Category: College Hockey Player

10Apr

Matthew Wood (71)

Posted in College Hockey Player, Juniors, NHL Draft Pick | Leave a comment

University Of Connecticut Huskies‘ sophomore left wing Matthew Wood(71) ties his goals as a freshman at 11, but is I’m sure he would say vastly off his 23 mark of assists with 11 in 2023/2024.

The 6’3″ 190 lbs. forward from Lethbridge, AB is a Nashville Predators‘ 1st round pick in the 2023 draft (#15 overall).

He plays a big power forward style.

As a mostly 2nd year BCHL junior, he blew the lid off scoring with 45 goals and 40 assists in 46 games for Victoria Grizzlies.

He was drafted after his freshman tilt at school and pinpointed to go high.

Not sure why he has decided to head elsewhere through the transfer portal, but University Of Minnesota Golden Gophers are the exceedingly happy recipients of the big power forward for his junior season.

Maybe it is a good idea, as he blows up scoring to the tune of 17 goals and 22 assists in 39 games last season and his draft club thinks he is ready, offering him a 3-year NHL entry level deal to come aboard.

In 4 games, he has yet to notch a point.

10Apr

Noah Beck (18)

Posted in College Hockey Player, Free Agent Signing, Juniors, Minor League Deal, NHL Draft Pick, Transfers | Leave a comment

Clarkson University Golden Knights‘ senior defenseman Noah Beck(18) takes 2 years of 17 assists to a graduate season at Arizona State University Sun Devils for 2024/2025.

The Richmond Hill, ON native did 1 season juniors OJHL before coming down to the USHL upon the encouragement of new college team and then getting drafted by St. Louis Blues in the 7th round of 2020 (#194 overall).

He scored well with 4 goals and 23 assists in 44 games.

The 6’3″ 183 lbs. blue liner will likely do well playing his new club’s independent schedule.

He explodes scoring 5 goals and 28 assists in 37 games with a +12 rating to become an unrestricted free agent and get signed by San Jose Sharks, as he wasn’t picked up by the team that selected him.

To start his pro career, he reports to affiliate San Jose Barracuda on an ato.

09Apr

Evan Buitenhuis (30)

Posted in College Hockey Player, D3, Europe, Juniors, Minor League Deal | Leave a comment

Wichita Thunder circles back to re-sign 4th year goaltender Evan Buitenhuis(30) after a trade sent him over for most of 2020/2021.

In 21 ECHL starts he went a career best 15-5-1 with a 2.19 GAA and .937 SV%, also league lows.

The 6’2″ 185 lbs. graduate of NCAA Division 3 Hamilton College signed a pair of AHL contracts, but not played any games.

Instead he was reassigned almost immediately upon his rookie season deal with Bridgeport Islanders (Sound Tigers) to affiliate Worcester Railers, where he played 28 games with good numbers.

For his sophomore frame, he simply just agreed to stick with the Central Massachusetts’ club and was credited with a new high 39 games in the cage.

He won the 2014 OJHL Championship with stellar numbers, 1.84 GAA and .943 SV% in his last year of junior hockey for the Burlington, ON native.

The 28-year old will likely see a lot of action in 2021/2022 and could also see his best totals.

He was definitely seeing a lot of time in the crease, playing a 2nd high 31 games recording a 11-15-4 mark with a 2.92 GAA and .919 SV%, which was decently in line where he was last season, but the team had sunk to last place, so have decided to cut ties and go with more youth in the cage for the time being.

The Burlington, ON native has decided to spread his wings and leaves for Storhamar of Fjordkraftligaen.

He returns to Kansas for a 3rd go at net after a good enough, but maybe brief showing in Norway.

After spending a couple of years in US minor league hockey, he is ready to move back overseas for hopefully a more extended run, signing for 2023/2024 with HC Innsbruck of IceHL.

We expect to see good things happen for the still only 29-year old in Austria’s top league.

Well, he does ok in his new league and is off to something better, signing with Jukurit of Liiga.

After a fairly solid performance with maybe not a winning record, he is wanted to return and re-signs to stay Jukurit.

We are sure, he is a fan favorite.

09Apr

Cole O’Hara (19)

Posted in College Hockey Player, Juniors, NHL Draft Pick | Leave a comment

UMass Minutemen junior Cole O’Hara(19) leaves a year on the table to sign a 2-year NHL entry level deal with draft club (4th round of 2022, #114 overall) Nashville Predators.

The 6′ 183 lbs. forward is allegedly to be reassigned to join affiliate Milwaukee Admirals, as they ready for the postseason.

He blew up scoring last season with 22 goals and 29 assists in 40 games with a +21 rating.

From Richmond Hill, ON, the 21-year old put up huge numbers in his 2nd USHL season for Tri-City Storm.

08Apr

Cody Kunyk (37)

Posted in College Hockey Player, Europe, Free Agent Signing, Juniors, Minor League Deal | Leave a comment

9th year center Cody Kunyk(37) returns to Karpat after a year away in the KHL that actually grabbed hold scoring come playoff time for Barys Nur-Sultan.

The undrafted 5’11” 194 lbs. forward has skated 5 seasons in Liiga, Finland’s top hockey and tossed off a league best 39 assists in 2019/2020.

