It’s never too early to start making predictions and preparing to watch Minnesota High School Hockey. Focusing on players to watch will make it exciting to tune in to games when they start again in the fall. That being said, here is my list of players to watch in Section 5A and my “way too early” playoff prediction.
Dylan Cook –Princeton – Sr. Forward
Dylan was on an absolute tear last season. He managed to rack up 23 goals and 45 assists in the regular season which landed him at the top of the section in scoring with 68 points in 25 games played. In three of those games, he recorded a 7 point game, an 8 point game, and a TEN point game. He continued to be red hot in the playoffs by scoring 4 goals and assisting on 5 others in just 3 section games. After losing a couple of their top scorers from last season, Cook and fellow senior forward Cade Pazdernik (14G, 9A) are going to have to lead the charge for the Tigers.
Parker Sell – Pine City – Sr. Forward
In his junior season, Parker recorded a point in every regular-season game besides one. He finished the year with 21 goals and 37 assists. It seems that you can always count on Sell to be on the score sheet. He finished the year strong after ending the season with a 26 game point streak, including his 6 points in just 3 playoff games. It will be very fun to see how long he can keep that streak alive as he is only 20 points away from the 100 point milestone.
North Branch has three forwards returning to the squad who finished with 40 or more points last season. tops that list after finishing with 25 goals and 30 assists. There were 17 games where Cody had 2 points or more and that includes three hat tricks. In his high school career, Croal managed to rack up a whopping 135 points. The Vikings also have other offensive threats in senior forwards Joey Kerchner (20G, 22A) and Tucker Sachs (26G, 14A) as well as the return from senior defenseman Jordan Axberg (5G, 17A). With all that experience and firepower, North Branch is going to be tough to defend.
Cody Strate & Dylan Strate – St. Francis – Sr. Forwards
TWINS. Going into their senior year, the Strate brothers have played three previous years for the Saints. Cody has 110 career points and Dylan has 107 career points. Last season, Cody finished with 24 goals and 30 assists. Not far behind, Dylan finished with 18 goals and 28 assists. There were only two games last season where Cody didn’t record a point. He also managed to score a hat trick in 4 games. Dylan had two games where he put up 5 assists and also had an impressive 4 goal game in a 4-3 win against Duluth Marshall. With the kind of chemistry these two possess, and secondary scoring from senior forward Ethan Smith (9G, 16A), St. Francis will be very fun to watch.
Parker Mitchell – Mora/Milaca – Jr. Forward
Parker finished last season with 28 goals which puts him with the most in the section for returning players. Alongside many of the consistent players this section has to offer, he only had two games without a point last season. He had 14 multi-point games and 8 multi-goal games, including an outstanding 4 goal game in a 5-3 win against St. Paul Highland Park. With Mitchell returning upfront and the help from junior defenseman Jack Kritzeck (13G, 15A) on the back end, the Mustangs are going to have a promising next two seasons.
Hunter Nybakken – Northern Lakes – Sr. Forward 
Standing at 6’3″ without skates on, Hunter is a strong power forward and has a knack for scoring goals. He finished his junior year averaging a goal a game as well as assisting on 20. There were 6 games last season where he managed to have 4 pointsor more. That includes a phenomenal 5 goal game in a 9-6 win over Moose Lake. With his ability to find the back of the net, the playmaking ability from fellow senior forwards Caiden Kjelstrom (17G, 16A) and Kyler Couture (10G, 15A), as well as the leadership of senior defenseman Erik Larsen (4G, 12A), the Lightning are going to be a surprise to many.
This section has an incredible amount of returning senior forwards that can produce and it is going to be very exciting to watch. It is going to be a very competitive playoff, but my prediction is that St. Francis and North Branch are going to face off to go to the X with North Branch prevailing. Thanks for reading and stay tuned because as the summer goes on I will be doing “players to watch” for every section in the state of Minnesota.