Vladislav Lukashevich brings collegiate experience as transfer to Miami hockey

The leaves changing colors and the temperatures dropping means one thing in Oxford: hockey season is approaching. Following a two-season stretch at Miami University, which saw seven wins – including one lowly conference win – a coaching change and immense roster turnover, head coach Anthony Noreen filled this year’s roster with a few pieces to put together the puzzle that is the proud RedHawk hockey program.

One of these pieces is Michigan State University transfer defenseman Vladislav Lukashevich. Lukashevich comes from a Spartan squad that won 26 games along with the Big Ten regular season and tournament championship.

Lukashevich, originally from Russia, was drafted by the NHL’s Florida Panthers in 2021 and has also played under Noreen for the Tri-City Storm of the USHL. He credits his prior relationship with Noreen as one of the main reasons he ended up with the RedHawks, but he knows he still needs to prove he can play at a high level.

“I still have to show him my hockey,” Lukashevich said. “I have to show him that I’m a great hockey player and show everyone on the team that I can play here.”

At Tri-City, Lukashevich scored 43 points over the course of 54 games, ranking fifth on the roster. Last season as a Spartan, he totaled seven points on the year, including his first collegiate goal in January after missing six games to injury. He skated alongside players like Isaac Howard, the winner of the 2025 Hobey Baker Award who skates for the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL.

Coming from a winning program like Michigan State can prove massive for struggling programs. Lukashevich brings experience and knowledge of what it takes for a program to have success in its conference. For Noreen, that background is invaluable to the RedHawks: learning to win is a hard skill to develop.

“A lot of the guys we’ve brought in come from winning cultures,” Noreen said. “To me, it’s important to have winning habits, come from a winning culture and be a guy that can establish a winning culture here.”

Noreen and his staff are bringing in 21 new players this season. Establishing a culture and identity will be difficult, but with winning experience, Lukashevich said he aims to use that to help the RedHawks this season.

Even though he’s only been in Oxford for a few weeks, Lukashevich said the team has already welcomed him and treated him like family.

Twenty-one players added to a program in a single offseason is a large number even in today’s college sports landscape. Both Lukaschevich and Noreen agree teambuilding and roster makeup is of the utmost importance.

“If you look at the guys, I think [it’s clear] that the culture is being established here every single day because of those guys,” Noreen said. “I think the more time we have had, it’s even more clarified exactly what we want to do here.”

With Lukashevich’s familiarity at the collegiate level and his winning habits, he hopes to adjust to Oxford and play in Steve Cady Arena quickly and astutely.