![\"040825.S.GFH.UNDCHYZYK\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.forumcomm.com\/dims4\/default\/b3a9a32\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/4758x2857+0+0\/resize\/840x504!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum-communications-production-web.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2Fe1%2Fec%2Fe4fc4cf44778bfe50c467bbbec38%2F040825-s-gfh-undchyzyk-04.jpg\")
<\/p>\nGRAND FORKS \u2014 Bryn Chyzyk was 12 years old when he first typed an NHL mock draft on his family’s basement desktop computer.<\/p>\n
In middle school, he completed a detailed roster analysis of every NHL team.<\/p>\n
By the time he graduated high school, he created development curves by age and used them to project NHL players’ future point totals.<\/p>\n
“If you were to ask me when I was 12 what I wanted to do,” Chyzyk said, “my answer would have been that. It would not have been to play in the NHL. I feel some people work in hockey because they played. I think I played hockey in order to work in it.”<\/p>\n
When Dane Jackson was named UND’s head coach in March 2025, he said he planned to modernize the program by turning one of his three assistant coaches into a general manager, focused solely on recruiting and roster management.<\/p>\n
No school had done that before, but Jackson became convinced in recent years it needed to happen.<\/p>\n
He thought handling coaching duties \u2014 running practices, coaching a special teams unit, working with a position group \u2014 and recruiting was too much.<\/p>\n
“I just don’t think, in this day and age, you can do both jobs well,” Jackson said. “It was apparent to me we needed a guy that was focused on that.”<\/p>\n
Jackson knew who to hire.<\/p>\n
Chyzyk is a rising star in the profession and has revolutionized how UND evaluates and recruits hockey players. The results over the last 18 months have been remarkable.<\/p>\n
Last spring, he inherited a barren roster and helped turn it into an NCAA Frozen Four team. This summer, three UND recruits were selected in the first round of the NHL Draft. That’s only happened one other time in program history.<\/p>\n
As a new UND hockey season begins at 7:07 p.m. Friday in Bemidji with hopes of a return trip to the Frozen Four, Chyzyk is already on his way to building a loaded roster for 2027-28.<\/p>\n
His success is based on several factors.<\/p>\n
He has a sharp eye for talent and a knack for projecting how players will evolve over time. His outgoing personality helps him build relationships with players and families. His honesty builds trust with agents and advisors.<\/p>\n
He’s curious and eager to try new things. He always wonders how he can do things better or obtain new advantages. He follows trends in other sports and looks for ways to bring them to UND hockey.<\/p>\n
“The way his brain works,” said UND associate coach Matt Smaby, “is that he’s all in for whatever he’s doing and he always has a plan for what’s next. He’s wired a bit different.”<\/p>\n
Chyzyk’s college teammates have known that for years.<\/p>\n
In 2012, UND commit Stefan Matteau, a first-round draft pick of the New Jersey Devils, signed in the Canadian Hockey League, making him ineligible for college.<\/p>\n
UND needed to fill that forward slot for the 2012 freshman class. Few uncommitted players were available.<\/p>\n
But a 19-year-old forward from Virden, Man., was in the midst of an early-season offensive breakout with the United States Hockey League’s Fargo Force.<\/p>\n
Jackson met Chyzyk in Fargo and hosted him on an official visit shortly thereafter. The coaching staff \u2014 Dave Hakstol, Jackson and Cary Eades \u2014 offered a scholarship on the visit. Chyzyk committed on the spot and canceled his other scheduled visits.<\/p>\n
On the ice, his production increased every year at UND \u2014 three points as a freshman, nine as a sophomore, 13 as a junior and 22 as a senior, when he helped the program win its eighth NCAA national championship.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
UND’s Bryn Chyzyk skates during the 2016 NCAA national championship game against Quinnipiac on Saturday, April 9, 2016, at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.<\/p>\n
David Samson \/ The Forum<\/p>\n
Off the ice, his teammates learned that when he wants to be the best at something, he dives in and works relentlessly.<\/p>\n
