2018-2019 Season

[Floyd]

Great news if Makar returns, great news. Any news on Ferraro?

[baseline47]

^ According to Matt Vautour in today's (4/2) Hampshire Gazette, Cale Makar and Mario Ferraro are both coming back for the 2018 - 1019 season!!

Oh Yeeeaaaa!!!!!!!! Something good to celebrate on this snowy April 2nd day!

[m626t]

This, along with a restocked hoops squad, should make next winter an enjoyable one for the Friends of Metawampe.

[BishopMVP]

Are any of the incoming freshman going to be NHL draftees? Not expecting a top 4 pick......just wondering? With 13 Frosh this year, I'm guessing will go quality over quantity. Also the draw of playing with Makar will be a one year thing probably...

I'm not very familiar with how the NHL entry draft works, but I think that won't be known for sure until June 22–23.

Marc Del Gaizo (& current FR Philip Lagunov) show up as late round prospects in the NHL's last scouting report - https://www.nhl.com/info/nhl-css-players-to-watch

Anthony comes off as a classic undrafted late bloomer, and doesn't seem to have the skillset you'd expect from the USHL leading scorer, but the work he's had to put in makes me think he could be more ready to contribute and consistent from Day 1 than many draftees - http://www.nyhockeyjournal.com/nyhockey ... eId1334296

[CarsonL726]

Looks like Hildenbrand, Makar and Ferraro named captains for next year.

http://umassathletics.com/news/2018/4/2 ... 18-19.aspx

[78]

New recruit. Says he will be here in the fall. Wonder if this means we can expect a current defenseman to be leaving. He tweeted that he has committed.
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdis ... pid=195298

[Old Cage]

^ 78 - I posted a link on page 2 of this thread in March that listed nine guys that we supposedly have coming this fall. Felix was one of them.

[CarsonL726]

Yea there is a serious logjam on D now. Have to think there's going to be a departure or two.

[cox'n]

We're all thrilled that Makar and Ferraro will be back next year, but we also know that both will probably be gone after next year. If no defensemen leave this offseason then a couple can be redshirted.

[CarsonL726]

Redshirting isn’t really a thing in hockey, except for serious injury cases.

[78]

^ 78 - I posted a link on page 2 of this thread in March that listed nine guys that we supposedly have coming this fall. Felix was one of them.

Always a step ahead of me! However, in re-reading that page, it says Felix was due here in 2019. That's why I speculate that another D-man must be leaving given his timeline has moved up by a year.

So at this point we appear to have 10 new guys coming in this year to fill 4 spaces -- 2 guys who graduated, Horton and Rufo, and two guys who left during the year, Shane Bear and Johnny Lazarus. Remember that when Bear left the team was down to 7 defensemen, and Horton graduating brings that down to 6. Usually you will see 8-9 defensemen on a roster, so there's room for 2-3. And, maybe more if someone else leaves.

[Berkman]

Hockey adds marc del Gaizo to recruiting class:

http://www.umassathletics.com/news/2018 ... class.aspx

[78]

Not too shabby. We will have the USHL player of the year suiting up for us next season:
https://www.ushl.com/news_article/show/ ... id=2650688

[78]

Just read that Austin Plevy is leaving as a grad transfer. Was a healthy scratch for several games early in the season. Saw a lot of 3rd/4th line action last 15-20 games. I expect to see a few more guys leaving given the large and promising class coming in.

[Marshmont_63]

There is a glut of defensemen right now. Someone will be transferring from the back end. As of right now, UMass has: Makar / Ferraro / M. Del Gaizo / Chukarov / Vegara / Felix / Farmer / McLaughlin / Couturier / Torpstrom / (and possibly Cassaro, though he could be delayed a year).

Teams hardly ever carry more than 8 defensemen, so it'll be interesting to see who leaves. My money would be on one (or more) of Torpstrom, Chukarov, or McLaughlin.

I think the 6 D you start are:

Makar - Ferraro
M. Del Gaizo - Farmer
Felix - Couturier/McLaughlin