While UMass didn't have the season it wanted this year, next year is already off to a great start.
Star defensemen Scott Morrow and Ryan Ufko will return to UMass for their junior seasons, according to a source.
Morrow led the Minutemen in points this past season with 31 and was named a Hockey East Second Team All-Star. In 2021-22, his freshman year, the Darien, Conn., native was named a First Team All-American, becoming the first freshman in school history to do so. He ranked second on the team in points with 33 and potted 13 goals.
Morrow entered UMass with high expectations after being drafted in the second round (40th overall) by the Carolina Hurricanes in 2021.
Ufko also arrived in Amherst, Mass., with high expectations. He was picked in the fourth round by the Nashville Predators in the 2021 NHL Draft.
The Smithtown, N.Y., native finished third on the team in points this season with 24. Like Morrow, Ufko was a Hockey East Second Team All-Star. Ufko burst onto the national scene at the World Junior Championships when he scored a goal and added nine assists in seven games for Team USA.
Last season, as a freshman, Ufko ranked third on the team in points with 31.
Head coach Greg Carvel has turned UMass into a defensemen factory. Since 2017, Carvel and his staff have developed Cale Makar, Mario Ferraro, Zac Jones, Marc Del Gaizo and Matthew Kessel.
Makar, Ferraro and Jones all left after their sophomore years. Makar famously entered UMass as the fourth overall pick by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2017 NHL Draft. Ferraro arrived on campus as a second-round pick by the San Jose Sharks and Jones showed up as a third-round pick by the New York Rangers.
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Del Gaizo and Kessel both stayed at UMass for three years. Both were drafted during their time in college.
Carvel has long been outspoken about his belief in players staying in college for as long as possible to develop.
"I'll first say, 'were you an All-American?'," Carvel said in late February regarding how he helps players decide whether to stay or go to the NHL. "If you're an All-American, OK, now you can consider leaving. Do I think you're ready? Maybe do a little research into how many kids over the last five years have signed contracts early and how many of them have made it to the NHL.
"They don't ever listen to any of that. They just listen to their advisor and their parents and their NHL team who tells them how good they are and how important they're going to be and just look where a lot of them are now. It's unfortunate because you don't get to come back to this and they all miss it."
Carvel's words seemed to have worked. He'll have his two stalwarts back on the blue line next season.
