Minutemen land Mercuri

UMass won a recruiting battle for the commitment of former Vermont recruit Lucas Mercuri, who starred in prep for New England champions Salisbury this winter. A long, goal-scoring force from Quebec, Mercuri decommitted from Vermont after a coaching change in Burlington and immediately garnered a lot of interest from the Big Ten, Hockey East and ECAC. He chose UMass over Penn State, Wisconsin, Clarkson, Maine and UConn.

The 2020 draft-eligible from Quebec will likely play for Des Moines in the USHL this season before heading to Amherst next fall. Mercuri posted 39 goals over his two seasons in prep hockey. Right now he projects as a solid four-star recruit – figuring in like an average player on a nationally-ranked Division 1 team. That could improve this year in the USHL.