Photo: Joey Walker

We continue our prospect review and forecast series with a review and forecast for defenseman Benton Maass. (You can access all of our Capitals Prospect Reports and player analysis on our “Prospects” page on the top menu bar, or right here.) 

CONTRACT
Maass, 19, was a sixth round draft pick (#182 overall) by the Capitals in the 2017 NHL entry draft. Maass will be entering his Sophomore season at the University of New Hampahire this fall.

CAREER
The 6’-2”, 198-pound Defenseman was inserted in the Wildcats starting lineup straight out of high school.

2017-2018 SEASON SUMMARY
As a Freshman, Maass Played in all 36 games in the 2017-2018 season. He registered  four goals and 13 assists for 17 points, which was tied for third in assists on the Wildcats. Maass ranked third in blocked shots on the Wildcats with 44.

2017-2018 MONTH-BY-MONTH RECAP AND TREND ANALYSIS
The following is a compilation of our month-by-month prospect reports for Benton Maass during the 2017-2018 season.

October
Probably the most surprising stat presented in this article is Mass, the second-youngest player on the roster at University of New Hampshire and just a rookie, leads his whole team in points. He has zero goals and nine assists in seven games. That’s something else. Obviously, a seven-game sample size shouldn’t be looked into too much, but it’s still impressive nonetheless. If you want to find something to knock on Mass, it’s probably the fact he only has nine shots in seven games. Would like to see that number kick up some, but I can’t find out exactly how much time he is given or what pairing he’s on. If he’s on the bottom-pairing it could explain the low amount of shots.

Trending: Up

November
After getting off to a hot start in October with nine assists in seven games, Mass has slowed down a bit, only adding one goal and two assists over the following five games. But for a rookie defensemen who is the second-youngest on his team, it’s still very impressive. His 11 points in 12 games is good enough for second in points on the team. For a rookie defensemen to be doing that isn’t easy. He’s still only registering one shot a game, and that needs to improve.

Trending: Same

December
After getting off to a hot start in October with nine assists in seven games, Mass (New Hampahire) has continued to cool off. Mass registered no goals and one assist in seven games in December. Mass now has one goal and 11 assists on the season.

Trending: Same

January
Maass started the new year with a goal against Brown on 1/6. The Freshman Defenseman totaled two goals and no assists for the month, bringing his season’s offensive totals to three goals and 11 assists in 26 games. Maass, 6′-2″, 195 lbs, is showing well for a Freshman so far this season. New Hampshire has eight games remaining in the regular season.

Trending: Up

February
Benton Maass had a quiet month of February. The 6′-2″ freshman defenseman had no goals and two assists in eight games played in February. Maass now has three goals and 13 assists in 34 games this season and is a -8. However, the season has been somewhat of a success for Maass, considering his age and his Freshman status at UNH. The New Hampahire Wildcats have wrapped up their regular season and begin playoffs the first weekend of March against Maine.

Trending: Same

March
Maass and the University of New Hampshire opened postseason play the first weekend in March with a series against the University of Maine and suffered two straight losses, ending their season. However, the freshman defender did score a goal in the series. Maass scored with 54 seconds left, giving the Wildcats a glimmer of hope that ultimately was not fulfilled. The Wildcats finished the season 10-20-6. UNH’s head coach Dick Umile’s 28-year career behind the Wildcats’ bench also ended this season (Retirement). He was replaced by Mike Souza. Souza played for Umile from 1996-2000 and was part of the winningest class in UNH history. Maass finished the regular season with four goals and 13 assists in 36 games played. Maass was tied for third in assists and ranked third in blocked shots with 44. Maass took 33 shots on the season for an 12.1 shooting percentage, the 4th best percentage on the team. All in all, a pretty good freshman year for Maass. We’re looking forward to seeing what he can do in his sophomore campaign.

Trending: Up

HIGHLIGHTS

PROSPECT FORECAST
UNH’s head coach Dick Umile’s 28-year career behind the Wildcats’ bench ended last season (Retirement), so Maass and the Wildcats will be under an entirely new coaching staff this fall. It will be interesting to see the changes that may or may not transpire as a result.

Entering his Sophomore year at New Hampshire, Maass will be looked to provide more of a leadership role this fall. Look for Maass to spend time on the power play this season as well.

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By Jon Sorensen