MUSKEGON – The Muskegon Lumberjacks will definitely have a new look starting this weekend, following the trades that led to the departure of veterans Jake Richard, Owen Mehlenbacher and Tyler Dunbar over the past two days.

They only added one player in the trades – talented rookie forward Ty Hendricks, who comes to Muskegon from the Fargo Force – so they will be counting heavily on a lot of younger holdovers as they continue their push for the playoffs.

The Jacks still have 26 games remaining in the regular season, which ends April 22.

They will host the Youngstown Phantoms on Friday and Saturday night and hope to start winning more games than they have in the past few weeks. After starting the season with a winning record, the Jacks are 4-11 in wins and losses since Dec. 10.

The Lumberjacks are currently 16-18-2 overall. They are in seventh place in the USHL Eastern Conference standings with 34 points, and trail sixth-place Dubuque by four points (two wins).

The top six teams in the conference will make the playoffs.

On a hopeful note, the Eastern Conference standings are very tight when it comes to second through sixth place, and the Jacks are only 10 points (five wins) behind second-place Green Bay.

Lumberjacks Coach Parker Burgess points to last year’s Madison Capitols, who finished in fifth place in the Eastern Conference regular season standings, then got hot in the playoffs and advanced all the way to the Clark Cup finals.

“We obviously want to put ourselves in a playoff position,” Burgess said. “As Madison showed last year, once you get into the playoffs everyone is a contender. If you’re playing well with good goaltending at the right time, anything is possible.”

Burgess said it’s “really important” for the Jacks to start playing better hockey this weekend against Youngstown.

“Youngstown is really good, and we have some injuries, but there are no excuses,” the coach said. “We have to play a good game on Friday night, and I think you will see an excited, energetic group take the ice.”

Jacks excited about new player

Hendricks, the forward acquired from Fargo, is one player the Lumberjacks are very excited about.

The 6-foot-5, 201-pound rookie from Mission Viejo, Calif. has a ton of potential. He showed that last season when he scored an incredible 68 goals with 55 assists in 60 games while playing for the Anaheim Junior Ducks 16-Under squad.

Hendricks had three goals and nine assists in 28 games this season with Fargo while playing a limited role.

Fargo is a veteran-oriented team that currently leads the USHL’s Western Conference and is pushing hard for a Clark Cup, so younger players like Hendricks took a back seat.

Hendricks will get much more ice time in Muskegon, Burgess said.

“He’s a really dynamic forward,” Burgess said. “He can make some moves, he’s got a heavy shot and he projects to be an impact player, not only this year but into the future.”

Team leadership roles on hold

With the trades of Mehlenbacher (the team captain) and Dunbar (an alternate captain), the Lumberjacks are down to just one alternate captain, forward David Hymovitch, who is injured and will not play this weekend.

Burgess said there is no immediate rush to name a new captain or alternate captain.

“That’s to be determined,” the coach said. “I don’t think there is any rush right now. There are a large number of different guys who will be taking on new leadership responsibilities. It’s something that we will sit down and discuss after this weekend, when we have more of an idea about what direction we want to go in.”

McCarthy will be back soon

Standout defenseman Gavin McCarthy, who was injured while playing for the American team in December’s World Junior A Challenge tournament in Canada, has been working out with the Jacks again and is expected to be back with the team within a few weeks.

McCarthy and forwards Hymovitch and William Hughes will all be injury scratches for this weekends’ games, according to Burgess.

“He won’t be back this weekend, but we’re hoping for the very near future,” Burgess said about McCarthy. “He’s been on the ice with us for the past three days and he looks great. He’s one of the best defensemen in the Eastern Conference, if not in the league.

“We are losing three great players (through the trades), but we will be getting back a really great player, too.”