Michael Hage (born April 14, 2006) is a Canadian

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

for

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA). He was selected in the first round, 21st overall, by the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

in the

2024 NHL entry draft The 2024 NHL entry draft was the 62nd NHL entry draft, entry draft for the National Hockey League. It was held on June 28–29, 2024, at Sphere (venue), Sphere in the Las Vegas Valley. As per their April 2024 agreement, all draft rights held by ...

Playing career

Early years

During the 2021–22 U16 AAA season, Hage recorded 46 goals and 70 assists in 57 games played for the Toronto Jr. Canadiens of the

Greater Toronto Hockey League The Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL), formerly known as the Metro Toronto Hockey League, is a minor level ice hockey organization based in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario. The league was founded in 1911 as the Beaches Hockey League by ...

(GTHL). At that year's OHL Cup, Hage led his team in scoring with 16 points in seven games en route to a silver medal finish and was likewise selected to the tournament All-Star Team.

Junior

On April 20, 2022, Hage was drafted ninth overall by the

Kitchener Rangers The Kitchener Rangers are a major junior ice hockey team based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Midwest Division of the Western Conference of the Ontario Hockey League. The Rangers have won the J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHL ...

of the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; ) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League, alongside the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The league is for players ag ...

(OHL) in the 2022 OHL Priority Selection draft. After not signing with the Rangers, he was declared a defected player, and his rights were traded to the

Sudbury Wolves The Sudbury Wolves are an Ontario Hockey League (OHL) ice hockey team based in Greater Sudbury, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Sudbury has had various hockey teams competing at the Junior ice hockey, junior and senior ice hockey levels of the game k ...

in exchange for a supplemental first-round pick in the 2023 OHL Priority Selection draft as compensation, Sudbury's fourth-round pick in the 2025 OHL Priority Selection draft, as well as three conditional draft picks. On April 26, 2022, Hage signed with the

Chicago Steel The Chicago Steel are an ice hockey team that plays in the United States Hockey League since 2000. The Steel have played their home games at Fox Valley Ice Arena in Geneva, Illinois since 2015; previously, the team played at Edge Ice Arena in ...

of the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the Midwestern United States and Great Plains, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. Th ...

(USHL) for the 2022–23 season. In September 2022, he suffered a

torn labrum Labrum Latin, defined as "having the edge" * Labrum (architecture), a large water-filled vessel or basin with an overhanging lip * Labrum (arthropod mouthpart), a flap-like structure in front of the mouth in almost all extant Euarthropoda * Bron ...

during his first practice with the team. Upon his return in March 2023, he recorded five goals and five assists in the Steel's final 13 games of the regular season. During the 2023–24 season, Hage recorded 33 goals and 42 assists in 54 regular season games. His goal production ranked sixth whereas his total assists were tied for tenth across the USHL. He was named the USHL Forward of the Week for the period ending March 4, 2024, after he recorded two goals and five assists in three games. He was again recognized as the USHL Forward of the Week on March 18, after he recorded four goals and four assists in three games, his second such honor in a three-week span. Following the season, Hage was subsequently named to the All-USHL First Team. In advance of the

held in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, Hage received the E. J. McGuire Award of Excellence, bestowed by the

NHL Central Scouting Bureau The NHL Central Scouting Services (CSS) is a department within the National Hockey League (NHL) that ranks prospects for the NHL entry draft at specific times during the hockey season. Players are ranked based on how well they will translate t ...

to "the candidate who best exemplifies commitment to excellence through strength of character, competitiveness, and athleticism." He was ultimately selected in the first round (21st overall) by the

Collegiate

Hage committed to play collegiately for

of the

(NCAA) beginning in the 2024–25 season. On October 4, 2024, he recorded two assists in his NCAA debut against Minnesota State in a 5–2 loss, followed by an additional two point effort, including his first collegiate goal, in a 4–1 victory a day later. On November 22, in a game against

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

, he recorded two goals, including the game-winner, in his first career multi-goal game. The next day, he recorded one goal and four assists in a 10–6 victory. He finished the weekend series with a national-best seven points, and was subsequently named the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

First Star of the Week. After registering five goals and five assist in seven games to lead all rookies in the nation with 1.43

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player or team per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of poi ...

(PPG), Hage was recognized as the Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) National Rookie of the Month. In January 2025, he, along with fellow Montreal Canadiens prospect Jacob Fowler, were longlisted as recipient of the

Hobey Baker Award The Hobey Baker Award is an annual award given to the top National Collegiate Athletic Association men's ice hockey player. It has been awarded 44 times. It is named for Hall of Famer Hobey Baker, who played college hockey at Princeton Universit ...

recognizing the top

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

men's ice hockey player. Collectively, Hage finished his

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

campaign with 34 points in 33 games played. For his efforts, he would be named as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year as well as part of the conference’s All-Freshman Team. With the Wolverines failing to qualify for the annual

NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament The annual NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament is a college ice hockey tournament held in the United States by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to determine the top men's team in Division I. Like other Division I cham ...

, Hage announced on March 25, 2025 that he would return to Michigan for his

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

year.

Personal life

Hage is of

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

descent through his parents, Alain and Rania. Following his father's unexpected death resulting from a swimming pool accident in July 2023, Hage dedicated the ensuing 2023–24 season to his memory. He has one sibling, a brother named Alexander.

Career statistics

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hage, Michael 2006 births Living people Canadian ice hockey centres Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian people of Egyptian descent Chicago Steel players Ice hockey people from Mississauga Montreal Canadiens draft picks NHL first-round draft picks 21st-century Canadian sportsmen Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey players