UNH Hockey Off Season Thread 2026

[Dan]

Pretty good day for a team with nothing to offer. No Kevin McHales, but four solid pick-ups. IMO, New Hampshire is better today than they were yesterday. How much better? We wait and see. Desperate Souza is, at the very least, the best version of Souza. Still need to add a pair of goaltenders...

Rasmus Svartström - Stats, Contract, Salary & More

Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Rasmus Svartström, 2005-11-24 Helsinki, FIN Finland. Most recently in the NCAA with St. Lawrence Univ.. Complete player biography and stats.

www.eliteprospects.com

• 6-5, 200 lb, L-Shot Forward, Helsinki, Finland
• 17-7--24 as a FR at Saint Lawrence (20% of SLUs total goals in 26-27)
• 46 goals in 54 games during his one season with Cranbrook (BCHL)

Ryan Johnson - Stats, Contract, Salary & More

Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Ryan Johnson, 2003-05-05 Calgary, AB, CAN Canada. Most recently in the NCAA with Univ. of Alaska-Anchorage. Complete player biography and stats.

www.eliteprospects.com

• 5-10, 180 lb, R-Shot Center, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
• 15-25--40 over 66 games with Alaska Anchorage, Led team in scoring as FR with 11-14--25
• 114 PTS in 151 games of junior hockey

Malte Vass - Stats, Contract, Salary & More

Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Malte Vass, 2007-03-28 Karlstad, SWE Sweden. Most recently in the NCAA with Boston Univ.. Complete player biography and stats.

www.eliteprospects.com

• 6-3, 195 lb, L-Shot Defenseman, Karlstad, Sweden
• 0-3--3, -5 in 22 games as a FR at BU
• 3rd-Round Draft Pick of Columbus in 2025

--

FORWARDS (16)
Svartstrom - Gagnon - Ring
Newcomb - Johnson - Tournas
Oliver - MacDonald - Lavins
Romeo - Van Tassell - Turner
Zebeski - Siedem - Hyles
Walsh

DeTurris - R. MacPherson - C. MacPherson

DEFENSEMEN (8)
Fitzgerald - VonRichter
Philbrick - Carr
Vass - Kennedy
DeHaro - Plandowski

Conn - Player
Hahn - DeAngelis

GOALIES (1 / Need 2)
Transfer
Henriquez
Walk On

Coombs

 

[FlagUp17]

Pretty good day for a team with nothing to offer. No Kevin McHales, but four solid pick-ups. IMO, New Hampshire is better today than they were yesterday. How much better? We wait and see. Desperate Souza is, at the very least, the best version of Souza. Still need to add a pair of goaltenders...

Rasmus Svartström - Stats, Contract, Salary & More

Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Rasmus Svartström, 2005-11-24 Helsinki, FIN Finland. Most recently in the NCAA with St. Lawrence Univ.. Complete player biography and stats.

www.eliteprospects.com

• 6-5, 200 lb, L-Shot Forward, Helsinki, Finland
• 17-7--24 as a FR at Saint Lawrence (20% of SLUs total goals in 26-27)
• 46 goals in 54 games during his one season with Cranbrook (BCHL)

Ryan Johnson - Stats, Contract, Salary & More

Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Ryan Johnson, 2003-05-05 Calgary, AB, CAN Canada. Most recently in the NCAA with Univ. of Alaska-Anchorage. Complete player biography and stats.

www.eliteprospects.com

• 5-10, 180 lb, R-Shot Center, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
• 15-25--40 over 66 games with Alaska Anchorage, Led team in scoring as FR with 11-14--25
• 114 PTS in 151 games of junior hockey

Malte Vass - Stats, Contract, Salary & More

Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Malte Vass, 2007-03-28 Karlstad, SWE Sweden. Most recently in the NCAA with Boston Univ.. Complete player biography and stats.

www.eliteprospects.com

• 6-3, 195 lb, L-Shot Defenseman, Karlstad, Sweden
• 0-3--3, -5 in 22 games as a FR at BU
• 3rd-Round Draft Pick of Columbus in 2025

--

FORWARDS (16)
Svartstrom - Gagnon - Ring
Newcomb - Johnson - Tournas
Oliver - MacDonald - Lavins
Romeo - Van Tassell - Turner
Zebeski - Siedem - Hyles
Walsh

DeTurris - R. MacPherson - C. MacPherson

DEFENSEMEN (8)
Fitzgerald - VonRichter
Philbrick - Carr
Vass - Kennedy
DeHaro - Plandowski

Conn - Player
Hahn - DeAngelis

GOALIES (1 / Need 2)
Transfer
Henriquez
Walk On

Coombs

Svartstrom seems like a bonafide scorer - something UNH lacked last year. It’s especially promising to see his scoring translate over from the BCHL to his one year of college (20% of your teams total goals as a freshmen is extremely remarkable). Hopefully he can continue to build on that while providing opportunities for his other line mates.

I certainly agree UNH on paper is better today than yesterday, which is impressive given the lack of results the last 2 years.

