Wednesday, September 09, 2026

UPDATED Gilroy returns to BU; Early power rankings; 20 years of THFB; A daily puzzle for BU fans


  
The Terrier Hockey Fan Blog’s annual preseason podcast will be posted later this month. This year, we’re taking questions from BU fans and will do our best to answer them. Two ways to submit: 1) As a comment at the bottom of this post; or 2) email to thfblog@gmail.com   

It's our anniversary!

Sorry to say, we missed our own milestone. Last Wednesday marked the 20th anniversary of the launch of THFB. Today’s post is #3,609 (plus another 100 or so on the blog annex).  The very first blogpost reported on Corey Trivino’s commitment to BU while playing Junior A hockey in Ontario. 

To mark the milestone, we're introducing a logo for the blog—about time, right?— which is shown above. 

Many thank you to dedicated our readers and content contributors.

 

Former Terrier co-captain, All-American and Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Matt Gilroy has joined the BU coaching staff as director of player development.  

"Matt will provide consistent, detailed development that will elevate our players' games to the next level," Head Coach Jay Pandolfo said. "In addition, he'll be a great resource for our staff and complement the work we do." 

Gilroy, who joins Pandolfo and associate head coach Joe Pereira as national champions on the Terrier staff, has been an assistant at Harvard the past two seasons. In the prior two seasons, he was an assistant at the NTDP where he coached Cole Eiserman, Cole Hutson and Kamil Bednarik both years. 

Following his Terrier career, Gilroy played 225 NHL games, first with the New York Rangers, then with Tampa Bay, Ottawa and Florida. Later he played in the KHL for four seasons and was an assistant captain to Team USA in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. 

The Bellmore, N.Y., native's rags to riches story is legend for BU fans. Gilroy began his Terrier career as a walk-on forward, quickly transitioned to defense and became a three-time All-American (First Team twice). It culminated in BU's "DC Miracle" national championship overtime win against Miami with Gilroy in the middle of the tying goal in the last minute of regulation. 

 

● GoTerriers.com Gilroy Returns to BU as Director of Player Development

● Elite Prospects Page 

 

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College Puck NXT is out with the first early projections for each conference and the national race. The Terriers are slotted at #4 in Hockey East. The national ranking has Michigan #1 followed by defending champion Denver, Michigan State, North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth. BU is ranked #14.  These rankings are based on voting by the College Puck NXT Committee of bloggers, journalists and influencers. 

Freshmen Niklas Aaram Olsen (81) and Viktor Nörringer (13) and senior Aiden Celebrini (22) tuning up at Agganis. 

►Our friend BU Hockey Stats has introduced a daily game—Jack’s Boxes--to test your knowledge of Terrier Hockey.  Click here to access each day’s game and game rules. Bookmark it, too.  

►Two weeks ago, we covered Mikhail Yegorov development of a goalie stats analytic platform he created as a freshman and recently made public at YegorovStats.com . Elite Prospects spoke with the Devils' draft pick about how he applies the data to his game. 

The site itself looks at Yegorov’s stats on a game-by-game basis, while also looking at more specific situations. For example, he keeps track of shots based on grades, A+ through C, while also tracking more specific rebound control and how well he plays the puck after making an initial save.  

“I think it’s been a really good tool for me to look at rolling windows, five to ten games, and see how and what a goalie was good at,” Yegorov said. “Like last season there were a couple times I saw I dipped in the second half of a 10-game window, so I worked on that with my goalie coach, a mental coach, and bounced back. But sometimes you don’t even realize you dipped without having that data.” 

● Elite Prospects Beyond the save percentage: Mikhail Yegorov's search for the full picture   

TheHockeyWriters.com has ranked Yegorov at #8 on the list of leading goalie prospects.  

8. Mikhail Yegorov, 20, New Jersey Devils

In his first full collegiate season at Boston University, New Jersey Devils prospect Mikhail Yegorov had a solid season as a 20-year-old. While he struggled at times with consistency and rebound control, he still put up a 16-15-2 record, with a 2.73 GAA and a .904 SV%. For his size (6-foot-5), he moves around the net very well and takes up plenty of room in the net. He is great at setting up quickly and squaring up to shooters to eliminate angles for high-danger scoring opportunities.

Heading into his second full season of college hockey, if Yegorov can find the consistency and overall play that made him a second-round pick in 2024, he has a strong chance to climb up these rankings come the end of the season. Taking the next jump in his development will go a long way towards the Devils having a strong goaltender of the future. 

Looking ahead

With the 2026 NHL Entry Draft in the rearview mirror, early projections for 2027’s draft have begun to emerge. EliteProspects’ Top 20 has Carter Meyer at #6 while Jamie Glance checks in at #20. The Athletic (subscription) slots Meyer at #11, Glance at #22 and James Scantlebury as an HM.

2027 recruit Braidy Wassilyn was not selected in last June's draft. The London Knights' wing will be eligible again in 2027 and is one of top draft re-entry options, according to The Athletic.

2. Braidy Wassilyn, LW, 5-foot-11 (London Knights)

Wassilyn, a BU commit, started the year with a minor injury, missing the first three weeks of the season with Niagara in the OHL. He played well enough in my viewings after, though, both to start with Niagara and following a trade to London. The No. 4 pick in his OHL draft year, Wassilyn had a respectable season a year ago and was one of the last cuts for Canada’s Hlinka team. He was viewed as a top-two-rounds guy coming into the year. He finished the year with 46 points in 62 games and played to positive results, but struggled against tougher competition in the playoffs. He’s a decent skater who can turn opposing D off the rush. He has a good feel around the ice for where to be and how to use spacing, but will also go to the dirty areas and plays a pesky, competitive game for a 5-foot-11 forward, standing up for himself and playing hard even if the penalty minute totals look small. He’s also stocky. He has a strong one-timer and is a better shooter than his goal totals (which have started to come a little more with the Knights) indicate, though his game tilts toward passing. He has very good stick skills that are lauded by his peers. Though he used to be a center, he played the wing in both Niagara and London and is viewed that way, which makes him a tricky player to project as a sturdy 5-foot-11 guy without high-end production.   

2027 recruit Liam Lefebrve scored the overtime winner to give Cape Breton a weekend sweep of Moncton. In his first game with the Eagles, the Kings’ second-round draft pick fired a hat trick and added an assist to lead the 7-5 pre-season win over the Wildcats.

2027 recruit Shawn Carrier scored a goal and assisted on three others to lead Halifax past St. John’s, 7-3. Glance had an assist for the Sea Dogs.

2027 recruit Carter Meyer scored his third preseason goal as Quebec edged Shawinigan, 2-1 in overtime. Fellow recruit Scantlebury assisted on Meyer’s goal.Carter's older brother, Freddy, assisted on the game-winner.

2027 recruit Alessandro Di Iorio, a third-round pick by Columbus in the 2026 Entry Draft, is participating in the Blue Jackets rookie camp, before heading to Sarnia for his third OHL season.  A 6'1" right-shot center, Di Iorio was the #2 pick overall in the 2024 OHL draft. He'll be joined on the Sting by 2028 recruit Kaden Aucoin.

● Observer.ca Di Iorio embraces Sarnia Sting leadership role 

 

Looking back

Charlie McAvoy spoke with Belle Fraser about getting another fresh start this season following a frustrating and injury-marred 2025-26 season.  

● NHL.com Charlie McAvoy Reveals Mindset For Season, ‘Have to Learn From These Things’

Ty Gallagher is the sole Terrier at Bruins rookie camp. Owen McLaughlin, a Flyers draft pick is at their rookie camp. Sacha Boisvert and Lachlan Getz are at the Blackhawks’ rookie camp. Gavin McCarthy is at the Sabres' rookie camp.

Former Terrier Doug Grimes will wear the C for the Miami Redhawks this season. He transferred to Miami last year after two season at BU.

Women's Team  

Milosz was goalie coach at BC the past two seasons and previously held that position at Merrimack. 

● GoTerriers.com Women's Hockey Adds Milosz to Coaching Staff 

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