No Leitner -- for now

Minnesota State's roster has been tweaked since first being released about a month ago, and highly touted recruit Matt Leitner's name has been removed from the original list of current players.

Leitner is academically ineligible to play for the Mavericks this season, something that was a concern for the coaching staff since the California native and United States Hockey League standout committed to MSU last year.

The good news for the Mavericks, though, is that Leitner is in Mankato and enrolled at the university. He also took summer courses at MSU in order to start getting his academics on track. He is unable to practice with the team, however.

"He is in school," coach Troy Jutting said. "He needs to work on his academics and he needs to look forward to competing and playing with us next season."

When Leitner does play, he's expected to be a good one. Last year, he finished 10th in the USHL in scoring while playing for the Fargo Force with 66 points, including 25 goals, in 54 games. He also ranked second in playoff scoring, as he led the Force to the USHL finals with 18 points (10 goals) in 12 games.

In the meantime, the Mavericks, who started informal workouts and captains practices last week (school began on Aug. 23), still have an intriguing group of freshmen forwards, a cast that includes Leitner's Fargo teammates Chase Grant, Corey Leivermann and J.P. Burkemper, as well as Zach Lehrke and John McInnis. Other freshmen include defensemen Danny Heath and Josh Nelson and goalie Evan Karambelas.