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From Moscow to Miami: Ilia Morozov faces new obstacles, but stays confident as college hockey's youngest player

<p>Ilia Morozov celebrates a goal in 2024-25 with the USHL's Tri-City Storm</p>

Ilia Morozov celebrates a goal in 2024-25 with the USHL's Tri-City Storm

Moscow, the capital city of Russia, was founded in 1147. The city's enormous buildings and historical monuments scattered across its bustling streets make it one of the best-known locations worldwide. It’s home to approximately 13 million people, including Ilia Morozov, a young hockey player who will find himself venturing to Oxford this fall. 

Morozov, who moved west across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States at a young age to pursue a career in the sport, spent last season with the Tri-City Storm in the United States Hockey League (USHL).

Standing at 6-foot-3 and 196 pounds, Morozov scored 22 points in 55 games – which may not seem like the most impressive stat line of all time, but it’s not bad for a player who started the season at a mere 15 years of age.

Prior to that, Morozov first played for the 15U Windy City Storm Triple-A team after arriving in the United States. He made an immediate impact scoring 33 goals and tallying 41 assists in 49 games. Windy City has the same ownership group as Tri-City, which gave current Miami bench boss Anthony Noreen knowledge of Morozov from the outset. 

Morozov showed up to Tri-City’s futures camp as an underage player and scored five of the team’s six goals in the camp's scrimmage, prompting the USHL club under Noreen to tender him before he got the job with the RedHawks.

“You can’t miss on those,” Noreen said. “When we tendered him, we were forfeiting our first-round draft pick to take him – so that can’t be a miss. That’s a key piece in growing your team, and there was no doubt for us. We tendered him early and committed to that.” 

When Noreen was hired by the RedHawks, he brought Morozov for an unofficial visit in one of his first few weeks. 

Even though he couldn’t commit officially, the young Russian knew Oxford was where he wanted to be. Morozov committed right away on August 1 after learning it was an option if he advanced through his schoolwork, which he did at an exceptional pace.

"[Coach Noreen] invited me to see the campus and the university," Morozov said. "There was a second coach who was showing me all this stuff, and randomly I was like, 'If I finish school, can I come [to Oxford]? And he said, 'Yeah, of course.' So I was like, "All right, I've got to finish school and join the RedHawks.'"

Morozov will begin the 2025-26 hockey season as the youngest player in college hockey. 

He turns 17 on Aug. 3, a month and a half younger than the next closest player, first-year defender Keaton Verhoeff, the second-ranked player in the 2026 NHL Draft class and a fellow member of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC). Verhoeff joined the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks this offseason after playing for the Victoria Royals in the Western Hockey League.

Miami associate head coach Troy Thibodeau was not on the Tri-City staff that brought Morozov into the fold, but he was an assistant coach with the program while there were young players coming in and out. He has worked with plenty of players with the same talent and upside that Morozov has, and he emphasizes that things will be different at the college level for the young forward.

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However, while there will inevitably be obstacles, Thibodeau attended a handful of Tri-City’s games last season and kept in touch with him weekly as well. He mentioned that if there’s one trait you can see within Ilia the moment you meet him or see him on the ice, it’s his maturity, a feature that will help him excel at the next level in an exceptionally tough conference.

“This is very high praise, but he reminds me a lot of Aleksander Barkov,” Thibodeau said. “He’s very responsible, makes guys on his line better, and you won’t notice him as much as you’ll notice the more highly skilled guys. I think there’s going to be some hype coming in, but it’s going to be a different look. I think people are going to really have to watch his game to understand it and appreciate what he’s doing at his age.”

Morozov’s game revolves around his 200-foot play and ability to find and protect the puck in hard areas. His frame allows him to keep play moving along the walls, and when he’s able to find teammates on the rush or in the zone, he moves well off the puck, finding pockets of space to let loose a quick shot or slam home a puck in front.

The NCAA has seen players close to Morozov’s age that have found success at both the collegiate and professional levels. Macklin Celebrini, who played one season at Boston University and won the Hobey Baker Award when he was 17, was selected first overall by the Sane Jose Sharks in 2024 and had an excellent rookie season in the NHL. Cullen Potter enters his sophomore year at Arizona State University in 2025-26 and was drafted 32nd overall by the Calgary Flames in this year’s draft, viewed by many as a steal of the first round and draft as a whole.

Both are extremely dynamic players with styles that can light up any ice they skate on. However, it’s worth noting that Morozov is not the same archetype of player. While there are similarities to their respective situations, the kind of game-breaking flair the other two players bring won’t be how Morozov contributes to the RedHawks next season.

The story of Morozov’s hockey career to this point has been playing against players who are older than him. Last season, he was facing players in the USHL who were as much as four years older than him. Even over the summer, he skated with players from the Kontinental Hockey League – Russia’s top professional league – and said he felt confident while doing so. 

Playing against players who may be several years older than him, however, has not deterred Morozov from taking hold of the opportunity.

“I’m super excited,” Morozov said. “It’s a good level, and I’m excited to improve my skills. Not a lot of guys get this chance to play at this level at my age, so I really appreciate everyone.”

There are, of course, people in the scouting world who aren’t sure if the best fit for Morozov next season is college hockey. It’s demanding to play in any conference in the NCAA at just 17 years old, but especially in the NCHC. Regardless, it’s evident that the Miami coaching staff has complete confidence in the young Russian to contribute consistently and develop into a player NHL clubs will be eager to have in their pipeline moving forward.

“Whatever his ceiling is, I guarantee you, he’s going to reach it,” Noreen said. “This kid has an elite level mindset, work ethic and all he wants to do is get stronger, get in better shape, get better at hockey and improve in every area of his game. It’s going to be a challenge for him, but this is what he does. He’s proven that he’s taken on every challenge put in front of him, and we wouldn’t be putting him in this situation if we didn’t think he was capable.”

@jjmid04

middleje@miamioh.edu

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