Prospect Info: [2024 - 21st] Michael Hage, Chicago Steel (USHL), Committed to U of Michigan

[Sasha Orlov]

Looking like a steal right now

 

[Natey]

Remember when players used to skate right at the goalie? God I miss that.

 

[zzoo]

0 goal in the last 7 games.
1 pass in the last 4 games.

 

[Paddyjack]

0 goal in the last 7 games.
1 pass in the last 4 games.

Damn, he is now in the bust category. Next!

 

[JadedRandom]

0 goal in the last 7 games.
1 pass in the last 4 games.

Another case of the eye test and stats not matching up.

Hage is getting/creating chances to score or make a decisive pass multiples times each game but just hasn't managed to "find twine" recently.

Those sorts of streaks happen.

The important thing is to watch and see how a player faces that adversity, and how/if they rebound from it.

In the end, I think Hage will find a way to get back to producing offense for his team and that this is just a small bump on the road.

Hage is at least another year-and-a-half in the NCAA away from likely joining the Laval Rocket in the AHL for the 2026-2027 season.

I'd say that Hage would then need at least another half-season to adapt to the pro game, and then he could start playing for us.

So yeah, Hage's at least 2 years away from NHL ice barring a dramatic change of events. There's still ample amounts of time for him to develop and we should be patient with him.

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Remember when players used to skate right at the goalie? God I miss that.

Hage has great lateral skating ability and the hands to match. As I have said, this kid reminds me of a young Mogilny.

 

[zzoo]

Hage has great lateral skating ability and the hands to match. As I have said, this kid reminds me of a young Mogilny.

Wow, you get me excited. Hopefully it's true

 

[ChesterNimitz]

Wow, you get me excited. Hopefully it's true

Hage is one of our prospects that you should be excited about. Significantly under drafted last year, Hage’s elite skills may well allow him to be one of the best players to come out of his draft class. His injury history allowed him to drop to us.

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.

 

[Habs Halifax]

0 goal in the last 7 games.
1 pass in the last 4 games.

Production has been less lately yes. However, the points is not the sole evaluation. How the player is driving play and creating things out there matters more. Hage is an 18 year on a team with lack of pt/game players but he is one of their leaders early on which gives us some level of context when we look past the points.

Looks like a gamer to me. At this early stage, I would say his base in the NHL is middle 6F type. Look at what Kapanen is today and add more value. However, Hage has to continue to put the work in.