UMass-Lowell is on a roll with commitments this week. On Friday, they announced the signing of Joey McGraw, a right-shot forward currently with the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL. McGraw posted [https://www.instagram.com/p/DW5Tu6xjMnF/?img_index=2] about the flip on his Instagram on April 8, but the team only made it official a month later. Born in New York, the 6-foot-1, 205 lb McGraw grew up [https://www.therinklive.com/junior-and-prospects/nahl/jumping-into-the-nahl-as-a-15-year-old-has-paid-off-for-northeasts-joey-mcgraw] in Sugar Land, Texas. His family moved there for his father’s job at Shell when he was young. McGraw spent time early in his hockey career with the Dallas Stars Elite team before moving to Michigan for a year in 2020-21 to play for Little Caesars. At just 15 years old, the Northeast Generals of the NAHL tendered him. He stayed with the team for four years, evolving from by far the youngest player on their roster into a solid player over his tenure on the team. “Joey McGraw is an amazing young man,” Generals GM/Head Coach Bryan Erikson said [https://nahlgens.com/3-year-forward-mcgraw-commits-to-play-ncaa-division-1-hockey-for-west-point/]. Not a lot of 15 year olds would be able to trust the process the way he did. Matt Dibble (former Generals GM) and I along with Joey came up with a very clear plan for his development. Huge credit goes to Joey for sticking through the ups and downs. His work ethic is crazy and has allowed his growth to accelerate this season. His ability to take in coaching and then implement it immediately is very high. He has a tremendous hockey IQ. He is a big power forward that has elite speed and hands. He is only scratching the surface of his tremendous potential.” While with the Generals, McGraw committed to Army West Point to play college hockey. It was the first of four commitments. McGraw played two games with the USHL’s Fargo Force early in 2024-25 before returning to the Generals for another 34 games. He would ultimately return to the USHL later that year for 23 games with the Sioux Falls Stampede. In that time, he scored 7 goals and had 9 assists. The 2025-26 season was his first full one with the Stampede, and he adjusted well, scoring 13 goals en route to 33 points in 49 games. With the Stampede, he was named captain alongside teammate JJ Monteiro. In the press release [https://sfstampede.com/news/2025/9/17/mens-ice-hockey-monteiro-and-mcgraw-named-co-captains-for-2025-26-season.aspx] announcing his captaincy, the team mentioned that McGraw planned to attend Ohio State — his second NCAA commitment. By December, he had flipped [https://centericeview.wordpress.com/2025/12/19/seasoned-ushl-forward-joe-mcgraw-commits-to-st-cloud-state/] his commitment to St. Cloud State, his third NCAA stop. Now, he has again re-committed, this time to the Riverhawks. UMass-Lowell is getting a solid two-way player who can contribute offensively but is also responsible in his own end. He’s a strong play maker and reportedly good in the faceoff dot, as well.
