Miami will undoubtedly field one of the youngest defense corps in the NCHC, but its returning D-men logged a ton of valuable minutes last season and managed to hold their own.
Only four of Miami’s defensemen from 2025-26 are back this fall, and not only are none seniors, just two are juniors.
“We have a very good D-corps set for the next couple years,” sophomore Michael Phelan said. “We’re fast, we’re physical, but most importantly, we’re all great skaters, and I think that’s a big thing in college hockey is being a good skater. We’ve got a bunch of defensemen that can play both sides of the puck, and I think that’s going to be huge for our team. I think we’re going to carry a big load for this squad this year.”
The RedHawks did add a transfer junior in David Helledy, as well as four freshmen.
VFG takes a look at the RedHawks’ forwards in Part III of its four-part preview series:
Part I and Part II can be found here.
WHO’S BACK: Jrs. (1): Vladislav Lukashevich; Sophs. (3): Shaun McEwen, Michael Phelan, Ryder Thompson.
WHO’S GONE: Kyle Aucoin, Nick Donato, Owen Lalonde, Michael Quinn.
WHO’S NEW: Jack Hamilton, David Helledy (transfer), Cal Huston, Tim Runtso, Branko Vukas.
ANALYSIS: While only four defensemen are Miami veterans, all logged major minutes on the blue line last season.
Junior Vladislav Lukashevich was the most productive offensively, scoring twice and netting a RedHawks-high 19 assists to finish fourth on the team with 21 points.
Of the returning class, Ryder Thompson is the only other D-man to record double-digits in points. Thompson, who dressed for 34 games last season as a freshman, went 1-9-10, with his lone goal being a game-winner.
Shaun McEwen finished with two goals and six assists (including the lone shorthanded goal by a defenseman last season). Despite his 182-pound frame, McEwen dished out some of the biggest hits of the season on opponents. He also seemed to improve substantially as the season progressed.
Phelan averaged 19:01 TOI and picked up five assists. Both he and fellow sophomore Thompson finished with just 10 penalty minutes, which is impressive for a then-freshmen playing shut-down defensive roles.
Miami’s most notable addition on the blueline is Tim Runtso. Runtso was selected by Montréal in the second round of the 2026 NHL Draft, 57th overall in June. He racked up 11 goals and 33 assists for 44 points in 68 games with WHL Victoria last season and is expected to play a major role in rejuvenating a struggling power play.
“He’s just always found a way to overachieve every time he takes a step,” Miami coach Anthony Noreen said. “Whether it was going from U15 to U16, whether is was when he made the jump to the North American Hockey League, when he made a jump to the Western Hockey League, he’s just always found a way to figure out how to conquer that next level.”
Bentley product David Helledy, the lone transfer among this group, should also add offensive punch from the back end. He has two years of eligibility remaining and went 6-14-20 as a sophomore, with 14 of those points coming in his final 17 games.
Runtso and Helledy are the frontrunners to quarterback the power play units, which executed at a 12.1 percent clip, sixth-worst in college hockey.
“I think our power play is going to be very good this year,” Phelan said. “We’ve (practiced it) a little bit this season and we look really good. We’ve got guys like David Helledy, who’s run the top, Vlad, who’s super good, and then we’ve got a bunch of weapons (up front).”
The other three incoming defensemen are known for their shut-down ability.
Miami adds a pair of trees in Jack Hamilton and Branko Vukas, the tallest members of the team’s blue line.
Hamilton, a Columbus-area native who stands six feet, five inches, has 86 games of USHL experience and racked up a goal and eight assists in 49 contests with Youngstown last season.
At 6-4, Vukas went 1-12-13 with Muskegon in 2025-26, and he picked up six more helpers in the Lumberjacks’ Clark Cup finals run.
“We wanted to get bigger and longer without being clunky or limiting how we move or how we move the puck,” Noreen said. “The thing about those guys is yeah, there’s some size and there’s some length, but it’s not at the expense of skating ability or puck-moving ability.”
Cal Huston — also an in-state product — is the other incoming freshman defenseman. The Youngstown-born D-man played for his hometown team last season, scoring twice and adding 15 assists, finishing second among Phantoms blueliners with a plus-12 rating.
“It’s been really competitive amongst the nine back so far of what it’s going to look like when the puck drops on Day 1,” Noreen said.
