After such a stretch of 5 years with players like Carter Camper, Andy Miele, Vincent LoVerde, Pat Cannone, Connor Knapp, Cody Reichard, Will Weber, Cameron Schilling, Chris Wideman, Alden Hirschfeld, Trent Vogelhuber and Reilly Smith, it’s hard to think of what your favorite program is going to look like for the next 5 years. Last year was certainly a glimpse of what is ahead, as this year’s class of 10 seniors has already moved on. Some have started to make an impression on the minor leagues, and Smith has even got his toe wet in the NHL waters.

But now, as an emerging elite program, a new building, with star recruiting classes, an established “brand” with Enrico Blasi’s Brotherhood and a new conference ahead, we have to come to grips with a strange new reality: early departures.

Of course, we’ve dealt with this to some extent in the past. Tommy Wingels finished his degree shortly after his Junior season in Oxford, and is making his mark with the San Jose Sharks. Reilly Smith had an incredible year on the ice, and it was almost inevitable that we’d see him head to Dallas with a year of NCAA eligibility left on the table.

But these were players we expected. We saw them coming. We knew there was a strong possibility that it would happen, and eventually they left Miami for greener pastures.

In the last week alone, we’ve had one early departure, plus another future RedHawk that won’t even be joining us in Oxford for 1 class, 1 game, 1 practice, or even a “Skate with the Hawks” or  autograph night.

Ryan Hartman signs with Plymouth Whalers

2013 commit Ryan Hartman will not be coming to Oxford at all. According to his twitter feed, Harman made the decision to sign with the Plymouth Whalers rather than join the Brotherhood. Hartman is one of 7 U.S. National Team Development Program players to de-commit from their college letters of intent and go other routes this season alone – a disturbing trend to come out of the NTDP.

According to the Whalers website, Hartman was originally selected in the 5th round and 95th overall in the OHL Priority Selection Draft, and is likely to be taken in this year’s NHL draft. Hartman had 22 goals and 12 assists, plus 88 penalty minutes (PIMs) in 52 games with the USNTDP under-17 program, and would have been a nice addition to a RedHawks forward corps that has taken its lumps the last 2 seasons as seniors depart for the professional ranks.

Tyler Biggs not likely to return to Oxford

In addition to the decommitment from Hartman, Tyler Biggs is foregoing his last three years in Oxford for the aforementioned greener pastures. Biggs had a line of 9 goals, 8 assists and 63 penalty minutes in his one year in the Red and White in 37 games played. This was 7th on the team in scoring, and 4th out of the 7 freshmen who saw significant playing time last season

The Cox Ohio Media beat writer for Miami sports Rick Cassano informed us via twitter about some of the details. All of these are from Monday, April 30th:

Miami University freshman forward Tyler Biggs confirms he is leaving Miami University’s hockey program #miamiu

Biggs said his time at Miami was everything he expected and leaves on good terms with head coach Enrico Blasi #miamiu

Biggs could return to Miami if he doesn’t end up signing, but he said that’s not likely #miamiu

Listed at 6′ 3″ and 210 pounds, he has the size that NHL squads are looking for. The Toronto Maple Leafs selected Biggs with the 22nd overall pick in the 2011 NHL Draft, and this is one of the possible destinations for him if he does finalize his decision to leave Oxford.  The other 2 possible destinations are the AHL’s Toronto Marlies (Toronto’s AHL affiliate), or the OHL’s Oshawa Generals. Oshawa drafted Biggs with their 4th round (39th overall) pick int he 2009 OHL Priority Selection draft.

While we are sad to see Tyler go, all of us here at Redskin Warriors wish him the best as he pursues his dream of playing in the NHL. With Enrico Blasi’s great recruiting efforts, we know we will have a great squad of scholar athletes to cheer for in seasons to come. With top caliber talent comes the occasional flight risk, so prepare yourselves RedHawks fans – we will see this happen more and more often as the Brotherhood continues on its path to becoming one of NCAA hockey’s elite teams.