Still… the season isn’t won in the portal. Souza still needs to show major improvement in the “development” aspect of coaching. Let’s hope “desperate” Souza also shows gains in this department come October/November as well!

 

[norbert]

Elwood. Nobody listens to you because they don’t respect you. Fact

Incorrect. I think you misdirected and this was about yourself

 

[Carmine Scarpaglia]

Van Tassel is a nice pickup IMO. Big solid body that will be coming from a well-coached program. Fantastic pickup really.

 

[Chuck Murray]

December 10th, 1973, Boston Garden. I still have the Globe review by Ernie Santosuosso. Talks about Palmer's massive 2 1/2 ton percussion setup ($35,000....imagine!) all set upon a revolving rostrum. To this day, perhaps the best concert I have ever seen. Over 15,500 at the "Gahden"!

Quadrophonic sound on the BSS tour too, unfortunately wasted on a poor sonic venue like the old Gahden, its notoriously poor sound got the Centrum built.

Sadly, I was still a little too young to get to that gig, an older brother would definitely have come in handy. Did they do Emerson's end-over-end spinning piano theatrics for that show? I know they tended to use it for the bigger stadium shows in the summer of '74, including the massive headlining festivals in Ontario CA and Charlotte NC ... got to eventually see most of the stage productions a few years later on the Works tour, but I don't think the spinning piano ever returned.

 

[JB]

So UNH is now going to have some big bodies upfront. What is the offensive strategy going to be to take advantage of them.

This year with MacDonald and Newcombe the plan seemed to be let them fight for position and then... not shoot, pass them out of position then shoot and shoot it into the guy directly in front of you. Did the UNH staff spend the tournament watching teams that manufacturer offense and taking good notes?

Other than incredible goaltending, and a horse shoe jammed up there butts, Denver manufacturers goals. Wisco too. Hell I saw Michigan run more then a few screen and tip plays.

Or is UNHs plan to keep "running" the Krog 99 offense without those pieces.

 

[TheGrouchyCat]

I certainly agree UNH on paper is better today than yesterday, which is impressive given the lack of results the last 2 years.

Perhaps. The bar is pathetically low.

There was optimism at this time last year as well when all the CHLers joined the team. Look at how that turned out.

The question to ask is why do players under the watch of MS7 plateau or regress? Is Durham a place where talent goes to die or is the program and coaching staff that incompetent?

Let's manage our expectations accordingly.

 

[Robert Balin]

Following a dominant first-year campaign, Rasmus Svartström was named to the ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team, as announced by the league office on Monday afternoon.

Svartström is the first Skating Saint since Luc Salem '24 to be named to the conference's All-Rookie Team.

The newcomer played 34 of the team's 35 games this season and led the team with 17 goals and was tied for second on the team with 24 points. His goal total surpassed Mike Marnell '18, whose 15-goal campaign in 2016-17 served as the program's high-water mark over the past 12 seasons.

Svartström, who scored in the Saints' Opening Round contest at Harvard, finished just one goal shy of matching Greg Carey '14 and Matt Carey, who both had 18 in 2013-14. That mark is the highest for Saint in the last 13 seasons.

His 24 points as a first-year are the most for the Saints since Zach Risteau had 18 points in 2018-19 during his first campaign in Scarlet and Brown. He is now the first newcomer since Ben Finkelstein (5-18-23) to reach the 20-point plateau as a first-year.

Since the start of the 21st century, just three Saints have scored 14 or more goals as a first-year, along with Svartström. Kevin DeVergilio scored 14 for St. Lawrence in 2005-06, while Matt and Greg Carey had 18 and 23 goals, respectively, during their first seasons in Canton.

 

[HockeyRef]

Following a dominant first-year campaign, Rasmus Svartström was named to the ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team, as announced by the league office on Monday afternoon.

Svartström is the first Skating Saint since Luc Salem '24 to be named to the conference's All-Rookie Team.

The newcomer played 34 of the team's 35 games this season and led the team with 17 goals and was tied for second on the team with 24 points. His goal total surpassed Mike Marnell '18, whose 15-goal campaign in 2016-17 served as the program's high-water mark over the past 12 seasons.

Svartström, who scored in the Saints' Opening Round contest at Harvard, finished just one goal shy of matching Greg Carey '14 and Matt Carey, who both had 18 in 2013-14. That mark is the highest for Saint in the last 13 seasons.

His 24 points as a first-year are the most for the Saints since Zach Risteau had 18 points in 2018-19 during his first campaign in Scarlet and Brown. He is now the first newcomer since Ben Finkelstein (5-18-23) to reach the 20-point plateau as a first-year.

Since the start of the 21st century, just three Saints have scored 14 or more goals as a first-year, along with Svartström. Kevin DeVergilio scored 14 for St. Lawrence in 2005-06, while Matt and Greg Carey had 18 and 23 goals, respectively, during their first seasons in Canton.

I'm really looking forward to this player joining the line up...as well as the rest if I'm being honest...welcome to the 'Cats!!!!

ps...we need a goalie or two...who would be our 'dream' pick up? Rousseau from Maine?? Wouldn't that be a hoot...ha!

