Yet another member of the AJHL’s Brooks Bandits has committed to join the Massachusetts hockey program once their junior career is finished.  Defenseman Cale Makar is the latest Bandit to commit to John Micheletto and his staff, due to arrive in Amherst in the fall of 2017.  Current Minutemen Maddison Smiley and Patrick Lee, incoming freshman Austin Plevy, and current Bandits Shane Bear and Kyler Nachtigall are the Brooks players who previously signed up to play at UMass in recent years.

Makar, a ‘98 birth year, will need to bulk up in his two seasons before getting to UMass as he’s currently just 5’8” and 155lbs.  This will be his first full season with Brooks after joining them late last year and had 7 points in 20 playoff games.  Prior to Brooks he was playing for the Calgary Flames Midget AAA squad where he was team MVP after accumulating 23 points (7 goals, 16 assists) in 34 games.

As always, Over The Boards has the scoop on the newest recruit:

Makar is eligible for the NHL draft in 2017.

Here is Brooks’ release on Makar’s commitment.

Looking at the projected future rosters, there are potentially 10 or 11 defensemen on the roster for that year.  Obviously, that’s quite a bit.  So either the coaching staff is assuming they lose some of the high profile blueliners, such as William Lagesson or Ivan Chukarov, to the pros or there have been decommitments that haven’t been made public yet.