Mueller Gone

So remember a couple weeks ago when I stated that Peter Mueller was most likely signing with Everett of the WHL and Gopher fans had a hissy-fit saying it was every player’s ultimate dream to wear a Gopher uniform and guaranteeing that he would play for the Gophers? Guess who ended up being right?

ushr.com has a subscription article up that includes quotes from Don Lucia saying that Peter Mueller called him yesterday saying that he’ll be heading to the WHL next season, thus ending his college eligibility.

That’s a tough break for the Gophers and the rest of college hockey to lose a player the caliber of Mueller. Of course, I’m sure programs like Michigan State and Nebraska-Omaha are standing by playing the world’s smallest violin for them.

As Lucia noted in the article, it’s good that this was resolved this summer as it still gives them time to bring in a talented player. If I had to take a guess, I would say that Ryan Flynn, a very big forward from the NTDP program will end up taking Mueller’s spot at Minnesota. He’s a Minnesota-born kid that has strong aspirations to play in the WCHA. He won’t match the skill that Mueller would have brought, but he brings a little more size, and would probably stay four years, as opposed to Mueller’s one or two.