Thatcher Demko, perhaps the top goaltending recruit in the country, committed to Boston College on Sunday. Demko, who is currently playing for the NTDP U-18 team, just turned 17 years old last Saturday. He’ll enter Boston College next season (fall of 2013) as a 17 year old, and won’t turn 18 until almost Christmas (Dec. 8).

Demko visited Boston College on Monday, just one day after his USA teammates beat Merrimack College and tied top-ranked New Hampshire last weekend. He’s a late-’95 birthday, meaning he isn’t NHL Draft eligible until 2014.

Currently a high school junior, Demko will accelerate his education to graduate early and become NCAA compliant. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound goaltender will require just a few summer classes in order to graduate and become academically eligible per the NCAA as a college freshman.

Chris Kreider followed a similar path to Boston College in 2009, leaving Phillips Academy in Andover, where he was academically a junior, and finishing summer courses at Masconomet Regional High School in order to graduate and become NCAA eligible for his freshmen season with the Eagles, when the BC program moved his freshman season up one year.

I’ll have more on Demko this week on College Hockey News.