Next Wednesday, Nov. 12, is the start of the weeklong early signing period in men’s hockey. So who are the Gophers going to sign?

I obviously can’t ask coach Don Lucia. He can’t tell me without violating NCAA rules. And the one time I asked him to speculate on the number of possible signees, he was mum, too.

So Wednesday night I got on the phone and contacted some high school coaches. Many of them I have known for years. Here is some of what I found out:

Zach Budish, the linebacker-size forward at Edina, will sign with the U next week. Trouble is, he is also having knee surgery early in the week for a torn ACL. He was injured in the Hornets’ second-to-last football game, a 49-6 rout over Minneapolis Southwest on Oct. 21.

Surgery was delayed for a while, Edina hockey coach Curt Giles said, because the swelling on the knee had to go down. “We don’t know how long he will be out,” Giles said. “At least three, four months with surgery and rehab.”

Budish has been a three-sport athlete for the Hornets, competing in baseball in the spring. “He is a big, strong kid who moves extremely well,” Giles said. “He’s a real leader, a real quality kid.”

He had 24 goals and 34 assists going into the Class 2A state tournament. There the Hornets (28-3) reached the championship game before losing 3-0 to Hill-Murray.  

The knee injury could delay when the 6-4, 230-pound Budish starts playing for the Gophers from the 2009-10 season to 2010-11. “If he does not play this year, if he misses an entire season, it could be difficult for him to play next year,” Giles said. “The biggest thing is, to do what is best for Zach.”

I hope everyone remembers Giles’ last comment in this rush to the top world.

Budish had 14 goals and 13 assists for 27 points through 21 games in the Upper Midwest High School Elite League this fall at the Super Rink in Blaine. His point total was the fourth best in the league.

His team, Southwest, was a league-best 14-6-1.

ANOTHER PAUL MARTIN?

Also signing on Wednesday or soon afterward, will be Eden Prairie senior captain Nick Leddy. He had seven goals and 10 assists for 17 points in the Elite League through 21 games. His point total was the second best among defensmen.

“With the unfortunate injury to Zach Budish, Nick has to be one of the front-runners for Mr. Hockey,” said Lee Smith, EP’s hockey coach. “He possesses a game similar to what Paul Martin had.”

(Martin is the former Elk River star defenseman who played for the Gophers and is now with the New Jersey Devils.) 

“Nick is extremely skilled with the puck,” Smith said. “He’s a great defenseman. He could add a lot of charisma to the Gophers’ offensive game. The Gophers are blessed to have Aaron Ness. And to have Nick Leddy come in to … The adjustment Nick will have to make will be short from high school to Division I hockey.”

Leddy is 6-1, 170 or 175. “He has put on a good frame since the end of last season,” Smith said. “And last summer he played in Europe.

“We’re lucky, every USHL team approached him and he was invited to play in  Ann Arbor [with the national development program]. But he picked the right thing to do. He is going to play in high school and then go on.”

Leddy is only a couple points away from becoming the Eagles’ all-time leading scorer among defensemen.

Smith said Eden Prairie will have a young team this season.  Leddy, he said, will be the only senior signing with a Divsion I program next week. But he has several talented sophomores coming up.

Twins Kyle and Curt Rau are the younger brothers of Colorado College forward Chad Rau, a preseason WCHA first team pick. Kyle is a forward, Curt a defenseman.

Another EP sophomore forward with interesting blood lines is Jake McCartan. His grandfather, Jack, was the goalie for the 1960 U.S. Olympic team which won the gold medal. His grandson Jake is 6-2, 185.

MARTELL IN ALASKA

Whatever happened to Elk River defenseman Brandon Martell? A year ago, the U announced him as a member of its 2008 recruiting class, but he was not around when the Gophers started practice.

In a nutshell, he signed with the Gophers after scoring 12 goals and getting 22 assists for the Elks as a senior. He played hockey and baseball at Elk River with a bad shoulder, had surgery on it in July, spent much of the 2007-08 USHL season at Tri-City in Kearney, Neb., on the injured reserve list.

He practiced with the Gophers this summer, Elks coach Tony Sarsland said, but was told there was no spot. He tried to catch on in the USHL again, played three games with expansion Fargo. That didn’t work out, so he had to find another team. He is playing for the Fairbanks Ice Dogs in the NAHL.

“He’s just a very steady, puck-moving defenseman,” Ice Dogs coach Josh Hauge was quoted as saying in an Fairbanks Daily News-Miner when he reported there two weeks ago. “He’s going to add some stability for us, defensively.”

 In his first four games, the 6-3, 205-pound Martell had two assists, 21 minutes in penalties and seven shots on goal.

Wonder if the Gophers will give Martell a shot in 2009-10 if his shoulder proves to be sound again? Longtime Gophers assistant Mike Guentzel, now at CC, was the coach who recruited him, Sarsland said. He’s gone.

 So whether Martell has a future with the Gopher is  uncertain. Don’t expect his name to be mentioned among the recruits for 2009.

OTHERS COMING

At least four other players could sign next week with the Gophers. They are three USHL forwards: Josh Birkholz of Blake and Nate Condon, both playing with Fargo, and Jake Youso of Des Moines. Condon played for Wausau (Wis.) West in high school, Youso for International Falls.

The four expected signee is defenseman Seth Helgeson of Sioux City in the USHL. He is from Faribault.

Will check on all of them before next Wednesday. Stay tuned.

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