He signed a 1-year entry level deal as an unrestricted free agent with Tampa Bay Lightning upon graduating University Of Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks with 20+ goals and assists as a senior and even played 1 NHL game fresh out of school.

The Sherwood Park, AB native skated the AHL his rookie season for affiliate Syracuse Crunch, but left for Denmark’s Metal Ligaen in the next session, running up decent points for Gentofte Stars.

At 32-years old, he still seems to be connecting and is wanted for what he brings, so there’s little reason to put down the skates.

He would move along after a 5th strong year playing Finnish hockey to Germany and signed with Lowen Frankfort in 2023/2024, where he would come away with a pro best 17 goals and some decent point totals, but signs with rivals Augsburger Panther for 2024/2025 and should have continued success.

After a successful 1st season with the team, he re-signs to return a Panther for 2025/2026.

08Apr

Shane Soderwall (30)

Posted in College Hockey Player, D3, Juniors, Transfers | Leave a comment

Curry College Colonels‘ freshman goaltender Shane Soderwall(30) unsurprisingly earns USCHO D3 Rookie Of The Year honors.

The 6’2″ 185 lbs. net minder wins it basically for the 98-save effort in the heartbreaking 4-3 double overtime tournament loss to the eventual winner of the whole thing.

He played 2 NAHL seasons with Anchorage Wolverines, putting up respectable numbers, but received a nice workload.

His game even came up from the lower junior level after a pair of NA3HL frames for the Algonquin, IL native, coming out of the Chicago Fury youth program.

No doubt, the 21-year old, who played 21 games with an outstanding 1.59 GAA and .949 SV% and his young team have even better hockey days ahead of them.

Well, let’s see, he goes 24-4 with a 1.45 GAA and a .945 SV%, pushing his team to a very first Frozen Four appearance for the D3 hockey crown.

He’s getting all kinds of scouted for a D1 commit and sure enough, for 2025/2026 he is heading to Clarkson University Golden Knights.

07Apr

Cristophe Tellier (29)

Posted in College Hockey Player, Juniors, Minor League Deal, Transfers | Leave a comment

Quinnipiac University Bobcats‘ junior left wing Cristophe Tellier(29) enters the transfer portal and will skate his senior year at Northeastern University Huskies, 2024/2025.

The 6’1″ 185 lbs. forward put up a college career best 19 assists and 26 points last season.

He was able to put up good numbers in junior hockey, whether he was playing BCHL or USHL.

From Sherbrooke, QC, the 24-year old will be challenged in a good way by Hockey East play.

Upon finishing up his extended year with 5 goals and 13 assists in 36 games, he signs a 1st deal with Savannah Ghost Pirates and grabs a 1st ECHL goal in his 2nd game.

He is immediately signed for a 1-year 2-way deal 2025/2026 with Charlotte Checkers.

07Apr

Eduards Tralmaks (34)

Posted in College Hockey Player, Juniors, Minor League Deal | Leave a comment

Providence Bruins‘ undrafted rookie Latvian-born forward Eduards Tralmaks(34) scored his first pro goal in the first period of his AHL debut.

He spent 4 years at University Of Maine as a fairly consistent scorer grabbing 39 goals and 43 assists in 119 NCAA games with a solid +22 rating.

Arriving as a 14-year old, he got right to the stat sheet in 3 sessions of youth hockey before starting his 1st campaign for the Boston Bandits (now Bridgewater Jr. Bandits) of the EHL, where once again he ran up scoring totals and was scouted by the college and sent to the USHL Chicago Steel.

There he won the 2017 Clark Cup Championship and was named MVP before arriving at school the following year.

At 6’4″ 209 lbs. he’s a big power forward, great around the net, who may get himself a look from an NHL club to see if he has what it takes to make the next step up.

The 24-year old accomplished 2 goals and 2 assists in 8 games with a +1 rating in his pro debut.

It looks as though he is set to return to Rhode Island for a rookie season, as he is fully in training camp with parent club, Boston Bruins.

After 2 seasons of decent enough scoring, he decides to move on and signs a 1-year deal with Rytiri Kladno and will skate the very decent level of game in Czechia Extraliga.

He scores 21 goals and 11 assists in 52 games, but is a horrible -20 rating, yet is wanted to return to Kladne crew for 2024/2025.

In 2 years, he proves there’s no doubt he can put up big points, 23 goals and 28 assists in 48 games last season to score a new deal with Detroit Red Wings for 1-year on a 2-way contract that will see him at least 1st with affiliate Grand Rapids Griffins, where we expect him to do well.

07Apr

Kaleb Kinskey (26)

Posted in College Hockey Player, Juniors, Minor League Deal | Leave a comment

Framingham State University Rams‘ graduate left wing Kaleb Kinskey(26) signs a 1st pro contract with HC Venom and is off and scoring with 4 goals and 3 assists in 15 FPHL games.

The 5’9″ 180 lbs. forward’s best scoring season was 7 as a junior and 9 points.

From Waterloo, IA, he did 1 season of youth hockey in the Iowa Wild 18U system.

He did 2 USPHL Premier years before heading to school.

It’s quite possible the 25-year old starts playing himself up.