The NCHC has been an elite conference over the last few years, highlighted by the Denver Pioneers' dynasty. But with many teams improving, it will be very hard to have a "Cinderella story"; the Miami RedHawks are more than a Cinderella story.
It’s been a slow, steady rise, but the University of Miami (Ohio) RedHawks are finally a legit team in college hockey, and I think they’re underrated right now.
The team went from a three-win season in 2025 to 18 wins in 2026, the most since 2015.
The RedHawks are bringing back Florida Panthers' 2021 fourth-round pick, Vladislav Lukashevich, and Buffalo Sabres' first-rounder from this past draft, Ilya Morozov, and they also brought in Michigan State transfer and Detroit Red Wings prospect Austin Baker.
Having this high-end talent will help them fight against the top-end teams in the conference, and instead of being a first-round exit in the NCHC tournament, they now have the ability to be a team that’s a dark-horse contender for the NCHC.
An interesting player to keep an eye on: he could end up being a huge addition by the end of the year, and that’s Yegor Yegorov, who is from the same town as Morozov. Yegorov had a very good season in the MHL last year; in 38 games, he had a .918 save percentage and a 2.97 goals-against average. He was drafted in the sixth round by the Calgary Flames in 2023, and he brings a ton of upside to the team; if he figures it out, they could have elite players at every position.
The program has also seen a hole in the lineup, and they were able to fix that; that hole is a big defenseman. The three tallest players on the blueline are all freshmen; everyone else is below six-foot-two. Given that information, you can assume that some of these freshmen defensemen will have a large role on this team all year.
If the freshmen are able to buy in and play a role for this team, they have the talent, top-end players, and proof that they can be an elite team. Being in such a strong conference, it takes a lot to stand out for multiple years, but the RedHawks have put themselves in a position to be more than an average team in the NCHC. If everything goes right, I think they can win it all.
