He's there for 4 years unless we sign him before that, which is the norm for players going the NCAA route.
As far as signing Hage before the season is over, well, I mean no disrespect but I really think that it would be too soon and would be a mistake.
I really like Hage's game overall, and he HAS shown good progression from January 2024 to now. But I feel that two years in the NCAA would do wonders for his development, like it did for Caufield and Hutson more recently.
Hage still needs to get much stronger physically, get better/more active along the boards, refine his reads even more off-the-puck, and better himself defensively if he wants to be a long-term top-6 center.
The NCAA is a step below the AHL but still a good league to refine defensive play in given how much more structured the game is there as opposed to the CHL. Then you add-in the fact that it's also the perfect place for him to bulk-up with more gym time and less games than any other NA league, and Michigan's training facilities are world-class to boot.
So yeah, it's a no-brainer for me to have Hage stay at least two years there. At least, that's how I feel right now.
But if Hage shows development throughout the year and shows amazing performance after amazing performance for the Wolverines this season then we would need to re-evaluate him of course.
Just, barring that meteoric rise as a prospect that I've described, I'd still prefer if we took our time a bit.
