WOKE UP IN A NEW VANSAGHI: U18 forward Shane Vansaghi (St. Louis, Mo.) doesn't have eye-popping numbers to begin the season as the forward's eight points (3g-5a) ranks 14th on the team in total scoring. But the underager has been hot of late, recording five points in his last five games played.

The Michigan State commit started his impressive run dating back to the back-half of the Five Nations tournament earlier this month. He put up an assist in Team USA's 6-1 win over Switzerland and added a goal in the final game of the tournament, the first-place clinching win over Czechia.

Returning stateside, Vansaghi posted a three-point game, his first career multi-point game outside of international play, in the U18s' 13-1 win over Adrian. He assisted on two second-period scores before using a power move to get to the net and chip one in for his third score of the season.

Vansaghi has recorded nine shots on goal over those past five games, the most for the 6-foot-2, 207-pound power forward in any five-game stretch this season while he has accrued a +4 rating over the same span.

GRETA VAN VLIET: U18 forward Lucas Van Vliet (Livonia, Mich.) collected his first career multi-goal game in Team USA's 13-1 win over Adrian College on Wednesday and the forward scored not two, not three, but four goals on the night. He added an assist for a whopping five-point evening. 

The MSU Spartan commit posted a pair of goals in each of the second and third periods to continue extending the U18 advantage. His hat-trick tally came just 11 seconds into the third frame, while shorthanded, an area that Van Vliet has continued to develop this season.

The Little Caesars product is up to seven goals and three helpers on the year, including eight points (6g-2a) over his last eight games played.

GRIP IT AND WHIP IT: Defenseman John Whipple (Minnetonka, Minn.) has hit his offensive stride of late, producing five points over his last five games, while continuing to play shut-down defense in his own zone.

Whipple has 11 points this season, all assists, tying him for the seventh-most on the team in the category. The five points ties his high for the most in any five-game stretch since coming to the NTDP.

The future Minnesota Golden Gopher has also notched six shots during the stretch and added a +8 rating.

MURTAGH YOU'RE IT: U17 forward Jack Murtagh (East Greenbush, N.Y.) posted a goal and an assist in the team's lone game last week in Youngstown. The goal was Murtagh's eighth of the season, putting him t-2nd on the team in goal scoring.

Since the start of the World Under-17 Challenge, the Boston University commit  has nine points (5g-4a) over his last eight games, including a trio of multi-point efforts.

In that eight-game stretch, which includes four losses for the U17s, Murtagh has gone even or a plus-rating in every game, accumulating a +11 total mark.

RUNNING ON EMPTY: U18 captain Brodie Ziemer (Hutchinson, Minn.) iced the U18s' victory over Stevenson University with an empty-net tally late in regulation.

The ENG marked Team USA's first empty-net score at home against a college squad since Tyler Duke completed the feat two years to the exact date on November 24, 2021 in Team USA's 7-4 win over Adrian.

The score kept Ziemer's point-streak intact and extended it to seven consecutive games. Over that stretch, he has produced four goals and seven assists as Ziemer now sits at over a point-per-game pace with 21 (6g-15a) in 20 games played.