University of Massachusetts hockey players James Marcou and Matt Irwin are following Casey Wellman out of Amherst.

Shortly after the sophomore center left school early to sign a free agent contract with the Minnesota Wild this week, Marcou and Irwin both signed with the San Jose Sharks.

Marcou, a junior forward, and Irwin, a sophomore defenseman, will likely begin their professional careers with the Worcester Sharks, San Jose's top minor-league team. According to Irwin, they will likely make their debuts early next week. Worcester hosts Syracuse on Tuesday at the DCU Center.

The departures mean UMass has lost its top five scorers from the 2009-10 season putting the Minutemen, at least offensively, in a rebuilding mode.

Marcou, a Hockey East second-team all-star, just completed one of the top offensive seasons in UMass history with 11 goals and 40 assists. His point and assist totals put him among the nation's leaders.

Marcou, who leaves as the program's career leader in assists, could not be reached for comment on Friday. Earlier this week Marcou said he was seriously considering NHL offers.

Irwin was one of the Minutemen's top offensive defensemen with seven goals and 17 assists. He struggled at times on the defensive end with a team-worst plus/minus rating of minus-11.

Irwin said NHL clubs had indicated an interest in signing him to his parents and his adviser during the season. He asked that they not share any further information about that until after the season.

"I told them to keep it to themselves because I wanted to dedicate everything I had to UMass and my teammates," Irwin said. "After we lost in the playoffs my adviser filled me in on everything that had gone on. There were a couple teams interested and it went from there."

Irwin said leaving UMass was not an easy choice.

"It's exciting. It's a dream come true, but it was a tough decision," said Irwin, who has a contract for the remainder of this season and the next two seasons

"The coaching staff and everyone at UMass as been so good to me over the past two years," he added. "But it was an opportunity to fulfill a dream."

Irwin said he plans to finish his degree. "Education is very important to me and my family," he said.

Worcester could have at least three former Minutemen on its roster if Marcou and Irwin join former teammate Cory Quirk, who already plays for the Sharks.

Graduating UMass defenseman Justin Braun was drafted by San Jose before arriving at UMass and could join Worcester as well. But San Jose only holds Braun's rights through late summer, so he could choose to wait and have the right to negotiate with any team.

UMass coach Don "Toot" Cahoon said he wishes his players success, but is frustrated with the system.

The NHL drafts players near their 18th birthdays - many before they arrive at college. The team that drafts a player retains his rights throughout his college career.

In many cases, NHL teams will encourage drafted players to stay in college to use a development system that does not cost the professional team anything.

Undrafted players become free agents, making them available to any team. So once the college season ends, teams will approach underclassmen and their advisers. Because retaining an actual agent would violate NCAA rules, most players with professional potential instead retain an adviser who is unpaid until a player turns pro. At that point the adviser usually becomes the player's agent.

"Players sign deals that sound great at the top. But I hope none of them have any regrets for what they've done," Cahoon said. "The system is broken. The teams load up the deals so they look great if they make it in the NHL, where there's great money to be made.

"If they don't make it in the NHL, there's no serious consequence to the pro team. A minor league contract is all that's guaranteed," Cahoon added. "You're trading off years you can never get back in terms of growth and development. Where does the value of education play in making a livelihood for yourself if hockey isn't your true vehicle?"

UMass isn't alone in losing players. Top college programs lose players every year. But many are leaving earlier than they used to. Northeastern's promising freshman defenseman Jake Newton, who this week was named to the Hockey East all-rookie team, left after just one college season.

"College programs are spinning our wheels sideways if pro teams can come in and undermine everything we're doing," Cahoon said.

The Minuteman coach said he was more concerned about the future of his players than the impact of their departures on his program.

"The future of the program is fine," Cahoon said. "We've got some great kids coming ... This year we'll have to rely on a bunch of younger players and a few veterans to really carry the load."

WELLMAN DEBUTS - Wellman, who skated in warm-ups but did not play in Minnesota's first two games since signing on Tuesday, made his debut Friday night at Columbus. Wellman had an assist on a second-period goal by Chuck Kobasew as the Wild lost 4-2 to the Blue Jackets.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. For more UMass coverage, including a UMass sports blog, go to http://www.gazettenet.com/blog/umass-sports.