Ryan Gropp gives up UND scholarship to join Seattle Thunderbirds

Christmas came early for the Seattle Thunderbirds organization today.

The Thunderbirds signed their sixth overall pick of the 2011 WHL bantam draft, Ryan Gropp, after he initially took a pass on the major junior route when he committed to the University of North Dakota in July.

“We are very excited to add Ryan Gropp to our team at this time,” said Seattle general manager Russ Farwell in the release. “When we selected him in the Bantam Draft he was one of the top forwards in Western Canada in his age group. Because of his ability to make plays at top speed he is going to be a great addition to our team.”

To put into perspective on how big of an impact Gropp could make in Seattle’s lineup, International Scouting Services ranked him as a first round pick of the 2015 draft class in their summer newsletter.

The 6-foot-3, 170-pound forward, who was committed to UND for the 2014-15 season, spent last season and the start of this year in the BCHL with the Penticton Vees. Gropp potted three goals and eight points in 10 games this year following scoring 12 goals and 31 points in 50 games last year as a rookie.

The Thunderbirds wouldn’t have predicted Gropp would join their team in the summer. In an interview with BTN in July, Farwell seemed very disappointed that he couldn’t get him under contract. He even went to the extent of saying ‘now that he has committed, we’re marching on from Gropp.’

In the release, Gropp mentioned he has been considering joining Seattle ‘for a while’ and their good start to the season (8-2-0) for a couple reasons on why he decided to sign.

“I am really excited to be joining the T-Birds,” said 17-year-old Gropp. “I have been having this feeling of joining the T-Birds for a while and it is better to make this decision sooner rather than later. The team is off to a good start and it is good to come and be a part of that. I am looking forward to getting started and joining the team.”

It seems Matthew Barzal’s decision to sign in May also played a role in Gropp’s change of heart for the American college route. The Kamloops, B.C., native told BTN in July that ‘At times it was really tempting to play for Seattle around when Barzal signed. He’s a really good player and with him on their team their future looks really bright. It was hard to pass up that opportunity.’

Losing Gropp likely knocked the wind out of some UND fans. He was regarded as the college’s best Canadian recruit since Chicago Blackhawks star Jonathan Toews in 2005. Not to mention, Gropp’s decision must have amped the hate towards the CHL from college hockey fans as they just lost St. Louis Blues second-round pick Tommy Vannelli, who was committed to the University of Minnesota, to the Medicine Hat Tigers roughly a month ago.

Bright future in Seattle

The Thunderbirds were a wild card in the WHL’s Western Conference before even signing Gropp. Now with him, it appears the odds are clearly in their favour to snag a first-round home-ice-advantage playoff spot. They not only have an elite offense, consisting of Barzal, Gropp, Florida Panthers prospect Alexander Delnov, Robert Lipsbergs, and Dallas Stars prospect Branden Troock, but they also have a strong back end led by Anaheim Ducks first rounder Shea Theodore.

Even though Seattle is expected to lose their two imports, Delnov and Lipsbergs, and Troock in the offseason, they should have a strong enough core to take a run at the Ed Chynoweth Cup next year. The duo of Barzal and Gropp has the potential to be the top 1-2 punch in the league. On the back end meanwhile, several players such as Ethan Bear and Jared Hauf, should only get better and better over this year and next. In addition, albeit goaltending hasn’t been an issue this year, 16-year-old prospect Logan Flodell, who won goalie of the year in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League last season, is expected to join their squad and could ultimately develop into one of the best puck stoppers to come out of the Land of the Living Skies since Dustin Tokarski.

Kelly Friesen is a Buzzing the Net columnist for Yahoo! Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KellyFriesen