Weekly Roundup: The state of the future roster and recruiting
Though the pandemic has affected the Huskies' recruiting, they're well-stocked for the next couple of seasons.
Welcome to the UConn Hockey Hub newsletter, which catches you up on all the stories, trends, and anything else you might have missed, along with some quick takes and leftover notes from the weekend.
Last week, we made some predictions about what the UConn men’s hockey roster will look like next season. This week, we’ll look at where the Huskies stand for 2022 and beyond.
It’s important to note that the NCAA hasn’t allowed in-person recruiting in over a year and head coach Mike Cavanaugh said back in January that he doesn’t want to take players they haven’t seen on film. So until the NCAA ends the recruiting freeze, don’t expect UConn to make much headway with younger prospects.
“We don’t have a great feel for players two years down the road where this time of year we normally would,” Cavanaugh said at the time. “Next year’s players are kids that we all had a chance to see play. But coming up on this March will be a year where we haven’t been out watching hockey live.”
Forwards
UConn is staring at heavy turnover up top after the 2021-22 season. The Huskies are guaranteed to lose Yale grad transfer Kevin O’Neil while Jonny Evans, Marc Gatcomb, Jachym Kondelik, Carter Turnbull, and John Wojciechowski are all slated to graduate but could return for their bonus year of eligibility.
Vladislav Firstov also seems likely to sign an entry-level deal with the Minnesota Wild after next season, so UConn could potentially lose seven forwards, most of them key contributors.
If the Huskies could get a couple of players to come back for their extra year (like Evans or Turnbull), that would help reduce the drop-off ahead of 2022-23. They could also look towards the transfer market again plenty of graduate transfers will be available due to the COVID year.
Ideally, UConn would get two experienced players for those seven openings. That would allow the Huskies to bring in five or six freshman forwards.
One player who’s all but guaranteed to be one of those 2022 freshmen is Nate Hanley, a former Northeastern commit who flipped to UConn last September. He’s a highly-touted player that the staff was excited to land but a myriad of health issues disrupted his season, so UConn will keep him in juniors for another year. As long as he gets healthy and back to the level he was previously at, he’ll come in next year.
The Huskies have five additional 2001 commitments: Ignat Belov, Mark D’Agostino, Sean Donaldson, Tabor Heaslip, and Ryan Tattle. Once players turn 21, the clock starts on their college eligibility, so these players will either need to come in for the 2022-23 season, or de-commit to go elsewhere. If any of them choose the latter, expect it to be this summer once UConn sorts out its 2021 roster.
The two safest ones in that group would be D’Agostino — who’s from Branford, Connecticut — and Tattle — who just recently committed.
There’s also Drew Elser, the Huskies’ lone 2000 prospect who committed way back in 2015 (!!!). While he was an intriguing player at the time, injuries have derailed his career and he’s only played in an average of 24 games over the last four seasons. While people in the program only have good things to say about Elser as a person, it seems unlikely he’ll make it to UConn.
After those six, the Huskies only have three players committed who are born in 2002 or later: Brandon Santa Juana (‘02), Oliver Flynn (‘03), and Mike Murtagh (‘04).
Santa Juana is a British Columbia recruit while Flynn is a local kid out of Wolcott, Connecticut. From what I’ve heard, both are solid prospects.
Santa Juana would be a logical fit in the Huskies’ class of 2023, where Flynn could join him, depending on how the numbers shake out. Murtagh is still only 16, so he’s still a long way out.
Defensemen
UConn will lose a large crop of forwards after this upcoming season and much of its defensive corps — rising juniors Carter Berger, Jake Flynn, Roman Kinal and Harrison Rees — is set to graduate the year after. Berger is the only NHL Draft pick of the group, so he could leave a year early.
At the moment, the Huskies only have two defensemen committed: Owen Simpson (‘03) and Kevin Fitzgerald (‘04). Simpson could join the team this season, though my sense is that the staff would rather keep him in juniors for another year.
As for Fitzgerald, he falls into the same boat as Murtagh where it’s too early to make even an educated guess about when he could possibly come in.
While UConn obviously has some work to do over the next few years, there isn’t a ton of pressure or urgency right now. Expect the staff to go to work and start landing commitments once they can get back on the road to recruit.
Goaltender
UConn is well stocked for the present and the future at goaltender. Darion Hanson will be the starter in 2021-22 with Logan Terness stepping into the starting job in 2022-23.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea for the Huskies to go get another backup goaltender regardless of whether Ryan Keane decides to return. They’ll need a third-stringer in 2022-23 if Keane leaves but even if he ultimately stays, it doesn’t hurt to have four goaltenders on the roster.