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Mel/Muckalt doing some roster shaping

Bob Miller

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Jun 25, 2001
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Michigan hockey announced the addition of three players today.

Forward Jack Becker, already mentioned on this board, will be an incoming freshman.

Forward Alex Roos, formerly with Colorado College, will have one season to play as a grad transfer after sitting out last season..

Forward Luke Morgan will sit out the upcoming '17-'18 season as a transfer from Lake Superior State and have three years of eligibility remaining.

The announcement of the three additions stated that the three new players will join Quinn Hughes, Josh Norris, Michael Pastujov and Dakota Raabe for seven newcomers in the fall. No mention of Gustav Westlund who had previously been announced as having signed a LOI for this class.

Likely a case of Pearson and Muckalt adding their touches to the roster.
 
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So what do we think? I personally love Hughes and Norris. Not sure about the rest. Pastujov absolutely has the pedigree.
 
I'm as uncertain in my expectations as I was prior to last season. Encouraged by last season's goaltending, yet can't see where the needed goals will get added. Expect the improvement to be gradual and incremental rather than by leaps and bounds.
 
I'm as uncertain in my expectations as I was prior to last season. Encouraged by last season's goaltending, yet can't see where the needed goals will get added. Expect the improvement to be gradual and incremental rather than by leaps and bounds.
Yuck.

Thanks for the info.
 
Yuck.

Thanks for the info.
Bob is probably right, but what I saw on the ice last year- just a few small steps, and they become very competitive.

Generally, there was a loss of focus for just a few min of the game- generally resulting in a great scoring chance for the other team. Fix that, and a good 1/3 of our GAA goes away. Then there's solid defensive play of all 5 guys- when it works, it will look more like a great break out than great D, but that working will probably eliminate another 1/6 of the GAA. Remember all 3 goalies played really well last season, too- they were among the leaders of the B1G, except GAA.

Then on offense- if the D system is better, the offense will have time and energy to cycle the puck and work it better- we know we have some scorers on the team- it's just they didn't have the opportunities to really get better.

All in all- I see just some small steps are needed to be a great team. Maybe I'm too optimistic.
 
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Bob is probably right, but what I saw on the ice last year- just a few small steps, and they become very competitive.

Generally, there was a loss of focus for just a few min of the game- generally resulting in a great scoring chance for the other team. Fix that, and a good 1/3 of our GAA goes away. Then there's solid defensive play of all 5 guys- when it works, it will look more like a great break out than great D, but that working will probably eliminate another 1/6 of the GAA. Remember all 3 goalies played really well last season, too- they were among the leaders of the B1G, except GAA.

Then on offense- if the D system is better, the offense will have time and energy to cycle the puck and work it better- we know we have some scorers on the team- it's just they didn't have the opportunities to really get better.

All in all- I see just some small steps are needed to be a great team. Maybe I'm too optimistic.

I believe better puck control on D (see Quinn Hughes) can make a huge difference.
 
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Roos could not get in the lineup for a terrible CC team last season before quitting the team at mid-year. The season before he played in 35 games and was minus-20 (again, for a bad team). I don't see him making any impact for us. Morgan, on the other hand, looks to me like he has the potential to be a contributor, starting in 2018-19 of course.
Westlund will be 20 years old this coming season. If he does not start at Michigan (or somewhere) this season, has he sort of aged out of college hockey?
Does anyone have any info on whether Kevin Lohan is returning for a fifth year? (he missed virtually an entire season with injury, you will recall.)
 
Can't imagine they'd waste their time and a roster spot on Roos if he didn't have any value, even if in a limited role on a specialty team or even off the ice. CC has been a mess, so not ready to indict him for that. Expectations low, will welcome any contribution.

Same with Morgan somewhat. I'd guess Mel and Muckalt have had either some experience on the recruiting trail with both or recommendations from within the coaching fraternity. Morgan effectively becomes a member of this freshman class which needed some pumping up.

Don't know what to think about Westlund. Just wait and see like Kenny Johnson's situation. Will not be surprised if we never see either.
 
Well, re Roos, first of all, I wasn't meaning to trash him, welcome to Michigan Alex and if you can help out, great. Maybe he is fast, if nothing else, and we can use speed. But, I don't know that we have finite number of roster spots such that having him on the team would displace someone else. Another site (which no doubt has less inside info than Bob) speculated that he is actually at U-M for a graduate degree and since he is here anyway, the coaches are letting him walk on the team. That was my thought too after I researched him - CC is a reasonably solid academic institution and Roos graduated with a degree in Economics.

And while I don't think he is taking up a roster spot that might be used for another player, if he does get playing time it will be at the expense of one of our younger, hopefully 4-year but likely bottom 6 players like Becker, Raabe, N. Pastujov or Merl, who need to develop
 
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