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AMHERST, Mass. The University of Massachusetts hockey has added a 5-10, 181-pound right shot to defender Ryan Ufko’s team for the 2021-22 season, it was announced on Saturday. UFKO, which ranks 43rd among North American skaters in the NHL Central Study’s most recent 2021 rankings, will join UMass after helping Chicago Steel in the US HL Clark Cup Championships 2020-21. He joins forward passers Matt Baker and Cam Donaldson, transfer defender Slava Demin and freshman strikers Eric DeDobbelaer, Ryan Lautenbach, Taylor Makar and Lucas Mercur.th and the last member in Minutemen’s future recruitment class.
“Ryan is a very professional right-shot defender who thinks the game exceptionally well and reminds our fans of it Zac Jones, ”said UMass head coach Greg Carvel. “He’s an offensive-minded defender who helps increase our offense, but also defends well in his own head. We expect Ryan to be accepted in this summer’s NHL draft and adding to our extensive list of NHL defenders and future potential. Ryan is coming out of the USHL championship where he led all the defenders in scoring for his Chicago Steel team. Ryan is also an impressive student and adds to our strong culture. “
In two seasons with Chicago, Ufko scored 55 points on 13 goals and 42 assists in more than 104 career competitions. Last season, Smithtown, a native of New York’s Smithtown, scored 39 points in 53 regular season, a good ranking in the USHL among defenders as he finished fourth in aids (29) and fourth in goals (10). Twenty of his 39 points came into the power game (3g, 17a). In the post-2021 season, Ufko recorded seven points (1g, 6a) in helping Steel to the title and equalized most points by the league defenders.
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