UConn men's hockey finalizes 2024-25 roster with two more additions

After a long offseason, UConn men’s hockey officially finalized its roster by announcing its incoming class. Among the group are two more additions: Transfer defenseman Viking Gustafsson Nyberg and freshman forward Filip Sitar.

New assistant coach Nick Peruzzi had an obvious hand in bringing both players to Storrs since he’d either coached or recruited the players at Northern Michigan, where he spent the last two seasons on staff.

Gustafsson Nyberg just completed his freshman season with the Wildcats while Sitar was committed to join the program this fall. When head coach Grant Potulny left to become the head coach of the Hartford Wolf Pack, Gustafsson Nyberg entered the transfer portal and Sitar flipped to the Huskies.

Gustafsson Nyberg (no relation to former UConn defenseman Philip Nyberg) is a 6-6, 205 pound blue liner out of Stockholm, Sweden with a left-handed shot. He played in 33 games at Northern Michigan last season but collected just two goals and one assist. He skates well for his size and projects to be a top-six defensemen for the Huskies.

The biggest question mark with Gustafsson Nyberg will be how he adjusts to Hockey East after spending his first collegiate season in the CCHA. He won’t have much time to settle in with UConn’s first conference game coming against BU on Oct. 18.

Meanwhile, Sitar is a 5-11, 183 pound forward with a right-handed shot from Ljubljana, Slovnia. He should step in as UConn’s third-line center from day one and has the ability to play on both the power play and penalty kill. Sitar is a 200-foot player with a high-IQ whose success comes from making good decisions with the puck and getting into the right spots on the ice.

With the addition of these two — along with Jake Veilleux’s departure — UConn’s roster is finalized. The Huskies will be thin up top with just 15 forwards but have plenty of depth on the blue line with 10 defensemen to go along with the standard three goaltenders.

The newcomers are split between four transfers and 10 freshmen: Forwards Hugh Larkin (Western Michigan), Ethan Gardula, Mike Murtagh, Kaden Shahan, Sitar and Ethan Whitcomb; defensemen Nick Carabin (Princeton), Gustafsson Nyberg (Northern Michigan), Kevin Fitzgerald, Kai Janviriya and Trey Scott; and goaltenders Tyler Muszelik (UNH), Callum Tung and Thomas Heaney.

There’s been a lot of turnover since the season ended last March. Gone are forwards Matthew Wood, Chase Bradley, Samu Salminen, Nick Capone, Veilleux, Jake Black and Mark D’Agostino; defensemen Andrew Lucas, Jake Flynn and Harrison Rees; and goaltenders Ethan Haider, Arsenii Sergeev and Matt Pasquale.

After a disappointing 2023-24 campaign, UConn will have plenty of new faces who will try to right the ship. The season begins on Friday, Oct. 4 against Colgate at Toscano Family Ice Forum in Storrs.