Bruins Top 25 Under 25 - #16 Zane Gothberg

Zane Gothberg

#60 (Camp Number) / G / Boston Bruins

Height: 6-2
Weight: 203
Born: August 20, 1992
2012-2013 Numbers: 17 GP, 9-4-3, 2.46 GAA, 0.920 SV%

Gothberg's freshman season at University of North Dakota saw him play in 40% of his team's games. He struggled initially, allowing 22 goals in his first seven games, but he settled down and allowed 19 over his last 10. The Grand Forks, ND native was drafted by the Bruins in the 6th round in 2010 (160th overall) after a strong high school career in Minnesota. Interesting fact - Ralph Engelstad is an alumnus of Gothberg's high school and college and both schools' hockey arenas are named after him.

Gothberg really turned heads during his two seasons in the USHL with the Fargo Force, especially in the 2011-2012 campaign. That year he led the league in save percentage en route to being named a USHL First-Team All-Star member and USHL Goaltender of the Year. Here's a little slice of why:

Our Rankings:

With the exception of Dan and, to a lesser extent, Cornelius, we had Gothberg pegged at the 19-20 position, so he falls a little higher than the consensus. But, it's quite possible that some of us just aren't rating him properly.

My B's All-Underrated Prospects Team G- Zane Gothberg D- Zach Trotman D- Matt Benning F- Craig Cunningham F- Matt Lindblad F- Brian Ferlin

— Kirk Luedeke (@kluedeke29) August 22, 2013

As far as scouting is concerned, he's drawn comparisons to Marty Turco and relies on his sharp reflexes. He also studied our pal Tim Thomas during the B's 2011 cup run. That style has served him well thus far, but leaves him prone to issues with rebounding, though - something he'll look to improve during his sophomore season.

Gothberg is considered a long term project. Since he was drafted Svedberg and Subban have entered the picture and have surpassed him in the Bruins' goalie prospect pool. He projects to be a strong backup who could potentially earn a starting gig, but the likelihood of that place being Boston is not certain at the moment.

For further reading, check out some features on Gothberg from the Bruins website and New England Hockey Journal.

And those of you interested in taking a glimpse into the future, North Dakota has a lot of nationally televised games this season (CBS Sports). See below:

For a double helping, be sure to tune in to that 12/6 game against WMU. Colton Hargrove, the Bruins' 7th round pick in 2012 is a Bronco.

And as a bonus, since I love goalie mask art, here's Gothberg with his NoDak teammates discussing their helmets: