Mercuri Switches Commitment to UMass

Lucas Mercuri, who was committed to Vermont, announced on Monday that he had committed to the UMass Minutemen.

“Mercuri is a big strong forward with a brain,” said NZ scouts. “He finds the quiet areas off of the cycle very naturally. On line rushes he reads the defenseman’s gaps very well and will not force plays, but instead takes what is given and makes the opposition pay. His cannon of a shot is accurate and he can fire it through screens while his feet are moving. At this point he is almost too strong physically for NE Prep competition and appears ready for Junior Hockey.”

Mercuri, who is from Quebec, originally committed to former UVM head coach Kevin Sneddon; he played for the Salisbury School this past season and is scheduled to play for Des Moines in the USHL next season. He de-committed from Vermont last month.

In 29 games for Salisbury this past season, he had 19 goals and 19 assists.

Mercuri is also on the radar for the NHL Draft.

“Mercuri is a towering prep forward who also would have fit in nicely playing in the USHL games going on a few miles north,” said our scouts. “He started off his prep hockey career with a massive first campaign which he will likely build on this season with an even more dominant performance and that pretty much tells the story of what he did during this showcase: dominate. He was too big and too strong for the opposition to handle at this level: they simply were whacking away at his legs trying to get to the puck but simply couldn’t do it. He was incredibly strong both in front of the net and along the walls. Unsurprisingly he was able to put a ton of force behind his shot using all of his mass which made him even more dangerous.”