Category: College Hockey Player

19Sep

Nick Swaney (13)

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University Of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs‘ right wing graduate Nick Swaney(13) takes four seasons of consistent scoring numbers to a 1-year entry level contract with his home state draft club, Minnesota Wild (7th round, 2017, #209 overall) that starts for 2021/2022 but will sign an ato with affiliate Iowa Wild to start immediately.

The 5’11” 175 lbs. forward scored 20+ points in each of his college campaigns with his best total 28 most recently as a senior.

He was also a point-per-game skater in two years at the USHL for Waterloo Blackhawks.

We have a feeling he gets started on the scoresheet sooner than later.

He spends all of his playing time in the AHL, scoring pretty big, but gets injured last season to throw things off track.

For 2024/2025, he does something he has yet to do in his pro career, signs a minor league deal with Chicago Wolves.

17Sep

Marshall Murphy (33)

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St. Michael’s College Purple Knights‘ senior goalie Marshall Murphy(33) signs with HK Prizma Riga of Optibet Hokeja Liga for his rookie season, 2024/2025.

The 5’11” 181 lbs. net minder from Little Canada, MN will definitely look to improve his game on hopefully a better pro team.

He’s 25-year and probably didn’t make the decision to play his next hockey so far away lightly, so has to be ready.

16Sep

Benton Maass (11) with video feature: 1-question interview

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Washington Capitals‘ 6th round pick in the 2017 draft (#182 overall) defenseman Benton Maass(11) goes from a four-year skate for University Of New Hampshire Wildcats to a fifth year of eligibility, playing close to home on the start of a graduate degree with Minnesota State University Mavericks.

Although maybe not the biggest point-getter on the ice, the 6’2″ 205 lbs. blue liner did manage 23 assists as a senior at the hometown Elk River High in 25 USHS-MN games and 13 helpers at a freshman as his new college.

He also had 16 points (a high of 7 tallies and 9 assists) in 26 NAHL games, when he arrived at Fairbanks Ice Dogs upon completing high school.

It’s all happened fairly quickly for the 22-year old but the player who’s been in three NHL development camps looks ready at every turn.

As he finishes up, his 5th college season, he signs an ato with affiliate Hershey Bears and will join them for the remainder of the AHL frame.

Almost oddly, he plays only 2 games with his contract club, getting 1 assist and a +2 rating and is reassigned to affiliate South Carolina Stingrays, where he gets 4 goals and 7 assists in 55 ECHL games with a +13 rating.

His play is good enough to earn a continued look in Chocolatetown.

In his 2nd frame further down south, he scores a new career best 8 goals and 19 assists in 64 games with a +17 rating, so things are looking up.

Something is amiss though, as he decides to accept an assistant coach role at Lindenwood University Lions for 2024/2025, changing the role he will play in pro hockey.

16Sep

Parker Saretsky (28)

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2nd year right wing Parker Saretsky(28) switches up teams for his 2nd ECHL frame.

He had 8 assists in 43 games last season for Trois Rivieres Lions, but signs with Wichita Thunder for 2024/2025.

This should turn out to be a good move for the 6′ 176 lbs. forward.

From Wainwright, AB, he scored fairly strongly in his last 2 frames of AJHL before school.

He would head to 4 years at Michigan Tech University Huskies.

The 25-year old will likely find more room with his new club.

16Sep

Marc Del Gaizo (2)

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Nashville Predators‘ 4th round pick in the 2019 draft (#109 overall) defenseman Marc Del Gaizo(2) will leave a year on the table at UMass Minutemen after winning the 2021 NCAA Championship in a cinderella-like run.

The 5’10” 185 lbs. blue liner was selected after his freshman season at the college, where he put up as many points basically as he did the next two, although he was almost always a plus player, leaving the school with a +60 rating.

At just 21, he can also breathe a little sigh of relief that this season may wrap up, as his 3-year entry level deal starts 2021/2022, unless he is itchy and signs an ato somewhere.

He actually jumped on for his 1st 9 AHL games for Chicago Wolves and puts up 5 assists with a +3 rating.

His contract would initiate upon playing for Milwaukee Admirals, where in his 3rd year would come away with a season best 8 goals, 34 points with another 20+ assist frame and a +18 rating, then contributed 7 points in 15 playoff games.

The 24-year old, who also played 9 NHL games last season with 3 assists and a +2 rating becomes easy to sign to a 1 year deal to continue.

15Sep

Zach Walker (18)

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Pensacola Ice Flyers‘ rookie right wing Zach Walker(18) has a couple of goals and an assist in 21 SPHL contests.

The 6′ 200 lbs. forward was never much of a scorer during four seasons at Boston College.

He posted his highest totals as a freshman with 2 goals and 5 assists.

The still young 22-year old started with a couple of campaigns in the USNTDP.

It will be interesting to see if he plays himself up to another level or heads overseas for different gold.

He finished his first session, scoring 4 goals and 6 assists in 36 games, then went on to light it up for a goal and 3 assists with a +5 in 4 playoff contests, which easily put him back on the radar.

The Boise, ID native gets the call from his local team and signs a 1-year ECHL deal with Idaho Steelheads for 2021/2022.

He was originally going to sign with them for last season, but they decided to sit out the pandemic run and he becomes the first born in the state capital to play for the team.

After 10 goals and 13 assists in 63 games with a +6 rating, he’s definitely feeling right at home, and stays for a 2nd session.

He’s basically fairly steady in his 2nd session, getting 6 goals and 12 assists in 56 games with a +12 rating.

For 2023/2024, he leaves home and signs a 1-year deal with Adirondack Thunder that should makes sense for his scoring to continue.

He is limited to only 27 games last season and is involved in some incidents that get him suspended for long stretches, but the wear and tear on him is enough as he leans into what to do for 2024/2025 and will stay in a Thunder “jersey” joining their front office to handle the team’s community relations and also take part in some sales.

14Sep

Matt Barry (26)

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2nd year right wing Matt Barry(26) takes a phenomenal frame at Germany3 for Rostock Piranhas, scoring 23 goals and 48 assists in 42 games to a new deal with Glasgow Clan for 2023/2024.

The 6′ 180 lbs forward twice had 15 assists at Miami University (Ohio) Redhawks.

He also did 1 year at Holy Cross College Crusaders before entering the transfer portal for his sophomore session.

The Naperville, IL native was also a very successful assist guy in 2 years NAHL (36), then USHL (37) junior hockey before college.

We think the 28-year old will also do quite well scoring in the EIHL.

He does ok for himself with 10 goals and 21 assists, but something isn’t right, so he opts out of playing and quickly accepts a job as assistant coach with Tri-City Storm of the USHL.