Throughout Mike Cavanaugh’s eight-year tenure as head coach of UConn men’s hockey, the Huskies have never been afraid of getting creative in order to acquire Hockey East-caliber talent.
Since UConn didn’t have the history, facilities, or pedigree of many of its conference counterparts, it couldn’t compete directly with them on the recruiting trail. Instead, the Huskies looked elsewhere, such as Europe, where they most notably established a pipeline of Russian players.
As the Huskies became more successful and established in the league, they started to attract more interest from higher-rated talents and convinced them to come by bringing them in at an earlier age than other schools would’ve.