Top 2024 draft prospect decommits from University of Minnesota

American-born left-winger Cole Eiserman won’t be playing college hockey at the University of Minnesota starting in 2024-25, per Evan Marinofsky of the New England Hockey Journal. The presumptive second overall pick in next year’s 2024 NHL Draft has de-committed from the school and plans to join a university closer to his Massachusetts home.

Eiserman is already off to a hot start this season, leading the U.S. National Development Program’s U18 squad with five goals and eight points through four games. Across major public scout rankings early in the 2023-24 league year, he is the consensus second-overall choice behind Canadian forward Macklin Celebrini, who will suit up for Boston University this season despite not turning 18 until after the collegiate season is over in June.

After recording 86 points in 50 games with the USHL’s Chicago Steel in 2022-23, Celebrini could be one-and-done at the collegiate level with a strong freshman season. The same could be said for Eiserman, although he will spend at least one season after his draft year playing in college — initially expected to be with Minnesota. He’s taken a more slow-burn approach to his development.

That approach has paid massive dividends thus far for Eiserman, who’s racked up video-game goal totals in nearly every level he’s played. He scored 26 goals in just 20 games for the U18 team last season and scored 43 goals and 72 points in 40 games across a larger sample size for the U17 squad as well.

It’s been the same story internationally, too. Eiserman represented the US at both the 2022 World U17 Hockey Challenge and the 2023 IIHF U18 World Championship, notching 12 goals in seven games at the former and nine goals in seven games at the latter. In fact, Eiserman has scored over a goal per game in every league and tournament he’s played in dating back to 2020-21 when his publicly available stats began.

That all lines up to make this a consequential loss for Minnesota, who unexpectedly lost star pivot Logan Cooley this summer as he turned pro with the Arizona Coyotes. He’ll be replaced in the lineup by Chicago Blackhawks 2023 first-round pick Oliver Moore, but he’s a risk to turn pro after one season as well. It’s also an extremely consequential move for the NCAA’s Hockey East conference, which will likely gain Eiserman’s superstar talent for the 2024-25 season.