 

[Snively65]

ps...we need a goalie or two...who would be our 'dream' pick up? Rousseau from Maine?? Wouldn't that be a hoot...ha!

Now we definitely need to poach Tyler Shea from Brown so that MS7 can say that he grabbed the best portal player from each of the two worst teams in ECAC this past season.

 

[FlagUp17]

I'm really looking forward to this player joining the line up...as well as the rest if I'm being honest...welcome to the 'Cats!!!!

ps...we need a goalie or two...who would be our 'dream' pick up? Rousseau from Maine?? Wouldn't that be a hoot...ha!

I was personally hoping for Lehti from Alaska, but it appears he was nabbed by Minnesota State.

I think Silverstein from Quinnipiac would be a great grab as well. 10-6-1 this year with a 0.912 save pct for a good Quinnipiac team. I imagine he will have will have many suitors though…

Others have also mentioned Tyler Shea from Brown. Who posted a 0.911 save pct for an awful team.

Silverstein has 2 years eligibility left, while Shea would be a one year rental.

A few other interesting names that pop up with 1-2 years eligibility left include Cole Moore (Bowling Green) and Rorke Applebee (LSSU). I imagine with Henriquez and Grout in the pipeline they will look for a guy with 1-2 years eligibility vs. 3+

 

[RENCEB]

Quadrophonic sound on the BSS tour too, unfortunately wasted on a poor sonic venue like the old Gahden, its notoriously poor sound got the Centrum built.

Sadly, I was still a little too young to get to that gig, an older brother would definitely have come in handy. Did they do Emerson's end-over-end spinning piano theatrics for that show? I know they tended to use it for the bigger stadium shows in the summer of '74, including the massive headlining festivals in Ontario CA and Charlotte NC ... got to eventually see most of the stage productions a few years later on the Works tour, but I don't think the spinning piano ever returned.

No "end-over-end" piano at that one, but the revolving drum stage was quite impressive (remember, from a special effects standpoint, we're still talking about 1973).

 

[Potluck]

It does appear Souza is behaving like a coach trying to save his job. Nice to see a bit of desperation in Durham.

I'd like to know how UNH got Rasmus Svartström. Seems like a player that could get dough elsewhere or at least play in bigger games. Are we certain UNH hockey has no NIL money to play with? I could see getting him to Durham for $20K but zero dollars is a surprise.

The other players coming may be nice pickups but none were high achievers with their former team.

 

[2013hockeyfan]

Are we certain UNH hockey has no NIL money to play with? I could see getting him to Durham for $20K but zero dollars is a surprise.

The On To Victory funds are certainly >0, the question is how much.

 

[Chuck Murray]

No "end-over-end" piano at that one, but the revolving drum stage was quite impressive (remember, from a special effects standpoint, we're still talking about 1973).

Palmer's rotating drum stage was definitely a first, from a band that took pride in pushing the boundaries of showmanship. Guys like Cozy Powell, Tommy Lee and others added their own twists to the concept, but CP was there first for sure. Shame he doesn't dig that out of mothballs too, probably not wise given his age, etc.

 

[TheGrouchyCat]

It does appear Souza is behaving like a coach trying to save his job. Nice to see a bit of desperation in Durham.

Desperate men do desperate things.

On one hand, I want to see a measurable improvement to next season's team. On the other, I want the status quo to continue to trigger the hiring of a new coach.

 

[2013hockeyfan]

Given the substandard goaltending UNH had this past season I was disappointed that we never saw him. But this could be why.

Chauvette wasn't a world beater but I wouldn't characterize his play as substandard. 5 shutouts with a team in front of you that cannot produce any pressure offensively isn't easy.

I'm not surprised Coombs didn't see any time but I do think it was another Souza head scratcher that he didn't give Whale any more chances after going with him for the entirety of the 2024/25 season.

 

[2013hockeyfan]

I see Unions Ben Muthersbaugh is available...36 points this season...he's the player I taught...maybe wants to 'come home' to NH!

Get on the phone, HR!

 

[DLG]

Thanks for the heads up! 3rd round draft pick is impressive. Only 3 points for BU this past year. Looks like another big guy at 6’3”.

Svartstrom also is massive at 6’5” and 17-7-24 as a freshmen on a bad SLU team is impressive. Also saw he was named to ECAC all rookie team.

Johnson at 5’10” is the shortest of the portal gets thus far. 4-11-15 was a down year after 25 points as a freshmen. If he can recapture 25 points as his freshmen year this is another great get.


Across the board, +\- of the new arrivals leaves a lot to be desired. But SLU and UAA had abysmal seasons, so I guess it comes with a bit of a grain of salt…


Still waiting on the goalie transfer (or 2) but so far I think the gains from the portal outweigh the production we have lost (so far). I’ll leave others to figure out the prospective lines.

Props to Souza thus far. The jobs not done though. More scorers and a goalie/two please!

Get on the phone, HR!

 

[sezenack]

Get on the phone, HR!

He's going to Quinnipiac