NCAA: Top 10 Tim Taylor award candidates of the first half
As the number of top draft picks playing college hockey has grown in recent years, the award that has enjoyed the biggest boost in prestige is the Tim Taylor Award, given annually to the top first-year player in the country.
This year should be no exception. A number of players are working through their draft years on campus this season, but they have a lot to live up to: the last three winners earned major honours beyond just being the top freshman. Macklin Celebrini and Adam Fantilli both won the Hobey Baker, and Devon Levi captured the Mike Richter Award as the nation's best goaltender.
To be clear, this list reflects how I believe voters for this award will evaluate the field, not necessarily my personal picks (though there is naturally plenty of overlap). When possible, I try to mention other players I think will be in contention for the award if their performances continue as they did in the first half.
So, halfway through the season, which freshmen are giving themselves the best chance to win the Taylor Award—and maybe compete for hardware beyond that? Let’s take a look at the 10 best candidates (presented in alphabetical order):
Sacha Boisvert, C, North Dakota (CHI 2024 1st)
Boisvert was selected in the first round of last June's draft and quickly showed why upon arriving in Grand Forks. Running pivot on the second line for North Dakota, he posted four points in his first two games, then hitting a bit of a scoring lull, with only a goal and two assists over his next eight games.
But something happened in mid-November, and his coaches would love to bottle it: He scored goals in four straight games and is now on a run with 6-4—10 and shooting the puck a lot more over his last nine games.
Pushing a point a game and 50 shots on goal, plus the second-most attempts and most expected goals, on a team like North Dakota is quite impressive. I wouldn't call him a front-runner for the award right now but if he can keep replicating what he did over his last nine games, he's going to make a big push in the second half. Maybe you'd like to see the power-play minutes increase a little, but it would be hard to keep him from being a permanent fixture the top unit if he continues to be this dangerous shooting the puck.
Austin Burnevik, RW, St. Cloud State (ANA 2024 6th)
Burnevik is another player who's not getting top minutes, and thus probably not top matchups, but has been highly productive for his NCHC club.
Playing about 17 minutes a night, he's second in total goals among all freshmen nationwide, with nine. On top of that, he is by far the most consistent shooter on his own team (52 on goal, 109 attempts). That said, he is shooting north of 17 percent, and a decent amount of those goals are from around the net and/or on the rush. Even with his good hands and solid shot, it leads one to wonder just how consistent he can be in the second half when the schedule will be a bit tougher.
The fact that so much of the offense seems to run through him is an encouraging sign, but St. Cloud will probably need to bolster its offense (currently tied for 44th at 2.4 goals per game) for him to really keep pace with a lot of the other guys in this group. Burnevik has scored almost a quarter of their goals, but a little help from elsewhere in the lineup will go a long way.
Cole Eiserman, LW, Boston University (NYI 2024 1st)
Up until a couple weeks ago, Eiserman would have been pretty close to the top of my list here. He's been held off the scoresheet just five times this season, but three of those were in consecutive games just before break, until he had a pair of primary assists at UMass to close out the first half.
He is currently tied with Burnevik in total goals (9) but has played one fewer game with a lighter per-night TOI, so the goals per 60 (2.13 to Burnevik's 1.85) works out in Eiserman's favor. And when you see him shoot the puck, it's easy to tell why.
Unlike Burnevik, too, Eiserman isn't necessarily the focal point of the entire BU offense, which could ding him in the long run, but when he's on the ice, his teammates know to get him the puck.
He doesn't generate as many high-danger chances as you might expect, but when he does he converts on the majority of them. That kind of lethality will serve him well in the second half, but he does need to pick it up a little. He certainly has the talent to make this race really interesting down the stretch, and when he's engaged, there are few freshmen who are as dangerous.
Michael Hage, C, Michigan (MTL 2024 1st)
Here's your national goals leader among freshmen, with 10 in just 15 games. In fact, that number ties Hage for eighth in the country among all players, not just freshmen, and he's among the very best in goals per game.
He is the Wolverines' leading scorer by a wide margin — 18 points, and the next closest players are tied with 13 — despite missing three games. You would like him to shoot a bit more (just 37 SOG on 68 attempts, for 4.3 expected goals) but that's not really his game. He won't score on better than 1 in every 4 shots every year but at the same time, he doesn't really need to in order to be an effective and dangerous scorer; literally all his goals are from the middle slot or around the crease, and he creates a lot for himself.
Plus, I would argue Michigan has been a bit unlucky in terms of goalscoring (only 54 in 18 games), and if a couple more guys start scoring, Hage could up his total point production very easily.
James Hagens, C, Boston College (2025 draft-eligible)
The fourth-youngest player in the NCAA this season currently seems to have the inside track for this award. Hagens' 20 points leads all freshmen, and that's despite the fact that he suffered a brutal stretch with almost no scoring luck.
One thing voters might hold against Hagens is that so far he's mostly played between two legitimate Hobey Baker contenders and you've probably seen the aspersion that he's just riding their coat tails. He is not, because he creates so much for them and himself that the conversion rate they've enjoyed so far should probably be as high as it is, if not higher. But Hagens has generated some 6.3 expected goals for himself on 47 shots (76 attempts) while deferring a lot to Ryan Leonard, the nation's leader in both total and per-game shots on goal and goals scored.
If we're accepting that Hagens going 38 shots in a row with only one goal was a bit of a fluke, then we can probably expect the leading scorer among freshmen, who is also tied for 10th in points per game among all skaters, to pick up the pace in the second half. Which would be bad news for most of the other players on this list.
