Incoming class analysis

Miami’s offense finished fourth-last in all of college hockey last season, averaging just 2.03 goals per game, so the RedHawks have added six forwards and a pair of two-way defensemen for 2023-24.

Goalie Bruno Bruveris rounds out MU’s incoming class of nine, which includes six transfers. Only Bruveris, defenseman Rihards Simanovics and forward Tanyon Bajzer are freshmen.

Eleven players graduated or transferred, so with its newest nine members, Miami still has only 27 players on its roster, its lowest personnel total in recent history.

The Miami coaching staff refused to be interviewed for this story and has informed VFTG it will no longer grant our site any coach or player interview requests.

VFTG takes an in-depth look at the individual members of the incoming 2023-24 class:

FORWARDS

TANYON BAJZER

DOB: 8-25-2002 (age 21). Height: 6-1. Weight: 180. Shoots: R. Birthplace: Shaker Heights, Ohio.

2022-23 STATS: 60 GP, 21-27-48. Team: Odessa (NAHL).

SCOUTING REPORT: Cleveland-area native Bajzer (pronounced BAY-zure) chose the Ohio prep route — unusual for a Division I skater — playing for Northeastern Ohio high school powers St. Edward and Gilmour Academy. He has spent the past two seasons with NAHL Odessa, logging 109 games and tallying 39 goals and 38 assists. Bajzer improved from 29 points in Year 1 to 48 last season. He joins a prestigious list of Cleveland residents to join the RedHawks, including Carter Camper and brothers Nathan Davis and Matt Davis.

OUTLOOK: The level of hockey in the NAHL gets better every season, but the jump from that league to the NCHC is steep. In recent history, top forwards in the NAHL that have come to Oxford have become fourth liners at the college level. But his 19-point jump in points is significant, and Odessa has not been a playoff team with a major offensive presence either of the past two seasons. His size could also work to his advantage.

TEDDY LAGERBACK

DOB: 8-21-2001 (age 22). Height: 6-1. Weight: 195. Shoots: R. Birthplace: Chanhassen, Minn.

2022-23 STATS: 30 GP, 5-2-7. Team: Arizona State (NCAA).

SCOUNTING REPORT: Lagerback played Minnesota high school hockey for Minnetonka, winning a state title. After a so-so age 18 USHL season, he blew up with BCHL Trail in 2021-22, going 25-24-49 in 54 games and adding three goals in five playoff contests. Lagerback played his freshman year for Arizona State last season and recorded five goals, the second-most by a Sun Devils freshman. He added two assists finished with a plus-1 rating. Lagerback has decent size for a forward at 6-feet-1 and is solid in both ends, playing the more defensive-oriented position of left wing. He’s a dual citizen of the U.S. and Sweden.

OUTLOOK: Lagerback has racked up 134 games between the BCHL, USHL and NCAA since 2018-19, including a season of college experience at ASU. His 6-feet, 1-inch frame up front will work in his favor. With a wide-open lineup card, Lagerback has a chance to earn a lot of ice time, should help defensively and can score. He should be a favorite for a top-nine spot right away.

BRAYDEN MORRISON

DOB: 5-4-2002 (age 21). Height: 5-11. Weight: 175. Shoots: L. Birthplace: Calgary, Alta.

2022-23 STATS: 36 GP, 7-4-11. Team: Dubuque (USHL).

SCOUNTING REPORT: The Calgary native played hockey in-province for the Flames’ youth programs and Okotoks before heading to Wisconsin. With the Badgers, he dressed just 18 times as a freshman and did not register a point. After playing just one game in 2022-23, Morrison headed to USHL Dubuque and notched 11 points in 36 games. He’s the son of 1997 Hobey Baker winner and longtime NHLer Brendan Morrison, and his sister, Makenna, is a junior-to-be on the Miami soccer team and has nine career goals including four game-winners.

OUTLOOK: Morrison certainly has the pedigree to excel at the collegiate level, and Miami has had long-standing success with players that develop in Dubuque. He’s also a much-needed center, so hopefully he can help in the faceoff circle and the defensive zone. Morrison will be a sophomore this year, so hopefully he can help the RedHawks for the next three seasons.

ALBIN NILSSON

DOB: 9-18-1998 (age 25). Height: 6-0. Weight: 195. Shoots: L. Birthplace: Ljungby, Sweden.

2022-23 STATS: 40 GP, 10-14-24. Team: Niagara (NCAA).

SCOUTING REPORT: Nilsson did not come to the U.S. until 2018 but immediately held his own in the USHL that year, recording 22 points for Sioux City. He played two seasons for Providence and notched just six points in 34 games before transferring to Niagara, where he thrived. Nilsson recorded 18 goals and 27 assists in his two campaigns with the Purple Eagles, including a 10-14-24 line in 2022-23. He scored the game-winning goal against Miami in Oxford with 20 seconds left on New Year’s Eve, which sent the RedHawks’ season into a tailspin.

OUTLOOK: Nilsson had an excellent shot at nailing down a top-six forward spot as a graduate senior, but unfortunately he suffered a torn meniscus and is out for several months, having recently had surgery. Hopefully he will still be able to provide some offense down the stretch as Miami navigates its brutal NCHC schedule.

RYAN SULLIVAN

DOB: 3-7-2000 (age 23). Height: 5-11. Weight: 190. Shoots: R. Birthplace: Grosse Pointe, Mich.

2022-23 STATS: 32 GP, 2-1-3. Team: Massachusetts (NCAA).

SCOUTING REPORT: Sullivan is another skater that brings tons of high-level experience to Miami. He played two full seasons with USHL Sioux Falls, earning captaincy for the latter campaign and racking up 61 points in 107 games there. Sullivan spent the past three years as a lineup regular for UMass, logging 90 collegiate games.

