2018 Offseason | The Boneyard

2018 Offseason

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UConn has their most talented incoming class in program history coming in.

Goalie:

Tomas Vomacka (1999) (USHL) (5th round pick of Nashville) - will start some games next season.

Forwards:

Kale Howarth (1997) (BCHL) (5th round pick of Columbus) - was 2nd in points per game in BCHL

Jachym Kondelik (1999) (USHL) (Could be a 2nd round pick in the upcoming draft)

Carter Turnbull (1998) (BCHL)

Jonny Evans (1997) (BCHL)

Drew Elser (2000) (USHL)

Eric Linell (1998) (BCHL)

John Wojciechowski (1998) (BCHL)

Jordan Timmons (1998) (USHL)

Marc Gatcomb (1999) (Prep)

Defensemen:

Connor Mayer (1999) (USHL)

Ryan Wheeler (1997) (NAHL)

Roman Kinal (1998) (USHL)


Howarth, Evans, Turnbull, Elser, and Kondelik are considered the best forwards of the incoming class.
 
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Lucia out at Minnesota.
Definitely makes Merrimack's situation a bit more tenuous as MN's hire will likely start a chain reaction of departures/hires. They're likely to poach an existing college HC.
 
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Definitely makes Merrimack's situation a bit more tenuous as MN's hire will likely start a chain reaction of departures/hires. They're likely to poach an existing college HC.
Lucia out at Minnesota.
Lucia has survived the axe the past few seasons...not surprised he is leaving one bit. Actually if you google him..UM fans were not very fond of him...he was an outsider (ND graduate) to them and he didn’t perform up to their expectations many years.
 
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No. Though in fairness to Mike, he arrived at that ranking based on a mathematical formula and not his own opinion. Still, it's foolish to think UConn will finish last.
I agree .... I can see how Mike came up with that though with the loss of Max and Spencer Naas’s offensive numbers. IMHO Merrimack and especially UNH may he in for a rough ride next year...unless both New coaches can pull rabbit’s out of the recruiting hat.
 
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UConn @ 9th

>> UConn: The Huskies will have to replace their top two scorers after Maxim Letunov turned pro a year early and Spencer Naas graduated. Benjamin Freeman and Alexander Payusov took big steps as sophomores.

Derek Pratt, Johnny Austin and David Drake are significant losses on the blue line. Joseph Masonius, Adam Karashik and Philip Nyberg are the top returners on the blue line.

As of now, goaltender Adam Huska appears to be headed back to Storrs for his junior season. The New York Rangers prospect will need to be on top of his game to keep the Huskies in games.<<
 
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UConn @ 9th

>> UConn: The Huskies will have to replace their top two scorers after Maxim Letunov turned pro a year early and Spencer Naas graduated. Benjamin Freeman and Alexander Payusov took big steps as sophomores.

Derek Pratt, Johnny Austin and David Drake are significant losses on the blue line. Joseph Masonius, Adam Karashik and Philip Nyberg are the top returners on the blue line.

As of now, goaltender Adam Huska appears to be headed back to Storrs for his junior season. The New York Rangers prospect will need to be on top of his game to keep the Huskies in games.<<

I have found Cox to be wrong on coaching hires a lot...but he’s pretty good following the game. That’s a lot of offense and D experience to replace. It will be interesting to see what the NYR do with Huska
 
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Cav is doing a great job in a very difficult conference. It takes time to build a solid foundation and there are always valleys to overcome. A 6th place finish is more likely in my opinion, but other than BC, there is no team that we can’t beat out for 2nd. There will not be a big difference point wise between finishing 2nd or 6th.

As for #1, I would go with BC due to everyone returning plus the addition of McBain. They have the best offense in HEA and the best goalie. PC just can’t put the puck in the net. They have two very good defenseman coming in as well.
 
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Looks like UConn will be playing in a Las Vegas tournament around New Year’s with Air Force, St. Lawrence, and Western Michigan.

In addition, UConn will be playing at Quinnipiac next season.
 
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Where did you find out this info on the Vegas tournament??
Looks like UConn will be playing in a Las Vegas tournament around New Year’s with Air Force, St. Lawrence, and Western Michigan.

