Minnesotans, newcomers to lead the way for reloading Austin Bruins
AUSTIN — You don't know what you have until you start playing games that count.
Austin Bruins head coach/general manager Steve Howard says that every year about this time.
And while Howard's team has yet to play a North American Hockey League regular season game, he and his assistant coaches are quite certain that what they have this year — a roster that includes very few returning players, but a good number of junior hockey veterans — is going to make the Bruins' 15th anniversary season a success.
"We only have five returning guys, and (because of that) I often talk like this should be a rebuilding year," said Howard, entering his eighth season as the Bruins head coach, "but I really like the way we played in the preseason and we have some older guys with a lot of experience. The biggest thing is getting them all on the same page, getting them acclimated to how we play here and establishing our culture."
As the Bruins open their season tonight at rival North Iowa at 6:30 p.m., they'll do so with a good mix of Minnesotans, other U.S.-born players and some talented players from Canada and Sweden.
"It doesn't matter how many you have back, as long as you have the right ones," Howard said. "I really like the five we have back and that's showing on the ice."
Here's a look at the 2024-25 Austin Bruins, as the roster is constructed for Opening Night:
Captain Jackson Rilei and Austin's top returning scorer, Alex Laurenza, are the two veterans back to lead the way up front.
It's a group that Howard thinks has the potential to be special. He compared it to the Bruins' team of two years ago — which reached the Robertson Cup championship game — in that there aren't a lot of 20-year-olds (guys who will be done with junior hockey after this season), but there a good number of players with junior hockey experience.
In addition to Rilei (6-7—13 in 53 games last year) and Laurenza (15-27—42, 59 games), the Bruins could rely heavily on five foreign players to produce offense in a league where physical play is a certainty, and players who are able to create are prized.
Austin's scouting department, led by assistant GM Aaron Venasky and director of player personnel Scotty Mikesch, recruited three playmakers from Sweden — Emil Samuelsson, Gustav Svantesson and Calle Edin — who were double-digit points scorers in their country's top junior league last season.
"They'll help us, as far as being able to rebuild and reload from the scoring aspect and the power play," Howard said.
Brothers Luc and Evan Malkhassian also are expected to take on big roles up front. The Woodbridge, Ontario, natives come to Austin from the same team where the Bruins found Laurenza — a Union College commit — two years ago, the Toronto Jr. Canadiens of the Ontario Junior Hockey League.
Laurenza had a 15-goal, 42-point season as a Bruins rookie last year, after putting up similar numbers the previous season in Toronto. If that is a fair indicator, 19-year-old Luc and 17-year-old Evan Malkhassian will fit in immediately. Luc (5-feet-11, 200 pounds) had 23 goals and 60 points for Toronto last season, while Evan (5-9, 170) — who is committed to Harvard — had 14 goals and 38 points.
Among the other names fans may recognize are Northfield's Kam Kaiser, who finished his high school career last spring with 107 goals and 175 points in three seasons; and Luke Giuliani from Maple Grove. He is the brother of Josh Giuliani, who was a top-six forward on the Bruins' 2023 Robertson Cup runner-up team.
"We're starting to get to where we want to be, but it's early yet," Howard said. "The big test will come when we get past Christmas and guys are playing games 40, 41 of a 59-game season, and they're trying to stay focused when things get a bit repetitive or maybe they haven't played this long of a season before.
"The nice thing about this year is that we have experienced guys who can step right into some key roles."
Three veterans will be expected to lead this group, with 6-6, 226-pound Eli Brown at the head of that corps. Lakeville native John Novak (5-10, 185) returns, as does Racine, Wis., native Nathan Williams (6-1, 205).
Brown joined the Bruins midway through last season from Whitecourt of the Alberta Junior League; he had two assists in 24 games. Williams re-joined the Bruins this week after spending training camp with the USHL's Fargo Force. He had 4 points in 43 games last season. Novak had two assists in 10 games last year.
"We're expecting big things out of (Brown)," Howard said. "He's a big 6-6 kid, put on another 15 pounds of muscle in the offseason. He looks like a body-builder. We just need him to make the simple plays and be a shut-down guy."
Another native of Sweden, 5-9, 180-pound Ludvig Mellgren, will provide offense on the back end. "He's a shifty, fast defenseman," Howard said. "We didn't really have an offensive guy (on defense) like him last year, but he's a true power play-style defenseman."
One other player the Bruins' coaching staff is excited to have is Warroad's Ryan Lund, a 6-4, 205-pounder with a booming shot and the ability to handle the puck. He's also in line to run a power-play unit.
There's no question when it comes to who the Bruins' No. 1 netminder should be, at least in the early part of the season. Jack Solomon, a 6-2, 185-pound St. Louis native comes to Austin from the Alberta Junior Hockey League, where he was nominated for the league's Goalie of the Year award last season, when he went 22-16-0 with a 3.05 GAA and a .912 save percentage for the Lloydminster Bobcats.
"He was our No. 1 recruit," Howard said. "He'll play big minutes for us. ... It's usually a case where we're returning a goalie, but we're not returning any this year. (Goalie coach) Nick Lehr and (associate head coach) Al Rooney did a great job of finding Jack. They watched a lot of goalies and it was a no-brainer for us to (sign him)."
Andrew Dubin, a 6-4, 236-pounder, has played AAA hockey the past three seasons. Devin Rustlie, a 6-2, 170-pound goalie comes straight to the Bruins from Wisconsin high school hockey, at Bay Port High in Green Bay. Rustlie was 14-5-1 with a 1.67 GAA and .938 save pct. last year.
Howard is in his eighth season as Austin's head coach and GM.
Rooney is back for his second stint with the Bruins as the associate head coach. He re-joined the Bruins midway through last season, after having spent the 2017-18 season as Austin's associate head coach and goaltending coach.
Robby Murray is new to the staff this year. The 22-year-old has NAHL playing experience and will help run the power play and work with players on skill development.
In his second season as the team's owner, Eveleth native Brian Raduenz has beefed up the front office, too, bringing Brian Schulz back to the organization as President of Business Operations, and adding Peter Theodos as Director of Business Development, and Paige Schultz as the Digital Media Coordinator.
David Koier has also joined the organization as the Director of Broadcasting and Media; he'll handle play-by-play duties for the webcasts of all Bruins games.
The Bruins will get to know one another well early in the season, as they won't spend much time in Austin. The Bruins play just three of their first 13 games at Riverside Arena. That's three home games between now and Nov. 1.
After opening their season at Mason City tonight, Austin plays Wednesday, Friday and Saturday in Blaine at the NAHL Showcase. The team's home openers are Oct. 4 and 5 against Minot. Austin also hosts St. Cloud on Oct. 19 in the second game of a home-and-home weekend series.
"It's OK to go on the road," Howard said. "It's good for our guys. We'll go into a hostile environment (tonight) for their home opener. North Iowa is always ready to play us; for whatever reason, we get their best game."
