Tommy Parran commits to Ohio State hockey

With the Ohio State Men's hockey team's inability to prevent large amounts of shots on goal against this year, any defenseman is going to be a welcomed addition.

Enter: Tommy Parran. The 19-year old Shaker Heights, Ohio native committed to the Buckeyes' Men's hockey team Wednesday afternoon through a press release on his USHL team, the Youngstown Phantoms', website. Former Youngstown teammate Luke Stork is currently a freshman for OSU.

Parran is in his second season with the Phantoms and has scored three goals and seven assists in 37 games. Last year, he scored five goals and two assists in 49 games, so at least he's shown improvement on offense in terms of helping out his teammates. It's troubling that his penalty minutes have gone up from 30 to 70 in fewer games, but his shots per game have gone up from about 1.25 per game to 1.46, not a huge improvement but a noteworthy one nonetheless as he matures. His shooting percentage has dropped from one year to the next, but the difference between five and eight percent is likely due to luck.

Parran should be joining the Buckeyes for the 2015-16 season, a few months after the veteran d-man will turn 20 years old. He's already a decent size for a defenseman at 5'11, 185 lbs., and will likely be needed next year with senior defensemen Al McLean, Justin DaSilva and Clark Cristofoli graduating. The defense for the Bucks probably can't be much worse next year in terms of shots allowed, so hopefully Parran can stem the shots' tide.