UMass add multiple players to incoming class
UMass bolstered its incoming class significantly this week, adding three very talented new players.
Left-shot defenseman Barrett Dexheimer was announced as the first member of the incoming class on May 13. The 5-foot-11, 176-pound player is an Edina native. If his name rings a bell, it’s because his older brother, Ben, was an All-Big 10 First Team for Wisconsin this year and scored the overtime game winner against Michigan State to send the Badgers back to the Frozen Four for the first time in 16 years.
Dexheimer spent the latter part of the season playing 21 games with the Des Moines Buccaneers, but he played the majority of his USHL careers with the Muskegon Lumberjacks. He was part of the team that captured the Clark Cup in 2025. Here’s an interesting stat: in his year and a half with Muskegon, Dexheimer scored zero goals and had exactly nine assists each year (though in just 31 games his second year compared to 51 his first year). Dexheimer did score two goals with the Buccaneers, but he’s not known for his production. UMass coach Greg Carvel described him as “smooth-skating and smart.” Dexheimer should provide solid back-end support.
The same day that Dexheimer was announced, the Minutemen flipped Penguins 2025 5th rounder Jordan Charron from St. Lawrence. Charron is a 6-foot-1, 190-pound right winger who shoots right.
Charron’s ascension has been rapid; he began his draft year in the GOJHL, playing 18 games for the Ayr Centennials, who he’d played parts of two seasons with. In those 18 games, though, Charron scored nine goals, more than he’d scored the entirety of the previous season, and equaled his assist total with 13. He advanced to the OJHL with the Wellington Dukes, but only spent three games there before he was again pulled up, this time to the Soo Greyhounds. In 48 games, he had 10 goals and 11 assists.
This year, his production took off, racking up more than twice as many points in only eight more games with 25 goals and 22 assists. He also scored two goals in the Greyhounds’ lone win over the Kitchener Rangers in the OHL playoffs.
Charron has a tendency to take a lot of penalty minutes, with 68 in 66 games, but he’s a strong scoring option and should be a great addition to UMass.
Finnish forward Jasper Kuhta rounded out the declarations this week. The 6-foot-2, 198-pound forward went undrafted last year, but is known as a solid two-way player who can also bring some scoring.
Kuhta made the jump across the Atlantic this year after playing for the Liiga junior teams for most of his career, joining the Ottawa 67’s. He had a fantastic year, scoring 63 points in 62 games, including 32 goals. He was equally good in the playoffs with seven points in nine games. Kuhta also had a very strong performance at the World Juniors with two goals and six assists in seven games and was the second highest-scoring player for the Finns. He should bring some good offense to the Minutemen next year.