Cole Hutson, LD, Boston University (WSH 2024 2nd)
Hutson hasn't been as immediately ultra-dominant as his older brother was at BU a few years ago, but he's pretty close. Lane racked up 15-33—48 in 39 games as a rookie, and Cole is merely on pace for about 10-24—34 if he were to play 39 as well. That's phenomenal for any freshman, let alone a defender, but some might (incorrectly) see it as a disappointment, especially because the brothers' games are mirror images of one another.
Hutson is averaging roughly 22.5 minutes a game, attempts a ton of shots (86), and already put 40 on net. He defends quite well, particularly so given his size, and like a lot of other guys on this list seems to have found a second gear after U.S. Thanksgiving: Both his multi-point games have come in the past month, good for 2-4—6 in his last four games.
He might get more consideration as the only big name on the blue line in this year's freshman class, though a few other rookie defensemen aren't that far behind him. If Hutson stumbles, or those guys (like UMass' Francesco Dell'Elce, RIT's Tristan Allen, or Robert Morris' Dominic Elliott) take a step in the second half, it could get interesting.
Gavin Morrissey, C, Wisconsin (Undrafted free agent)
I include Morrisey, who turns 22 in February, here because he is second on the Badgers in scoring, centering the top line for a team that has come on strong as the season wore on. He's a lot like Hagens in that he passes to his linemates a lot, and those guys are racking up a ton of shots (Quinn Finley and Ryland Mosley have already combined for 235), and Finley is tied for the national lead in goals, so it seems to be working out.
But with all that passing comes less shooting; only 37 shots on goal, and just five goals total. National awards voters tend to prefer goalscorers to playmakers, which could hamper Morrissey's candidacy a bit. But the fact that he has just keeps generating offense for others and the Wisconsin offense has come alive a bit lately (31 goals in the last eight games) should keep him in the conversation for quite a while.
Dylan Silverstein, G, Quinnipiac (Undrafted free agent)
Silverstein started the year splitting time with sophomore Matej Marinov but won the starting job within just a few weekends and has taken on the lion's share of the Bobcats' minutes. It's easy to see why.
He's sitting on a .928 save percentage, good for 10th in the country among all goalies with at latest 10 appearances. Because he plays for a consistently great defensive team like Quinnipiac, he only faces about 23.5 shots per hour, but he's given up just 20 goals on about 25.9 expected (plus-5.9 GSAx is a decent pace for the season).
It's also probably a bit symbiotic that Quinnipiac recovered from its slow start around the time Silverstein claimed the starter's role. If they end up making the NCAA tournament, and the numbers look roughly like what they have in the first half, Silverstein might have the wins and the personal stats to not just be a Taylor finalist, but maybe also a Richter guy.
Hampton Slukynsky, G, Western Michigan (LAK 2023 4th)
I put Slukynsky here because his .941 save percentage is tied for third in the country among all goalies with at least seven starts. However, he is basically splitting starts right down the middle with batterymate Cameron Rowe, and it may be difficult for either to differentiate themselves, because Rowe… also has a .941 save percentage, somehow.
The other thing voters will probably look at here is that despite the same number of starts and the same save percentage, Rowe is 7-0-0, and Slukynsky is 3-3-1. The only times WMU gave up more than two goals in a game were both Slukynsky starts, but they were against BC and Denver, which kinda makes it a little more forgivable.
But that games-played issue might hold Slukynsky back from being truly competitive for this award, so I wanted to also highlight a couple other freshman goalies who might get consideration.
First, Army's JJ Cataldo has a .933 save percentage in 10 starts, but the team in front of him isn't very good, nor is the strength of schedule, so it'll be tough for him to really make a strong case for himself unless his numbers improve further or the other guys take a step back.
Second, Harvard's Ben Charette has a .950 save percentage, but he's only appeared in four games so far, including just three starts. If he keeps up that number, he'd be in the Hobey conversation in all likelihood, but he'd basically need to start every Harvard game and stop 19 of every 20 shots he faces the rest of the way. Probably not gonna happen, but worth mentioning.
Max Strand, C, Vermont (Undrafted free agent)
Strand is scoring a point a game on Vermont's second line, posting 4-11—15 to lead the team.
His case is fascinating because it doesn't seem like he should be this productive.
He barely shoots the puck: Just 19 on net and 29 attempted all season, but a lot of them are from dangerous areas. Moreover, he's good defensively and breaks the puck out well. He could be used as more of a focal point in the offense; he averages under 15.5 minutes a game.
But the thing about Strand that might hold up over the whole season is that he's consistent. Other freshmen have racked up a good percentage of their points with just one or two multi-point nights. Strand has points in 12 of his 15 games. He's on a six-game points streak, and while nine of his 11 assists are secondary (not ideal when you're projecting long-term), he has points on all but one goal Vermont has scored when he's on the ice, and he's been on for almost a third of the team's total points.
Tim Taylor award midseason ranking
With all of the above having been said, here's how I would rank the 10 freshmen listed here in terms of likelihood to win the Taylor, based on both performance to this point and the likelihood they continue or improve on their current situations in the second half:
- James Hagens
- Michael Hage
- Cole Hutson
- Dylan Silverstein
- Gavin Morrissey
- Cole Eiserman
- Sacha Boisvert
- Austin Burnevik
- Hampton Slukynsky
- Max Strand
