Major boost expected from ’25 class

Miami recently signed 11 FutureHawks for 2025-26.

All of them are already USHL starters, including the league’s top goal scorer.

That’s extremely good news for a RedHawks program undergoing a major rebuild.

“We’re over-the-top excited about this class,” MU coach Anthony Noreen said. “We do think it’s a really talented class, it’s a balanced class, but everything I’ve said about (our captains) is what this class is. This is 11 guys that are great teammates, they are high-culture guys, and they’re also high performers.”

The USHL is the top-tier feeder league for college hockey and one Noreen is intimately familiar with, having coached Tri-City and Youngstown for 10 of the past 12 seasons.

“They’re all playing in the best junior league in the US(HL) — look around the (NCHC) rosters, those rosters basically almost every guy on that team is a good USHL player,” Noreen said. “And you know what? It translates to being a good NCAA Division I player in the NCHC. There’s a pretty tight correlation between how many USHL players there are on a Division I team and how good that team is.”

Forward Artemi Nizameyev, who plays for Tri-City (which Noreen coached last season), leads the USHL in goals (17) and points (29).

Defenseman Shaun McEwen also plays for the Storm, who added former RedHawk Matt Barry to their coaching staff this season, and leads all blueliners in goals (3), assists (11) and points (14).

He’s also Tri-City’s captain.

“These are 11 guys that play in (the USHL), they’re all impact guys on their team, a lot of them wear letters for their team, and the character and compete level of these guys is elite,” Noreen said. “To be able to put that class together in a short period of time for them to believe in what we’re doing and want to be a part of it, I think it’s going to set a really good foundation for Miami hockey for the future.”

While the NCAA has phased out the National Letter of Intent, by signing, all 11 players are expected to join the program next season.

In the post-NLI era, teams still have the option to defer players for a year if they feel they aren’t ready for Division I.

“One thing I can tell you is we love the commits that we have, we are not going to rush anyone here, and it’s not going to be on our timeline, it’s going to be on what everybody thinks is the best timeline for that player and that family for him to have the most success in his career moving forward,” Noreen said.

Of the expected 2025-26 freshmen class, seven are forwards and four defensemen.

A look at Miami’s newest signees:

VITALS

Player	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Shoots	DOB	Hometown
Chuck Blanchard	C	6-0	185	R	1/18/2005	West Hartford, Conn.
David Deputy	F	5-9	185	R	6/25/2004	Gurnee, Ill.
Cal Huston	D	6-0	187	R	8/8/2005	Youngstown, Ohio
Shaun McEwen	D	6-0	192	L	1/21/2004	Hadley, Mass.
Charlie Michaud	D	6-0	196	L	8/12/2006	Denver, Colo.
Artemi Nizameyev	RW	5-10	192	R	11/20/2005	Chelyabinsk, Russia
Michael Phelen	D	6-0	174	R	5/4/2006	Hinsdale, Ill.
Ian Scherzer	C	6-0	192	L	7/3/2005	Villach, Austria
Ryan Seelinger	F	5-11	179	R	8/7/2005	Downers Grove, Ill.
Justin Stupka	F	6-2	214	R	3/15/2005	Pittsburgh, Pa.
Bradley Walker	F	6-1	194	R	12/13/2004	Orono, Minn.

Source: Eliteprospects.com.

STATS

Forwards	Team	GP	G	A	Pts.	PIM	+ / —
Artemi Nizameyev	Tri-City	24	17	12	29	12	1
David Deputy	Muskegon	21	7	9	16	27	0
Ryan Seelinger	Des Moines	20	6	5	11	12	0
Ian Scherzer	Madison	20	2	9	11	32	6
Justin Stupka	Sioux City	22	4	3	7	21	-2
Chuck Blanchard	Cedar Rapids	17	3	4	7	19	1
Bradley Walker	Waterloo	18	2	3	5	57	1

Defensemen	Team	GP	G	A	Pts.	PIM	+ / —
Shaun McEwen	Tri-City	22	3	11	14	47	11
Charlie Michaud	Madison	19	2	7	9	4	4
Cal Huston	Youngstown	20	1	4	5	14	10
Michael Phelan	Waterloo	22	1	2	3	21	-1