UMass Minutemen senior right wing Reed Lebster(13) is going to extend college for another year and will attend Michigan State University Spartans for the start of a graduate program.
Last season the 6′ 187 lbs. forward had a college career best 14 assists and 22 points.
He was on the team, who won the 2021 NCAA Division 1 Championship.
A Grand Rapids, MI native, he had a strong 2nd frame of USHL junior hockey with Des Moines Buccaneers.
The 24-year old will likely do pretty good in Big Ten Conference play.
He holds his own at his new school, scoring 6 goals and 13 assists with a +11 rating to signing a 1st pro contract with Florida Everblades, where he has only been able to figure in 1 playoff game on the reserved list.
Appearing in 5 playoff games for some experience en route to the team’s 3rd straight Kelly Cup Championship, he is liked enough for his contributions to sign up for his rookie season, 2024/2025.
As he is to get started on a pro career, a pitfall occurs almost immediately, as he is traded to Utah Grizzlies, where he will definitely be a valued team member.
South Carolina Stingrays‘ 2nd year center Jack Adams(2) arrived at the ECHL and did something he didn’t do with the clarity he was doing at college, scoring big.
The 6’6″ 209 lbs. forward scored 27 goals and 35 assists in 71 games.
His best scoring at University Of Notre Dame Fighting Irish came as a senior with 7 goals and 10 assists in his junior year.
The Boxford, MA native also did 3 years at Union College Dutchmen and 1 with Providence College Friars, but played little games at both.
There is little doubt the 27-year old is emerging.
For 2024/2025, he decides to head to the new team in the league and signs with Bloomington Bison and should explode the stat sheet again.
Not even a few days with his new team (we’re not sure he reported) and he gets scooped up by Orlando Solar Bears, who want his stick in their lineup.
6th year right wing Wade Murphy(6) returns to sign with Idaho Steelheads for 2022/2023 after spending the last 3 seasons of pandemic madness away in Norway, Austria and Slovenia, where he managed to capture that country’s 2022 league championship.
The 6′ 194 lbs. forward has 120 games of ECHL experience with decent scoring, but definitely could flatten that +/-.
Originally a Nashville Predators’ 7th round pick in the 2013 draft (#185 overall), he was never signed after an outstanding junior season based on his early college numbers.
He graduated after a 2 season transfer to Arizona State University Sun Devils from University Of North Dakota Fighting Hawks with a college career best 9 goals and 11 assists.
The 28-year old from Victoria, BC is a big frame that should be able to score goals almost at will we the right team in this league.
He takes a career high by a mile frame, scoring 21 goals and 22 assists in 54 games with a +38 rating to 20 playoff match ups and another 20 point total.
It’s an absolute no brainer that he receives a new contract to continue wearing a Steelheads‘ jersey for 2023/2024.
He is taking career scoring bests goals, assists, points with him for another foray to test his skills overseas in the tough to play Slovak Extraliga and signs with HC Slovan Bratislava for 2024/2025 and we think does very well here.
Limited to only 10 games last season, he scored 6 goals and 2 assists with a +5 rating and will next skate in the same league for HK Poprad in 2024/2025.
UMASS-Lowell Riverhawks‘ graduate transfer defenseman Pier Brandon(22) from last year captain at Colgate University Raiders, tying a college best 15 points, also set as a sophomore.
The 6′ 190 lbs. plays a very solid, close checking game in his zone.
He did 2 successful NAHL seasons for Aberdeen Wings, scoring pretty well.
From New York, NY, the 23-year old looks great out there.
Stonehill College Skyhawks‘ junior defenseman Evan Orr(26) transferred back to where he had success in his 2nd year of junior hockey with Northeast Generals from 2 years at Michigan Tech University Broncos.
That season, the 5’11” 185 scored 5 goals and 22 assists in 25 games with a +11 rating.
From Shelby Township, MI, the 23-year old we think is in his happy place and should do well playing the independent schedule.
Michigan State University Spartans‘ graduate transfer from 4 years at Clarkson University Golden Knights, defenseman Michael Underwood(5) has always been a plus player on the blue line, but his team is off to a bit of an uneven, close game start and he’s for the first time on the minus side.
We do expect that to change.
The 6’2″ 205 lbs. d-man was a +29 skater leaving junior hockey before entering college.
At 24-years old, the Bloomfields Hill, MI native is playing his college hockey close to home.
After finishing up his 5th session in school, he signed an pto with Colorado Eagles and joined them for 3 AHL games with no points.
They liked what they saw of the fairly big d-man and sign him up for his rookie run 2023/2024.
He played only 3 ECHL games last season and signs with Savannah Ghost Pirates for 2024/2025.
Just before the start of the new year, he finds himself traded to Maine Mariners for the new frame.
University Of Connecticut Huskies‘ junior Hockey East transfer from somewhat underuse in 2 years University Of New Hampshire Wildcats‘ goaltender Tyler Muszelik(30) already has a 3-1 record with a 2.28 GAA and .901 SV% for the Florida Panthers‘ 6th round pick in the 2022 draft (#189 overall).
The 6’3″ 193 lbs. net minder from Long Valley, NJ did 2 years USNTDP before heading to his 1st school.
He’s just 20-years old, so is well on his way towards development.
Long Island University Sharks‘ Latvian-born, freshman left wing Patriks Marcinkevics(27) leaves through the transfer portal to arrive at the much more contentious Michigan Tech University Huskies for 2023/2024.
The small-ish 5’9″ 159 lbs. forward had a bit of a strange path through juniors, starting with Islanders HC of USPHL ranks, running up point-per-game totals to the weirdo COVID struck 2020/2021, where he ultimately would play for New England Wolves and run up crazy tier 3 EHL numbers (11-5 in 6 games).
For his final frame before heading to school he agreed with Jersey Hitmen and would go bananas on the scoresheet: 34 goals, 62 assists for 96 points in 49 games, then another 15 points in the playoffs on the way to the 2022 NCDC Champions, which included personal awards for most assists, points and Valuable Player.
The undrafted 22-year old will likely do well in the CCHA.
He skates 5 games with his new college team, potting 1 goal and 1 assist, but something isn’t right and he decides it’s time to turn pro, signing a contract with Utah Grizzlies going forward.
Ending up with Quad City Storm to round out the season, he clicks with 7 goals and 17 assists in 20 games with a +9 rating to score a contract for 2024/2025 with Allen Americans.
University Of Connecticut Huskies‘ Swedish-born, sophomore defenseman Viking Gustafsson Nyberg(6) transferred from his freshman year at Northern Michigan University Wildcats.
In 33 games last season, he had 2 goals and 1 assists and in 3 Hockey East games, he already has 2 assists with a +2 rating.
The 6’6″ 205 lbs. tower on the blue line played his youth and junior hockey back home before arriving for school.
Stonehill College Skyhawks‘ graduate goaltender Connor Androlewicz(29) came over from little use at his 1st school, University Of Maine Black Bears, where he spent 4 years.
In the opening game of the NCAA Division 1 hockey season, he posts a 3-2 overtime win to collect just his 2nd victory in college hockey.
The 6’2″ 201 lbs. net minder played only 1 season bouncing around between a few teams, but it was his run at Holderness School USHS-Prep that got him spotted.
From St. Louis, MO, we look for the 23-year old looks focused to continue to do well this season.
