With less than a month until college hockey begins, here’s a look at the final group of Boston Bruins prospects playing in the NCAA: this group is the senior class.
The Bruins have two players entering their senior seasons. The first is defenseman Ty Gallagher. Gallagher no longer plays close to the Bruins. Following his junior season at Boston University, he quickly packed his bags on Commonwealth Ave. and headed to Colorado Springs to play his final season at Colorado College. The other senior is forward Jake Schmaltz. Schmaltz has never played close to Boston and plays for the University of North Dakota.
There would be one more in this class if Riley Duran hadn’t signed a two-year entry-level contract with Boston following his junior season at Providence College. Duran will be looking to make a name for himself on the Bruins this season after making a strong first impression with the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL).
Going into their senior seasons, and without a COVID year at their disposal, Schmaltz and Gallagher are looking to make one last push to be signed by the team that drafted them or risk going unsigned out of college. While both are talented, this season, they have to dig deep and see what will get them to the next level.
Gallagher is one of the last “old-school” types of defensemen left in the game. In his final 39 games with the Terriers, he blocked 33 shots; eight – four each – in two games alone. One was against Hockey East Association for Providence College, and the other against Big Ten opponent Notre Dame.
Gallagher plays a stout defensive game that focuses on shutting down offensive players with his 6-foot, 190-pound frame. While his numbers were down from the season before when he had 21 points (three goals, 18 assists), Gallagher honed in on his defensive game in 2023-24. His most consistent points streak was against the Fighting Hawks and fellow senior (and Bruins draftee) Schmaltz. Gallagher recorded an assist in both games against North Dakota.
What Will It Take for Gallagher to Go Pro?
To get to the next level, Gallagher will need to find a happy medium between dishing out hits and blocking shots, as well as improving his ability to pass the puck to teammates – and maybe scoring more than three goals.
Joining a conference at Colorado College that has the reigning national champion, the University of Denver, University of Nebraska-Omaha, and St. Cloud State University, to name a few, will be daunting. Whether he can weather the storm remains to be seen.
So far, Schmaltz had his best season in his freshman year. That season, he played in 39 games, scoring eight goals and 16 assists. Since then, he has scored just six goals and 17 assists combined between his sophomore and junior seasons. While the numbers don’t necessarily put him in the “must-sign” category, what does stand out is that he is a natural-born leader.
Going into his senior year, Schmaltz was named an alternate captain by his peers for the second season in a row. This marks not only the second time he has been named to a leadership role in North Dakota but also the third time he has been named to a leadership role dating back to his final season in the United States Hockey League (USHL) for the Green Bay Gamblers.
On the leadership front, Schmaltz won’t have to change a thing. Boston doesn’t take a player’s character lightly and will sometimes substitute leadership qualities for numbers. One thing that Schmaltz will need to work on, however, is his goal-scoring, specifically his consistency. While he plays in a conference that does him no favors when it comes to goal-scoring, Schmaltz will need to make it work if he wants to earn consistent playing time at the next level.
He will likely be signed following the season with North Dakota, but how Schmaltz plays in his senior season will be a large factor in determining how long of a leash the Bruins will give him on his entry-level contract.
With one year left of eligibility, Bruins management (and fans) will be watching these two players in earnest to see if they have what it takes to sign at the end of the year. Schmaltz has two cousins who have played in the NHL and that could bode well for him, but it doesn’t guarantee anything. Gallagher, however, has had a see-saw of a college career, and that could cause him to play with a chip on his shoulder this season.
The NCAA season begins on Oct. 5, and Schmaltz and the Fighting Hawks take on Augustana in an exhibition game. They open the regular season vs. Providence College the following weekend. On the other side, Colorado College takes on Briercrest College in an exhibition game on Oct. 5 and opens the regular season the next weekend vs. Northern Michigan.
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