Lee, Gagnon, Agnew, Beaton to Return
RPI returns a wealth of experience to play a graduate year
There we go!
Yesterday, the Men’s Hockey official social media account released that the team would return four seniors to play under their extra COVID eligibility. Jakob Lee, Jake Gagnon, John Beaton, and Jack Agnew all plan to return to the Engineers for the 2024-25 season. This is huge news for RPI, and while we were suspecting this, it is great to receive official confirmation from the team. These four players will all provide leadership and stability to the group, and they have all proven themselves as quality college players during their career. Let’s look at where these players fit into the puzzle for next season, and we will quickly analyze where the roster stands.
Roster Fit:
I think for me the most exciting returnee is Jakob Lee, who had a bit of a broken season but has flashed point per game potential during his career. Lee has been a part of Dave Smith’s puzzle for almost a decade now, dating back to when he was recruited to Canisius. Lee ended up doing a year at Merrimack, before coming to RPI for the 21-22 season. This will be year 4 for Jake, who will be looking to put it all together before turning pro. Lee had a terrific 22-23 season putting up 22 points in 28 games but suffered from two different injury stints during this season. He found quite a bit of chemistry this year with Tyler Hotson and Dovar Tinling, both of whom I expect to return. I think Lee fits in right back on the top line with those two, and he will be a valuable piece on both special teams this coming season.
Next up is returning Captain Jake Gagnon, who has grown into a Swiss Army knife for the Engineers over his time. When Jake was recruited, he was mostly defined by his top-notch release and his ability to put the puck in the net. While this has rung true, Jake has developed his game so that he can play in all situations. He spent a lot of time on the penalty kill this year and his defensive game is quite good. He has produced in the mid-teens the last few years, and I think this is a reasonable expectation for him next year. He brings a bit of everything to the Engineers, his leadership, goal-scoring, and experience will be welcomed back with open arms. The versatility he provides allows the staff to play him as high as the top-6 if there are injuries or regression, but he also provides the tenacity to play bottom-6 minutes and thrive.
John Beaton recovered from a very serious Achilles injury this past summer to produce a fairly successful season for the Engineers this year. Beaton was a pretty exciting recruit coming out of the USHL, and he has carved out a nice niche in the middle 6 at RPI. Beaton is a solid centerman with good speed, and he saw his production grow into the second half of this season. He, like Lee and Gagnon, is a big part of the leadership team, so bringing John back will be great for the locker room. It is hard to project exactly what his role is until we see the rest of the transfers, but I would expect Beaton to primarily find his time on the 3rd or 4th line next year.
Rounding out the group is Jack Agnew, a defenseman from Oakville, Ontario. All four of these players came into RPI in the same season, and the first one for Agnew was spectacular. Jack paired with Jake Johnson and thrived in the 21-22 season. The following season was up-and-down for Agnew, but he bounced back nicely this year on the top pair with Lauri Sertti. Agnew will provide experience for a defense that is seeing some turnover, which I believe is necessary after this season. He also will be an anchor on the penalty kill, which is an area he thrives. I see Agnew as a veteran presence on the blue line that likely slots in as the 7th D, with a minute’s boost due to his penalty killing prowess.
Ghost Roster:
An exercise I have always liked to do on my own is create mock line charts throughout the offseason to grasp where the roster stands. It is far from a perfect exercise, but I think it helps get us in the ballpark of what a roster looks like. Notice here that there are several roster spots at forward that need to be filled.
Therefore, here is a mock roster with what is currently on the roster, and one with a few holes that I expect to be filled:
Current:
Expected:
I could see a situation where only two forwards not currently on the roster are brought in, which would slide Jake Gagnon back into the top 9. I think Jagger Tapper will take one of the roster spots, likely joined by 2 transfers and a freshman or 3 transfers. If my hopeful lineup comes true, I think the team is vastly improved. Will Gilson (profile coming soon) is an excellent add, while Jordan Tonelli will add tenacity to the bottom 6.
The Engineers are off to a great start this offseason. There has been a lot of roster turnover which we expected, but the depth of the roster needed to be vastly improved. I believe that these 4 returnees will provide leadership and experience for next year’s group and were all brought back to fill a specific role. I did my best to highlight what I believe these roles will be, but only time will tell. Regardless, this is fantastic news. Keep an eye out for more offseason news and transfer profiles which we will have out shortly. Let’s Go Red!