With college hockey well underway in 2021-22, Hockey East has seen some surprise impact players elevating their teams in the first quarter of the season.
It has been an uneven start for a lot of teams, with only one point separating the first- and fourth-place teams currently in the conference standings. UMass currently holds a tenuous lead with Providence right behind, while UMass Lowell has (along with Vermont) played the fewest number of conference games (4) but has a 4-0-1 record.
In many cases, players expected to provide the bigger roles for their teams have done exactly that. Others who perhaps more unexpectedly have found themselves among the more notable success stories include Toronto Maple Leafs prospect and UConn sophomore Ryan Tverberg, UMass freshman Ryan Ufko and Providence College’s Nick Poisson, all featured in the most recent College Confidential.
This list expands on a mixture of Hockey East newcomers, along with some upperclassmen who were not necessarily in the forefront of preseason discussions, but have managed to stand out for their increased production and positive contributions. While not all teams are represented on this list, it’s a good starting point and we’ll revisit the conference standouts as the season rolls on into the winter months.
Justin Hryckowian, C- Northeastern; 5-10/194
The Huskies freshman is leveraging his high-end skill and hockey IQ to emerge as his club’s most impactful newcomer. While not a blazing skater who can drive defenders wide with pure speed, or back them up zooming through the neutral zone. He's always around the puck, and he's brought a noticeable, refined 200-foot game right away.
Instead, the Quebec native uses his brains and hands to make passes through a maze of sticks or hold pucks until lanes open up to work pucks to the net. He started the season in a lower/lesser role and earned more prominence with his knack for offense. There are sure to be some ups and downs this season, but the former Salisbury School star is getting it done and proving himself in his first year of Hockey East play.
Even if he isn’t the biggest or fastest forward in college hockey, he’s found a way to make plays and make his presence known. He’ll need to keep getting stronger and expanding his situational hockey knowledge, but there’s much to like with how quickly he’s made the transition. A top work ethic is a big part of it, but his high-end feel for the game means he's going to get a lot better.
Jamie Engelbert, C- Providence College; 6-4/205
Big, rangy centerman has already nearly doubled his entire production of the previous two seasons as a Friar with 10 points in 13 games. Although he’s never been a huge point producer even in the OJHL and it took him time to adjust to the speed and pace of the college game, things are coming together for the two-way forward in his junior campaign.
He’s picked up a step and benefited from coaching and taking a slower, more methodical path in school to develop into a more impactful presence. With his length/reach, he can break up passes and disrupt opposing breakouts.
When he goes to the net and sets up a screen, goalies have a tough time maintaining sightlines with the puck.  Some players might have tried to seek a faster path elsewhere, but Engelbert stuck with it and it is paying dividends for his club and for him.
Nick Capone, RW- UConn; 6-2/216 (East Haven, Conn.)
Tampa Bay Lightning sixth-rounder and Hryckowian’s teammate on the Crimson Knights left prep hockey for Tri-City of the USHL and became a rugged, complementary forward who had to reign in his emotions a bit en route to being drafted in 2020.
With impressive acceleration and power in his skating, he has a heavy shot and has jumped out to a good start in his sophomore season. He’s already surpassed his entire freshman year production with 3 goals and 6 points with the Huskies. He’s scoring goals and spending less time in the box, and with his hard, heavy game, he has a real shot at a pro future with a playing style reminiscent of Pat Maroon.
Ben Meehan, D- UMass Lowell (Walpole, Mass.); 6-0/179
Recognized in the New England Hockey Journal preview series as a sleeper pick to be an impactful player in his sophomore season after a solid, if limited role in the COVID-impacted 2020-21 campaign (8 assists in 17 games as a freshman).
The former Dexter Southfield blueliner is a surprise because of how far ahead of the curve he is. Breaking out is one thing, but Meehan’s two-way play is reflective of the upside the Los Angeles Kings saw him when taking him in the fifth round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft in his second year of eligibility.
Meehan might have been drafted even earlier, had he not been lost to a season-ending injury that limited him to just 25 games with the USHL’s Cedar Rapids Roughriders. He uses his feet and hands to break pucks out and boost the River Hawks transition game.
David Breazeale, D- Maine; 6-4/201
Exhibit A for the argument of the benefit of aging out of junior hockey and how that can allow for an instant impact and prime role as a 21-year-old freshman.
After captaining the Shreveport Mudbugs to the NAHL’s Robertson Cup championship, he was one of new head coach Ben Barr’s first commitments to the Black Bears over the summer. In the early going, he has been a steady, reliable presence on a team that is not ready for the higher echelon of Hockey East but has already formed a lunchpail mentality, with the Michigan native on the back end providing the kind of play of a seasoned upperclassman given his experience in a rugged, competitive junior league.
He won’t win any beauty/style contests for his play, yet it looks like he’s managed to reward the staff for bringing him in and should establish himself as a staple in Orono as he gets more comfortable in the conference and with the demands of a student-athlete.
Tyler Harmon, Vermont- G; 6-2/205
What’s the surprise? At 24, he’s stopping pucks this season at nearly a 92 percent rate, yet is 0-5. The Catamounts haven’t been able to give him any offensive support to get into the victory column, but the way he’s kept them in games gives his teammates the confidence and motivation to earn some wins.
Harmon is a bit of a fascinating outlier in that he was a New Jersey high school player who never played a game in the USHL, NAHL, USPHL NCDC, or any of the Canadian Tier 2 leagues, yet has posted a respectable career 2.72 GAA and .912 save percentage in 22 games, despite a record of 1-13-3.
Simply put, given his developmental route, he shouldn’t be doing that, yet has worked his way into earning the bigger share of the Vermont net and is battling hard to give his team a chance to win every night.
He’s seeing a ton of rubber, but it hasn’t seemed to have impacted his mental approach. Pro teams might see free agent possibilities here if he can keep tracking pucks, reading the plays to get set for quality scoring chances, and facing tough odds each and every night with a rebuilding team.
David Fessenden, New Hampshire- G; 6-6/229
Alabama-Huntsville transfer from Colorado has emerged to challenge established starter Mike Robinson (Bedford, N.H.) for playing time in Durham.
A massive goaltender who played most of his junior hockey in Attleboro with the NAHL’s Northeast Generals, he’s showed well in the early going, including a big overtime win against Providence College. He’s massive and moves pretty well, and given that the Wildcats are currently down in the Hockey East standings, he’ll be called upon to make a lot of stops this year.
As an aside, Fessenden preceded current Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman on the now-defunct Pike’s Peak Miners AAA midget program by a season (Fessenden played there in 2014-15) and is proving himself in the NCAA while Swayman has gone onto tremendous success in Hockey East and now NHL. It just goes to show you how different the path to the pros is for goaltenders.
