The No. 15 Massachusetts hockey team is coming off a season defined by offensive power and development on the blue line, heating up in the second half of the 2024-25 season. Now, with a roster boasting an incoming class of 11 players, the Minutemen look to play with the same fire that carried them to a second-round Frozen Four appearance for the first time since their 2021 championship-clinching campaign.
Leading the group this year are defensive linemates Owen Murray and Lucas Ölvestad, seniors who will both don the “C” for the first time in their UMass tenures. Murray enters his fourth year wearing the maroon. Ölvestad earned his leadership position after coming into the team last season, fresh off a national championship with Denver.
This Minutemen roster debuts nine incoming forwards, an offensive-minded group, to fill in the spots of last season’s notable offensive departures. Aydar Suniev, Cole O’Hara and Lucas Mercuri who led the team in just about every scoring statistic, all signed NHL contracts this offseason.
One heavily anticipated newcomer is Czechia native Vaclav Nestrasil, who was selected No. 25 overall in the 2025 NHL Draft. He is the first-ever UMass forward to be a first-round pick.
The biggest feature this new team boasts, quite literally, is its size. With the largest average height in the NCAA, standing at 6-foot-1.81, and a respectable breadth to match, these Minutemen should be a group to contend with. Expect to see that physicality put up numbers and hard hits in every game this season.
Last year, the team welcomed a new class of defensemen, who worked through different pairings — initially partnering veterans with rookies — as they found their footing on the blueline. Sophomores Francesco Dell’Elce and Larry Keenan established themselves as powerful two-way players, and the lengthy minutes they clocked near the end of last season spoke for themselves. Dell’Elce ended the 2024-25 season tied for No. 2 in the nation in points by a freshman defenseman.
Although the two returners may not begin the season on the same line, they bring experience to their pairings. They’ll be partnered with players who haven’t seen any ice time yet, freshman Landon Nycz and redshirt sophomore Charlie Lieberman.
This year, the front end faces the same developmental process, and it’s likely that head coach Greg Carvel will work through different lines until the team finds consistent chemistry in games.
Without the seasoned group of forwards that led the team last year, the opportunity is open for whoever is willing to step up and show out. Last season, the team saw a lapse in that kind of leadership for the first half of the season.
They’ll look to returning forward Jack Musa and Wisconsin transfer Owen Mehlenbacher to fill those roles. Mehlenbacher will slot in at center alongside freshman Jack Galanek and Michigan State transfer Mikey DeAngelo. The trio’s playmaking and on-ice vision will play a strong part in the success of the UMass offense.
In net, the team will continue to rely on junior goalkeeper Michael Hrabal. The 6-foot-7 Czechia native recorded a .924 save percentage through the 2024-25 season. He appeared in 36 games, starting 35 of them and ending with a 19-12-5 record.
Alternate goalies, Jackson Irving and James Norton, won’t see any tandems with Hrabal, but Irving proved last season that he’s a solid choice in net and can perform well under pressure when needed.
The Minutemen proved themselves to be fierce competitors in Hockey East, and with the top-ranked talent and full-roster depth the team brings this year, they’ll continue to perform to the identity of the Carvel era.
The group will be first put to the test on Oct. 4 and Oct. 5, opening their season against Northern Michigan on home ice. Both groups will be trialing fresh faces on the ice, with the Wildcats’ seven transfers and nine freshmen vying to compete with the new UMass roster.
Caroline Burge can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X @Caroline_Burge.
