60 Days. 60 Teams. 600 Words (or Less): Massachusetts

University of Massachusetts

2018-19 Record: 31-10-0 (18-6-0, 1st in Hockey East)
Head Coach: Greg Carvel, 4th Year
Top returning scorers: Mitchell Chafee (18G-24A) and John Leonard (16G-24A)
Top returning goaltenders: Matt Murray (Jr.) and Filip Lindberg (So.)

We've spent a lot of time in this series discussing teams being the next UMass. Now it's time to discuss where the Minutemen go next.

To begin, looking ahead to better days won't work anymore.

Greg Carvel's team at one point was the flagship for failure, losing 22 of the final 23 games during his first season. (Even in victory, the Minutemen were heavily outshot and outplayed). After the lone win, he said a player (Brett Boeing) in his first game with the team was the best player on the ice. It would get better in the future with the recruiting classes on the horizon.

Turns out that might have been the understatement of the century. Taking away the ultimate program-changer in Cale Makar, Carvel's NewMass recruiting classes lit a new fire in the Minutemen. UMass had the nation's top power-play (28.5%) and was among the nation's top-7 in team offense and defense. Nine of the top 11 scorers plus both goalies on the team that reached the national championship game were underclassmen. Seven of those players return.

What's New: To the surprise of no one, the program-changer is now helping change Colorado's fortunes. Makar, the first top-10 pick to spend his second season after being drafted in college hockey since James van Riemsdyk, spent a four-day stretch winning the Hobey Baker Award, playing in the national championship game and scoring a Stanley Cup playoff goal. Fellow sophomore D Mario Ferraro also departed, signing with San Jose.

Speaking to the excellence of Massachusetts' season, not one, but two UMass players were drafted in their second year of eligibility. After being the one to prove Denver wrong, Marc Del Gaizo went to Nashville in the fourth round. Filip Lindberg's play down the stretch helped make him Paul Fenton's final pick as Minnesota GM.

Carvel brings in nine freshmen - five forwards, three defenders, and goalie Alex Camarre. D Zac Jones was a third-round draft pick by the New York Rangers.

Closing Thoughts: It's not exactly a bad thing to be unsure where UMass goes from here. Carvel's program is in uncharted waters.

A player like Makar comes around college hockey once or twice a decade. He makes players around him better. Makar's effect on the Minutemen last season and the game when he's on the ice cannot be understated. Yet the fact remains Massachusetts' turnaround wasn't the work of one player. Success breeds success. That was the case with a team led by underclassmen where there's enough talent left to retool special teams and defense, showing UMass is not a one-year wonder.

Massachusetts keeps an All-American in Mitchell Chafee. Two solid options remain in goal between Lindberg and Matt Murray (no, not that one although he did go to Pittsburgh's development camp). Del Gaizo and Ty Farmer, while both lose their D partner, both look capable of building upon successful freshmen seasons.

Even before a national runner-up finish, NewMass shares little with the Zoo Mass era. Teams may not need to fear the triangle, but for a team picked to finish sixth in Hockey East, there is a foundation to build upon the latest era for the flagship.

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