OUTLOOK: The RedHawks add a competent veteran used to logging ice time at the collegiate level, and Sullivan should be a candidate to play every night. That said, Sullivan has been a more defensive-oriented forward to this point, tallying just four goals and seven assists with the Minutemen. Look for Sullivan to be more of a Jack Olmstead-Monte Graham type, thriving as a bottom-six forward, which is not a bad thing.

RAIMONDS VITOLINS

DOB: 1-12-2002 (age 21). Height: 6-0. Weight: 186. Shoots: R. Birthplace: Ogre, Latvia.

2022-23 STATS: 51 GP, 15-30-45. Team: Green Bay (USHL).

SCOUTING REPORT: After representing Latvia in several layers of the World Juniors and spending two seasons with Vermont, Vitolins returned to the USHL in 2022-23, where he racked up 22 goals and 27 assists for a team-best 49 points in 55 games. He also ended the year on a high night, scoring three times in Green Bay’s three playoff games. In 44 games with the Catamounts, he went 3-9-12, but he was a true freshman when he began his NCAA career. Now 21, Vitolins appears to be on the upswing.

OUTLOOK: Of all the incoming forwards this season, Vitolins has been the skater that has been penciled onto the 2023-24 lineup card the longest, as it was pretty much known he would be coming to Oxford at the beginning of last season. He’s a center, a position Miami has not had enough of since Camper and Andy Miele were RedHawks, and he is coming off an excellent offensive campaign on a team that finished second-last in goals. Vitolins should make an immediate impact up front.

DEFENSEMEN

SPENCER COX

DOB: 2-7-2001 (age 22). Height: 6-0. Weight: 185. Shoots: L. Birthplace: Powell, Ohio.

2022-23 STATS: 34 GP, 1-12-13. Team: Long Island U. (NCAA).

SCOUTING REPORT: Cox was originally committed to Miami but decided to become a member of Long Island University’s inaugural class, and he dressed for 68 of the program’s first 70 games. The first Culver Academy product to join the RedHawks since Karch Bachman, Cox only played one season of juniors, and most of that was spent with NAHL Chippewa, where he went 4-16-20. Cox netted seven goals his freshman season with LIU but just one in 2022-23, and he recorded 13 and 12 assists (second among defensemen both years) in his two campaigns with the Sharks, respectively. He did record an assist vs. Miami when Long Island visited Oxford in 2021-22. Cox is from suburban Columbus, where the RedHawks would love to reestablish a recruiting pipeline that benefitted the program greatly in the 2010s.

OUTLOOK: Cox is a two-way defenseman on a team desperately in need of two-way defensemen. He had three PPGs as a freshman, and if he can quarterback Miami’s power play, that would benefit the team tremendously. He’s been an assist machine at every level, an attribute that should reap dividends immediately for the RedHawks.

RIHARDS SIMANOVICS

DOB: 10-7-2003 (age 20). Height: 6-3. Weight: 205. Shoots: L. Birthplace: Riga, Latvia.

2022-23 STATS: 53 GP, 16-29-45. Team: Amarillo (NAHL).

SCOUTING REPORT: Playing in his first season in North America, Simanovics made quite an impression in 2022-23. He finished second in NAHL defenseman points (45), and he netted 13 power play goals, tied for tops in the league despite being one of the youngest players on Amarillo. Simanovics has also played for several Latvians World Juniors teams, so despite his age and lack of experience on this continent, he has seen plenty of high-level competition.

OUTLOOK: The biggest questions are 1) how will those NAHL stats translate at the Division I level, and 2) how well can he defend? The offensive numbers are impressive, and this coaching staff likes using the 19th skater slot for a defenseman, so maybe he’s eased in as a seventh blueliner. Defensively, he’s 6-feet, 3 inches tall, so reach shouldn’t be an issue (he did finish plus-6 last season). Nor should social adaptation, as two fellow Latvians join him in Oxford this fall. His birthday falls on opening night in Big Rapids.

GOALIE

BRUNO BRUVERIS

DOB: 3-9-2002 (age 21). Height: 6-0. Weight: 173. Catches: L. Birthplace: Riga, Latvia.

2022-23 STATS: 43 GP, 23-19, 2.60 GAA, .897 SV%, 4 SHO. Team: Cedar Rapids (USHL).

SCOUTING REPORT: Bruveris improved as last season went along (he gave up just five goals in Cedar Rapids’ final five games), and he went 2.46/.906 in the RoughRiders’ five-game-playoff series. He’s a smaller goalie at six-feet even, and he has an unorthodox style of laying his stick flat on the ice more often than almost anyone at this level. He’s also extremely aggressive on breakaways, coming out to the faceoff circles on penalty shots. Bruveris was a fan favorite in Cedar Rapids, and it’s easy to see why. He plays with tons of energy and emotion (a la Jay Williams), making him a fan favorite in Cedar Rapids, and he had no problem playing both ends of weekend series, recording 2,467 minutes, third-most in the USHL.

OUTLOOK: Ludvig Persson, Miami’s starter the past three seasons, bolted for North Dakota this past off-season, and the Redhawks’ remaining goalies — Logan Neaton and Carter McPhail — have a combined two Division I wins in eight seasons. So unless one of those two suddenly seize the starting job, Bruveris should be the leading candidate. Cedar Rapids was tops in the USHL in fewest shots allowed per game, and Miami surrendered an average of 34.3 SOG, the sixth-worst clip in Division I, so the adjustment to seeing more Grade-A chances in the best college hockey league in the world will be significant.