The University of Vermont Catamounts had another terrible year in 2022-23 after two abysmal years in 2020-21 and 2021-22. The team has gradually improved in that span, going from winning one game in 2020-21 to winning 11 in 2022-23 under Todd Woodcroft; however, just as his tenure behind the bench was middling, so was his alleged conduct on campus, leading to his abrupt dismissal this summer. Steve Wiedler, an assistant on the Vermont staff, will be stepping in to take over as the head coach, his first time in the role at the NCAA level. Wiedler has his work cut out for him as the Catamounts were easily the worst team in the Hockey East last season, and based on the recruiting class they brought in, without a miracle breakout season from multiple players, will likely be in the same spot as last season.

           The Catamounts had a large recruiting class this season of first year players, many of whom were massive 6-foot plus defensemen. The headline among them was Eli Barnett, a 6’6” 218lbs defender for the Victoria Grizzlies of the BCHL. Barnett posted only 9 pts in 52gp last season, but he brings a rugged physical presence that will help Vermont clear out the crease better than they did last year. Also of note is that the San Jose Sharks took Barnett in the 6^th round in the 2022 draft. The team also added Connor Mackenzie from the Grande Prairie Storm of the AJHL, who will likely back up Gabriel Carriere this season. For their forward group, Vermont added Mateo Dixon and Nick Ahern. Dixon posted 49 pts in 54gp last season for the Coquitlam Express in the BCHL. Dixon’s greatest abilities are his vision and his game sense, which he leverages very well in the offensive zone. Ahern posted 52 pts in 48gp last year splitting time between the NCDC and the NAHL. Ahern, throughout his entire junior career, has been a solid playmaker who can create quality scoring opportunities for his teammates.

           Vermont has 4 returning players from last season who need to be key players this season: Gabriel Carriere, Isak Walther, Andrei Buyalsky, and Joel Maata. Carriere was the starting goalie a year ago and will be the starter again in 2023-24. In 26 starts, he posted a 2.67 GAA against a 0.910 SV, which is genuinely impressive due to the complete lack of goal support he received, as well as the high volume of shots that he saw. Walther was the team’s leading scorer last season, posting a piddling 19 pts in 36gp. Walther is a great two-way player, with exceptional defensive instincts, enough so that he was drafted by the Nashville Predators, but he needs to create more scoring for the team this year if they are going to be anything more than bad. Buyalsky posted 18 pts in 34gp last season, which was 2^nd on the team, but compared to his Juniors career that led to him being a 3^rd round pick by the Colorado Avalanche, was massively disappointing. Buyalsky needs to find his offense this year if Vermont has any hope of winning games. Maata posted 14 pts in 36gp last year, in line with his compatriots in the forward group. Unlike his compatriots, Maata is known almost exclusively for his role in the defensive zone, as he is one of the more rugged and heavy hitting forwards in the Hockey East and will need to own that role again in 2023-24.

Overall, the Vermont Catamounts are a competitive team in the Hockey East in the sense that they won’t get run by 4+ goals every night, but they lack difference makers through their lineup relative to their intraconference competition. It will be very difficult for the Catamounts to compete with anyone other than UMass Amherst and the University of New Hampshire this season. If Buyalsky and Walther put it all together, they could be a dark horse to make it into the Hockey East tournament as the 8^th seed, but that feels unlikely due to the quality of competition in the conference this year. Best of luck to Wiedler and the boys to prove me wrong this year.