“He’s a 5-foot-something guy from Virden who won Iron Man,” classmate Coltyn Sanderson said, referring to the team’s preseason fitness challenge. “That was all mentality, work ethic and compete.”<\/p>\n
His teammates also learned that Chyzyk’s analytical mind never stops, no matter what he’s doing.<\/p>\n
“My freshman year, I got a little warning about him and fantasy football,” said Troy Stecher, now a Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman. “I did see his spreadsheets and I’m like, holy smokes, this guy is intense.”<\/p>\n
Chyzyk tracked college hockey’s Pairwise Rankings and told teammates how he thought the NCAA tournament bracket would turn out as Selection Sunday neared.<\/p>\n
“He would get it right almost every single year,” Sanderson said. “He knew the bracket before it came out.”<\/p>\n
Chyzyk eventually earned a nickname from one of his teammates.<\/p>\n
“GM Chyz,” former goalie Cam Johnson said.<\/p>\n
Chyzyk never thought about working as a college general manager.<\/p>\n
The position didn’t exist anywhere.<\/p>\n
He figured his path would be through professional hockey and ultimately to the NHL. To boost his resume for a potential general manager job, he returned to UND and earned his law degree.<\/p>\n
He graduated in 2020 and joined the USHL’s Waterloo Black Hawks as director of scouting. A year later, he was named Waterloo’s general manager. A year after that, he was the USHL’s General Manager of the Year.<\/p>\n
“Working in junior hockey is a really good place to start, because you’re projecting kids at such a young age and you’re witnessing development from 15 to 19,” Chyzyk said. “You pick up on things that change throughout those years and which things stay the same.”<\/p>\n
Chyzyk noticed college football and basketball programs started hiring general managers around 2021. He wondered if hockey was next.<\/p>\n
UND made a coaching change in the spring of 2025 while Waterloo was in the midst of a Clark Cup Finals run.<\/p>\n
Jackson was one of seven to receive interviews and one of four finalists who had a second interview. Jackson told UND athletic director Bill Chaves that if he got the job, he planned to hire a general manager and change the way UND recruits.<\/p>\n
“Any time you’re the first to do something, it may seem radical,” Chaves said. “Dane was very clear that he felt UND needed to be really, really visible in a lot of rinks in North America and beyond.”<\/p>\n
In professional sports, a general manager is above the head coach in an organization’s hierarchy. In college, it’s different. Jackson is above Chyzyk.<\/p>\n
“I have no worries about giving Bryn that title,” Jackson said. “It gave him more power speaking with agents and GMs of NHL teams. It’s a big job. It’s an important job. That title empowered him to represent us the best way possible.”<\/p>\n
Chyzyk often sits alone in his Ralph Engelstad Arena office at 5 a.m.<\/p>\n
The building is empty. His phone is silent. There are no distractions at this hour of the morning. He turns on video clips of a junior hockey game, sips on a cup of black coffee and begins evaluating.<\/p>\n
He often watches a single player’s shifts, which means he can get through an entire game in about 20 minutes. He rifles through several games before there’s any risk of interruption from the outside world.<\/p>\n
He scours the player pool far and wide. While UND’s traditional recruiting grounds are the USHL and Western Canada \u2014 those areas remain the focus \u2014 Chyzyk doesn’t stop there. He scouts non-traditional areas and Europe. He has a book on hundreds of players.<\/p>\n
“He’s a little bit like a mad scientist,” Jackson said. “He’s got a lot going on. He gets on different tangents. He uses some analytics and different programs to break down things he’s looking for.”<\/p>\n
Smaby said: “He’s got like 37 spreadsheets going. None of them are labeled. But he knows exactly where all of them are.”<\/p>\n
While Chyzyk uses analytics, they never outweigh what he sees with his own eyes. Jackson gives Chyzyk free rein to set his own travel schedule, and Chyzyk is on the road a lot.<\/p>\n
In the 18 months since taking the job, Chyzyk has spent about 150 nights in a hotel. He’s gone on trips as long as 10 days. He’s traveled as far as \u00d6rebro, Sweden.<\/p>\n
Chyzyk, who hadn’t flown until he was out of high school, now regularly gets upgrades because of his airline status.<\/p>\n
Three NHL scouts told the Herald that UND began relying too heavily on video after the pandemic, but that’s changed in a major way in the last 18 months.<\/p>\n
