If you’re into local products, you may know Michael Hage, someone who should definitely be there when the Blackhawks pick at 18th overall. Because of the likelihood Hage will be there toward the second half of the first round, let’s conduct a deep dive into the forward and check out who he is, what he does well, and what still needs to turn into strengths.
As a quick snapshot, Hage was an outstanding points producer this past season for the Chicago Steel, and you can attribute a lot of that to his raw ability to play a good game when his team has the puck. He’s the type of player who has an NHL-caliber shot, and an elite NHL-caliber pass, and those are two major reasons why he will eventually see the ice with a big club, and maybe that big club will be called the Chicago Blackhawks.
Now that you know a little about Hage, feel free to take a deeper dive, as we will cover everything, from just how well he produced last season to what exactly makes him such a dynamic player. There are a few aspects of his game that need fine-tuning, but that’s to be expected for a player who should be a mid-first-round pick.
Who is Michael Hage?
It’s always epic to find a player who boasts NHL-ready size in the draft, and if the Blackhawks drafted someone like Michael Hage, he could be the second pick to bring such size to the prospects pool, with Ivan Demidov or Artyom Levshunov likely heading into the system. Besides his size, Hage also enjoyed a productive 2023-24 season following a 10-game, five-goal, 13-point campaign in 2022-23 – regular season numbers.
But Hage’s numbers in 2023-24 were outrageous, as he notched 33 goals and 42 helpers in 54 regular season games, giving him a grand total of 75 points before he followed that up with four points in the postseason and another two goals in a pair of games.
He spent the previous two seasons with the Chicago Steel, which foreshadowed an eventual venture into the NCAA. That became official when he signed on to play for the Michigan Wolverines, who will give Hage a chance to showcase his skills with one of the best college hockey programs in the country.
What kind of game does Hage bring?
If there is one aspect of Michael Hage’s game that stands out, it’s his shot. Not only is it powerful and accurate, but Hage can also be deceptive, holding the puck for as long as he needs before picking the right time to fire it at the net.
Hage is selective with his shots, but he doesn’t need to be, and there’s no doubt those 33 goals could have soared even higher if he took more chances at the net. But if there’s one upside to him being more conservative with shot selection, it’s that he won’t try to force anything at the net, so this isn’t necessarily a bad trait.
That said, he’s still not afraid to shoot the puck through traffic. And given its overall speed and accuracy, that puck will often get to the net, challenging only the opposing goaltender. If someone’s there to screen the netminder in those situations, Hage will have no problem racking up goals at the collegiate level like he did in the USHL.
Michael Hage is also a fast, smooth skater, even if he doesn’t have the most ideal stance before he hits his stride. At top speed, he’s always a threat to outskate opponents and can call his own number to take the puck himself and still finish a play with ease.
Although his speed is already good, Hage can even improve upon it if he works on his acceleration. Still, he’s got the speed and agility to outmaneuver just about anyone on the ice, and his sound edgework makes him close to a complete skater. You can check out Hage’s skating and his incredible shot yourself in the video below, powered by NHL Draft Pros.
How well can Michael Hage handle the puck?
Michael Hage is a great passer, but we’ll talk about that later and right now focus more on one trait that makes him so outstanding at spreading the puck around. But it also contributes to his dynamic shot, as he’s constantly finding ways to shield the puck from opponents, even when it seems like he’s trapped against the boards, biding him time to find either a passing or a shooting lane.
His incredible stickhandling also allows him to catch a puck in traffic and find ways to deke it around opponents who, for a split second, look as though they’re going to steal the puck. There are also times when it seems like an opponent disrupted his path toward the goal, only for him to skate around them while taking the puck wide, keeping it glued to his stick the entire time.
What is Michael Hage’s most dynamic trait?
Michael Hage may be a strong, selective shooter, and one reason behind that is that he possesses outstanding vision and awareness. This lets him diagnose and process not only where his teammates are, but also where his opponents are lurking, allowing him to make smart decisions on where to go with the puck.
If there’s an open teammate coming up the wing or up the middle, Hage will see them every single time, and there’s a good chance the puck will end up in the back of the net shortly after he makes his pass. And he’s sneaky, with the ability to see an open teammate through traffic or even fit the puck through tight windows.
Hage also knows where the puck needs to go before a teammate even passes it his way, meaning he can be a forward-thinking player. He’ll take the pass, hang onto the puck just long enough until an opponent bites, then quickly, and sometimes blindly, will get it to a teammate.
There are very few passes that he can’t make, as his cross-ice passes, drop-passes, and backhanded passes are all more than proficient. And if you take one look at his number of helpers listed earlier, you shouldn’t be surprised that he hit the 40-assist milestone.
How intriguing is Hage’s game, and what are his weaknesses?
I mentioned several times about Michael Hage either shifting through traffic himself to find an open shooting or passing lane, shooting through traffic, and even completing tape-to-tape passes in some of the most narrow windows. You can attribute much of this to his compete level, something that’s also evident thanks to his willingness to crash the net, engage in puck battles, and chase pucks.
You can also attribute his outstanding play to a high hockey IQ, but that doesn’t stop Hage from sometimes calling his own number a little too often. He’s prone to forcing passes, something that I foreshadowed when I mentioned ‘tight’ or ‘narrow’ windows, sometimes putting too much faith in his ability to relay the puck to a teammate. Doing this has led to easy turnovers, and Hage is prone to doing this for stretches.
There are also times when he can overthink when his team doesn’t have the puck, and he’s prone to biting when an opponent draws him in, or he’ll do the opposite and hesitate. By the time he reacts, the puck is already on the stick of an opponent or in the back of the net.
His overall defensive game isn’t where it needs to be yet, but he’s a player who will put forth a defensive effort, and that’s not the case for all draft prospects. Offensively, Hage is one of the best players you’ll find in the 2024 draft class, and his offensive game should keep getting better throughout his time in Ann Arbor.
