Ben Yurchuk Commits to RPI

Yurchuk's rare combination of speed, skill, and IQ can add a ton of offense for RPI

Eric Lang’s transfer portal recipe is starting to feel pretty obvious to anyone paying attention: find highly skilled East Coast players who were just a step away from a major role on a successful team. Former Merrimack Warrior Ben Yurchuk fits this to a tee. Yurchuk played for the Chicago Steel prior to Merrimack and has been a high-skill, point producing type of player everywhere he’s gone. He found himself just on the outside of the Hockey East champ’s scoring lines and thus came available in the portal. Lang has been on a quest to find some natural skill to complement some of the tight-checking types he had in the locker room last year. Yurchuk has it, it’s just going to be about slowing the ECAC game down enough to utilize it.

Elite Hands and Natural Skill

After watching his tape from MC and the Steel, I left pretty convinced that he’d be playing at BC or BU if he were 5 inches taller. Yurchuk’s speed, hands, and IQ jump off the page immediately upon turning on the tape. He is so crafty maneuvering around defenders and has outstanding speed. The creativity in the offensive zone stands out to me too, he is just so patient and always seems to make the right pass. It looks as if he has the puck on a string while dangling through the neutral zone. He plays with an elusiveness as a forechecker and offensive player that is highly translatable and effective. Yurchuk’s dynamic game can truly drive offense and flip puck possession in his team’s favor.

Playmaking

As I alluded to before, his vision is simply top notch, and he is at his best with the puck on his stick. Some players simply don’t have that level of talent where the game slows down for them on the attack, but Yurchuk undoubtedly has it. He plays the game on the edge, but I found that more often than not he makes the right play.

So why didn’t it translate to college right away?

We’ve seen this happen with this archetype of player before. Highly skilled, often smaller players that were elite in prep and AAA, with high point production in the USHL that then struggle as Freshman in tough conferences. RPI has had a mixed bag recruiting this type of transfer, although I’d say it’s been more good than bad. TJ Walsh, Chase Zieky, and Brendan Budy are 3 that come to mind. The college game is clearly more physical, faster, and experienced than junior hockey, which can cause a slow adjustment for some guys. The ECAC is a heavier, tighter checking league than Hockey East, but it generally has less skill (although not always true). Yurchuk may struggle with the physicality of the league, but I also think his offensive ability will shine where it’s a bit of a dime a dozen in Hockey East. He is going to need his speed to be the difference maker and use it to find gaps in heavy ECAC defenses.

Intangibles

The biggest thing that holds Yurchuk back is his size and defensive ability. At 5’8, 170, he just doesn’t give you much in your own end and lacks the physicality you covet. That’s not to say that smaller forwards haven’t had success here, as quite a bit of his game calls Jacob Hayhurst to mind for me. I just think you know what you're getting with Yurchuk, and he’s likely not coming in to improve the defensive tenacity. He does have top-notch speed though, which when combined with his great stickhandling should help RPI possess and move the puck.

Yurchuk is a former top 10 pick in the USHL draft and was committed to Northeastern for a time, suggesting that the pedigree is absolutely there. I think the big question with this commitment is if the game slows down enough after another year and in a new conference. If Yurchuk’s possession and playmaking skills can shine through, then RPI just found a diamond in the rough.

Congrats to Ben and his family! Let’s go red.