Chyzyk strongly believes in being in rinks.<\/p>\n
“There are different qualities of players that are harder to pick up on video \u2014 skating, body language,” Chyzyk said. “Not only that, the value you get from being at the rink, with everything going on, is massive. You bump into agents and advisors. You get (info) from NHL scouts, junior scouts. People see your jacket in the rink. There’s so much side value to being in the rink.”<\/p>\n
Two months ago, Chyzyk was scheduled to scout a tournament in Edmonton, but his flight out of Winnipeg was canceled. Rather than miss a potential networking opportunity that night, Chyzyk rented a car and drove 13 hours.<\/p>\n
He missed the games, but that’s just part of being there in person.<\/p>\n
Chyzyk is a throwback who connects with hockey personnel over postgame pints.<\/p>\n
“He’ll meet you for a 7 a.m. coffee,” a prominent agent said, “or he’ll meet you after a game for a beer.”<\/p>\n
Collaboration with coaches<\/p>\n
Before the team practices at about 9:30 a.m., the coaches gather in their war room at ice level in Ralph Engelstad Arena. Chyzyk joins them. He believes it’s important to know what they’re talking about.<\/p>\n
When Jackson, Smaby, Dillon Simpson and Jean-Philippe Lamoureux go on the ice for practice, Chyzyk returns to his office and makes phone calls \u2014 NHL personnel, agents, family advisors, junior hockey coaches or anyone else he needs to talk to. Chyzyk has not been on the ice for a single practice yet this season.<\/p>\n
In the afternoon, the coaches often reconvene to discuss recruits.<\/p>\n
Instead of all four coaches scouring North America for players like in the old days, Chyzyk brings the coaching staff a short list of potential recruits.<\/p>\n
“When we’re dialed in on a handful of guys, we can use our time wisely,” Jackson said.<\/p>\n
This is when the entire staff gets involved. They often watch potential recruits together, sitting at a table in the war room. They take notes but don’t speak until they’re done watching.<\/p>\n
![\"09xx26](\"https:\/\/cdn.forumcomm.com\/dims4\/default\/82b8b08\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/2664x1776+0+0\/resize\/840x560!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum-communications-production-web.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F2b%2Fc5%2F89efe1b245bc9f8b6f1d179c44a3%2F09xx26-und-war-room.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
UND coaches gather in the war room at Ralph Engelstad Arena on Sept. 22, 2026. <\/p>\n
Eric Hylden \/ Grand Forks Herald<\/p>\n
Jackson welcomes dissenting opinions.<\/p>\n
“I don’t want groupthink,” Jackson said. “I want everyone’s individual thoughts. We have a good trust and belief in open exchange. You can say what you want. Other guys can critique your thoughts. It’s how I like our war room to be. I think it really allows us to get to good decisions.”<\/p>\n
Smaby said most people view war room discussion as someone standing up and pounding a fist on the table, igniting arguments. He said that’s not what it’s like in their room.<\/p>\n
“We have dissenting views,” Smaby said. “We don’t think alike. We value different things. But there’s a mutual respect among everyone where, one, you’re really comfortable sharing exactly what you think, and two, you respect everyone and listen to their opinions. That’s what makes it work so well. We have such a healthy level of dialogue. It’s such a unique thing to have.”<\/p>\n
The staff discusses not only whether they like a player’s skill set, but also where that player fits into the larger picture. Chyzyk has spreadsheets with projected future rosters.<\/p>\n
“You want to balance classes, roles, skillsets, ages,” Chyzyk said. “You always have that inner debate. Are we too far one way? Or are we too far this way? There are about five or six categories you’re trying to find the right balance of.”<\/p>\n
When they agree on a player, they go from evaluating mode to recruiting mode.<\/p>\n
Coaching staff members will watch games in person. They’ll do in-home visits. They’ll get to know the player and his family. They’ll make sure the player and the family get to know the staff.<\/p>\n
“We’re not just trying to acquire talent,” Jackson said. “We’re trying to build a team \u2014 lefties, righties, centers, big and powerful guys, defensive players, offensively skilled guys. You put that whole thing together. Sometimes, it’s nice to have a captain-type player in a class.”<\/p>\n
