Class of 2022 Stockrisers: Defenseman

We are a week away from the state tournament and there has been a lot of juniors making some big strides. In the last article, we covered the top forward stock risers in the junior class. Now in this article, we take a look at the top junior defenseman that are rising in the rankings and have been killing it this year.

Brody Hardacre Brody Hardacre 5'10" | Defense Southwest Christian/Richfield | 2022 State MN | 5’10 Defenseman | Southwest Christian | #26 Overall

Hardacre was a huge stock riser this season and made the rankings because of his front half of the year. Hardacre has 5 goals and 16 assists for 21 points in 17 games. Last season his sophomore year he had 11 goals and 16 for 27 points in 25 games; his freshman year had 24 points. This is a very good player that consistently can get points and score. He averages just over 1 point a game in his career. We think for the next update he will stay around where he is at right now because his stats have stayed mostly the same in every season of his career.

Carson Liebaert Carson Liebaert 6'0" | Defense Rosemount | 2022 State MN | 6’0 Defenseman | Rosemount | #32 Overall

Carson found success this year as this was his first year with any points in high school. He had a great junior year and finished the season with 23 points on 9 goals and 14 assists. He is a stock riser because he proved this year that he is a good scoring and playmaking defenseman. I think next year he can prove himself more and jump up in the rankings even more. His best game this season was against the top team in the state- Lakeville South where he had one goal and one assist. I think he can push 30 points in his senior season next year.

Eric Pohlkamp | 5’10 Defenseman | Brainerd | #36 Overall 

The Brainerd Defenseman has had a very solid career and continues to climb up the rankings. This season Pohlkamp had 12 goals and 10 assists for 22 points in 18 games played. He had a very solid elite league this last summer as well with 13 points. His sophomore season he tallied 24 points, and also 10 points his freshman year- he has 56 points in his high school career with one year to go. He definitely might be a little underrated, but with a strong summer or senior season, he would get a big boost in the rankings.

Beau Janzig Beau Janzig 6'2" | Defense Hermantown | 2022 State MN | 6’1 Defenseman | Hermantown | #38 Overall

After getting just 9 points in his sophomore year, Janzig had a huge jump in production this season tallying 23 points. In his 23 point year this year, he had 6 goals and 17 assists- he for sure is a playmaker for the top ’A’ team in the state. The huge jump in production this year got him on the stock risers list- and with a good team returning next year for Hermantown, he definitely can keep the numbers up. Janzig has a huge state tournament coming up and if he performs well can catch the eyes of college coaches. I think Janzig is rated just right… for now.