In addition, UConn will be playing at Quinnipiac next season.
 
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Where did you find out this info on the Vegas tournament??
Info from fans of other teams that got trickled out and posted here: The 2018-19 Schedules Thread | USCHO.com Fan Forum | board.uscho.com Often very connected fans will hear this info from coaches during the offseason before it's released. That said, it's a very odd field for that tournament. UConn's the biggest name brand school there but also has the longest travel distance. I guess they're counting on a bunch of the active duty service members at the Air Force bases around Las Vegas to show up? There's a small handful of SLU and WMU diehards that'd show up but if there's more than 500 in total I'd be shocked.

Nonetheless it's a great tournament in a town that's really embraced the sport. The venue is right on the Strip and by all accounts is an awesome venue to watch hockey. That weekend will also have some very reasonable hotel prices so if anyone can get out to it, I'd highly recommend going, also tie in a Golden Knights game if there's one that weekend too.
 
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Info from fans of other teams that got trickled out and posted here: The 2018-19 Schedules Thread | USCHO.com Fan Forum | board.uscho.com Often very connected fans will hear this info from coaches during the offseason before it's released. That said, it's a very odd field for that tournament. UConn's the biggest name brand school there but also has the longest travel distance. I guess they're counting on a bunch of the active duty service members at the Air Force bases around Las Vegas to show up? There's a small handful of SLU and WMU diehards that'd show up but if there's more than 500 in total I'd be shocked.

Nonetheless it's a great tournament in a town that's really embraced the sport. The venue is right on the Strip and by all accounts is an awesome venue to watch hockey. That weekend will also have some very reasonable hotel prices so if anyone can get out to it, I'd highly recommend going, also tie in a Golden Knights game if there's one that weekend too.

Thanks! I will be attending this tournament depending on the dates. I have seen the Knights play in that arena - they beat my Bruins! I was surprised they would hold the tournament there, as I think Orleans has a smaller arena,but not sure if they do ice. I looked online for info, but couldn't find the exact dates. I wondered how they would fill the arena too. I can't imagine many UConn fans will be there. I love Vegas, and I'll be there in September, just because we're playing a football game in Boise, which I will go to for the weekend.
 
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It will be interesting to see what the NYR do with Huska
That really depends on what the Rangers' plans are for Georgiev. Is it better for his development to play 30 games as Hank's backup or 50 games as the top starter in the AHL?

As a Rangers' fan, I'd like Georgiev to start the year as the backup, he's earned it. In that case, there will be a big hole in the Wolfpack's goalie tandem as Halverson has been a bust so far, Nell has been bad and Mazanec is an RFA. That poses a great situation for Huska to have a golden opportunity to take over the starting goalie position in Hartford and show what he has a year before their top goalie prospect, Igor Shesterkin, is eligible to be signed out of the KHL.

Either way, Huska has a good set up for continuing his development for next year. If he stays, he'll be the veteran goalie for UConn. If he signs, he has a great opportunity in Hartford.
 
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That really depends on what the Rangers' plans are for Georgiev. Is it better for his development to play 30 games as Hank's backup or 50 games as the top starter in the AHL?

As a Rangers' fan, I'd like Georgiev to start the year as the backup, he's earned it. In that case, there will be a big hole in the Wolfpack's goalie tandem as Halverson has been a bust so far, Nell has been bad and Mazanec is an RFA. That poses a great situation for Huska to have a golden opportunity to take over the starting goalie position in Hartford and show what he has a year before their top goalie prospect, Igor Shesterkin, is eligible to be signed out of the KHL.

Either way, Huska has a good set up for continuing his development for next year. If he stays, he'll be the veteran goalie for UConn. If he signs, he has a great opportunity in Hartford.
Hopefully they keep Allaire as the goalie coach in NY and then Huska can get to work with him when he goes to prospect camp this summer. If they were gonna sign him it would have been done already. Only way I can see that is if there is an injury. Georgiev will most likely be in Hartford playing full time. They will sign another vet to be a back-up.
 

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