UND looks for both younger, first-round NHL Draft pick-types like Cole Reschny, Keaton Verhoeff and Carson Carels, as well as late bloomers like Jack Kernan, Connor Davis and Ethan MacKenzie.<\/p>\n
Sometimes UND passes on high-end players because their skill set isn’t what’s needed.<\/p>\n
“There’s so much talent available now, sometimes it’s really hard to stick with,” Jackson said. “We’ll have good debate. ‘Hey, we need a physical, captain-type of player. Hey, he doesn\u2019t really fit what we need here.’ There’s a lot of give-and-take on that aspect. Are we really going to bypass a more skilled or talented player just because we lack a bit of that?”<\/p>\n
Chyzyk said his personal experience as a late-bloomer has shaped his views on player development. He’s always looking for guys who have fallen through the cracks.<\/p>\n
When UND committed MacKenzie in the summer of 2025, he had just been passed over in the NHL Draft for a second time and had little recruiting interest. A few months after he committed, he was on the Canadian World Junior team and was one of the best defensemen in the Western Hockey League.<\/p>\n
“I saw it year after year at North Dakota, whether that was Shane Pinto or Troy Stecher,” Chyzyk said of late-bloomers. “Pinto has a lot of stories about not making teams. Some people have a view that things don’t change once a player is 15. Through my experiences, I tend to move the other way.”<\/p>\n
UND has almost completely reshaped the roster under the current staff.<\/p>\n
Although former coach Brad Berry has been gone for only 18 months, just three players on the current roster played for him: juniors Mac Swanson, E.J. Emery and Cody Croal.<\/p>\n
The future recruit list has transformed, too. The future looks promising. Among the headliners expected to come as soon as next season:<\/p>\n
Twin brothers Liam and Markus Ruck, the top two scorers in Canadian major junior hockey last season.Nolan Fitzhenry, the Herald\u2019s No. 1-ranked American recruit for 2027. Along with teammates Beck Thoreson and Carson Scott, UND has three commits on the U.S. Under-18 Team for the first time ever.Carter Sanderson, one of the best forwards in the WHL so far this season. He has eight points in three games.Saskatoon Blades teammates Brayden Klimpke and Cooper Williams, who are both in the top 10 in WHL scoring. Klimpke may be the league’s best defenseman.<\/p>\n
UND’s season begins with a home-and-home series against Bemidji State this weekend. But Chyzyk won’t be in the Sanford Center or in Ralph Engelstad Arena. He rarely sees UND play in person.<\/p>\n
He’s almost always on the road, scouring North America for what UND needs on future rosters.<\/p>\n
“One of my coolest moments in the rink was hearing an NHL scouting director reference a player as a ‘North Dakota-type player,'” he said. “It showed me the reputation and culture created in the hockey world came from the people in the program long before me.”<\/p>\n
Yes, those folks turned UND into a college hockey blue blood.<\/p>\n
Chyzyk and the new staff are bringing the program into the future.<\/p>\n
“When he got the job, I thought he would be the perfect fit,” former UND defenseman Paul LaDue said. “He’s gone out and proven himself even more than people thought. What he’s done so far has been incredible.”<\/p>\n
Chyzyk’s old teammates still follow UND’s games closely, even though many of them are in Europe. They text about the results after the games.<\/p>\n
“We’re so passionate about this program,” Stecher said. “Every single Friday or Saturday, our group chat is happy or sad whether they win or lose. If they sweep, we’re all pumped.”<\/p>\n
And if they don’t?<\/p>\n
“We’re blaming Chyz,” he said.<\/p>\n
![\"IMG_1975.jpeg\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.forumcomm.com\/dims4\/default\/5305b1e\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/3024x4032+0+0\/resize\/840x1120!\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforum-communications-production-web.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F69%2Fe1%2F0efc5556463992a78586e561e621%2Fimg-1975.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
UND general manager Bryn Chyzyk (left) and head coach Dane Jackson (right) stand with defenseman Keaton Verhoeff after Verhoeff was selected No. 9 overall by the San Jose Sharks in the 2026 NHL Draft in Buffalo, N.Y.<\/p>\n
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