USCHO is reporting Michigan sophomore defenseman Jon Merrill has been suspended 12 games including exhibition contests for violating team rules.

Merrill was expected to contribute at a high level and carry the Wolverines on the blueline as they work to replace the potent scoring they lost with the departures of seniors Carl “That Miele Guy” Hagelin and Louis Caporusso.

The suspension must have been for something grave because 12 games is roughly a third of the regular season and Merrill is expected to have a big sophomore campaign. He’s already been named to the CCHA preseason team and a leader on head coach Red Berenson’s 2011-12 squad.

Merrill will be eligible to return from his suspension on Friday, November 11 against, wait for it, Miami in Oxford. Figures.