mentioned by Sun Devil Athletics. The left-handed shooter has spent his last two seasons playing hockey in the NAHL with the Fairbanks Ice Dogs where he’s been extremely productive with 83 total points in the regular seasons.
Murray committed to Sun Devil Hockey way back on July 13th of 2018. The 5-foot-9, 176-pound forward should add instant offense with skill and speed.
He holds a strong comparison to ASU’s Brett Gruber who will be a senior next season. Both have the similar, smaller frame but make up for it with grinder styles of play and the commitment to two-way hockey.
Murray is the kind of player that can be trusted with the breakout and carries the puck well through neutral ice and processes the transition to the offensive attack quickly. He most likely won’t be a first-line guy right away but can easily find a role on the second or third line for the Sun Devils.
Jack Judson
Jack Judson is the second and final defenseman in the incoming 2019 class. The British Columbia, Canada native is the youngest and also the only non-American of the six skaters coming in.
However, Judson has been committed to be a Sun Devil for the longest after announcing the news at the beginning of December in 2016. The righty is the fourth player of this year’s class to receive a full 4.00 rating from neutralzone.net.
At 6-foot-0, 175 pounds, the defenseman provides offense from the blue line. In two full seasons with the Vernon Vipers in the BCHL, Judson has registered 52 points and an additional 13 in the Vipers’ most recent postseason.
Judson will have a familiar teammate in soon-to-be sophomore Jordan Sandhu. The two played alongside each other on Vernon in the 2017-18 season. Expect Judosn to make a quick transition into college hockey.
Max Prawdzik
Last but not least is an answer to the loss of the veteran presence of Joey Daccord in net. Although not official yet, Max Prawdzik has declared himself to be transferring from Boston University to ASU as a grad student and will play one more year of college hockey in Tempe.
"We will also add goaltending to this class and are working with admissions and our compliance office to be able to officially announce them as soon as possible," coach Powers said.
Prawdzik, 22, only played six games in his career as a Terrior. He posted a cumulative .902 save percentage serving as a backup. Prawdzik spent time in the NAHL with the Lone Star Brahmas and started 11 playoff games for them.
