The NCAA season is over with no conference championships or Frozen Four. That means any undrafted collegians are fair game to be signed by any NHL teams. There are some college players the New York Rangers should be looking at.
The unsigned NCAA player everyone remembers the New York Rangers signing was Neal Pionk. Undrafted, Pionk starred at Minnesota-Duluth, was signed by New York and within a year was a regular at the Garden. Is there another Neal Pionk out there?
For every Neal Pionk signed there are dozens of players who are inked to contracts and never make it to the NHL. Does anyone remember the players the Rangers or Hartford signed last spring?
The Rangers signed forward Patrick Newell from St. Cloud State. The Wolf Pack signed Ryan Dmowski from UMass-Lowell, Nick Jones from North Dakota, Lewis Zerter-Gossage from Harvard and Shawn McBride from American International College.
The good news is all of these players are on the Hartford roster and playing regularly. The bad news is none of them look to make the jump to the NHL anytime soon or if ever.
Other signings include Vince Pedrie from Penn State in 2017, John Gilmour from Providence College in 2016, Mat Bodie from Union College in 2015 and Ryan Haggarty from RPI in 2014.
Of that group only Gilmour made it to the Rangers. He was not signed last summer and is in the Buffalo system and has played four games this year with the Sabres. They were able to turn Ryan Haggarty into an asset when they traded him to Chicago for goalie Antti Raanta.
So, while NCAA signings make news, they rarely pan out. It’s still a gamble worth taking.
Some signings
The Rangers have already dipped into the free agent pool, signing center Patrick Khodorenko from Michigan State. He signed a three year entry level contract with an AAV of $925k. Unfortunately, Khodorenko didn’t make it to Hartford in time to get into a game.
The Wolf Pack signed two players before the season was suspended. They signed Notre Dame forward Mike O’Leary to an AHL contract. He had just concluded a four year career with the Fighting Irish, with nine goals and 23 points in 37 games his senior year. He made it to Hartford to play in one game before the suspension of the season. He was minus two in the game, a 3-1 loss to the Providence Bruins.
They also signed defenseman Zach Giuittari out of Brown University to an Amateur Try Out (ATO). He was the Brown University team captain and was an Ivy League second team all-star. Giuttari played in one game, going scoreless and minus one.
Some possible targets at forward
Not having seen any of these players in action, this is list is compiled from a number of sources including tsn.ca, flohockey.tv and eliteprospects.com. Today we will start with the forwards
Devin Brosseau, Center – Clarkson University
Brosseau is an older graduate who will turn 25 before next season. He just finished his senior year at Clarkson where the center was a team captain, scoring eight goals and 29 points in 28 games. At 6’1″, 203 pounds he has good size and he reportedly is solid defensively and he can win faceoffs.
Cal Burke, Center – Notre Dame University
Burke just finished his senior year at Notre Dame where he scored seven goals and totaled 21 points in 37 games. He’s smaller at 5’10”, 185 pounds and was described as a responsible, all around player by Elite Prospects.
Mitchell Chaffee, Right Wing- University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Chaffee just finished his junior year at UMass where was a teammate of Ranger draft pick Zac Jones. The 22 year old righthanded shot is 6’0″, 205 pounds and has been highly touted as a potential pro. He has been one of the top offensive players for UMass with 16 goals and 29 points in 30 games.
As a sophomore he was the top scorer in the Hockey East Conference and was a first team All-American. He stepped up this season with the departure of Cale Makar and Mario Ferraro from UMass.
Chaffee is one of the top prizes in the undrafted free agent pool and the key question is whether he will turn pro or return for his senior year. The suspension of the NCAA season could play a part in that as 9th ranked UMAass was expected to contend for the NCAA championship and he may want to return for his senior year to try for it next season.
He would be a welcome addition to any NHL organization. Elite Prospects calls him “strong, hard to move and deadly on the power play.”
Josh Dunne, Center – Clarkson University
Dunne has only played two years of college hockey, but it is a certainty that he will be wooed by numerous NHL teams. With 27 points in 32 games, including 14 goals, he has shown an offensive touch, but it is size that attracts the scouts. He turned 21 in December and is 6’4″, 210 pounds.
Dunne was in the Blue Jackets development camp last summer as Jarmo Kekalalainen, the Columbus GM is a Clarkson graduate. That might mean that John Davidson has some familiarity with Dunne and Clarkson center Devin Brosseau who was in that camp as well.
Will Graber, Center – Dartmouth
Graber is a big center who just finished his college career at Dartmouth. At 6’5″ 190 pounds he is one of the bigger free agents. As a senior, he had his best offensive year with 11 goals and 27 points in 26 games, all career highs. The Colorado native turns 24 in July.
Joel Kocur, Left Wing – American International CollegeDoes the name sound familiar? It should as he is related to ex-Ranger Joey Kocur and is also a cousin of Barry Melrose and Wendel Clark. He just finished his senior year at AIC where he scored nine goals and had 20 points. No, he didn’t lead the team in penalty minutes. He was on the AIC team that upset top ranked St. Cloud State in the first round of the NCAA playoffs.
Marc Michaelis, Left Wing/Center – Minnesota State University-Mankato
The German born 24 year old Michaelis is getting a lot of attention for a simple reason. He is a scoring machine. He had his best season as a senior with 20 goals and 44 points in 31 games. In fact, he is the top career scoring undrafted collegiate free agent.
Michaelis is a dynamic offensive force and one of the reasons that the Mavericks are the ranked #2 in the nation after Cornell. He is a left handed shot and hasn’t let his smaller size at 5’10”, 185 pounds stand in his way.
Johnny Walker, Right Wing – Arizona State University
The Arizona native just finished his junior year at ASU and has blossomed into a top scorer for the Sun Devils. He is six feet, 190 pounds and scored 58 goals in his first three years in the ASU Division 1 program. Elite prospects calls him a “lean, skating machine with a high-end shot.”
Walker is another prospect who will have to choose between turning pro and returning for his senior season. You would have to believe that with his Arizona roots, the Coyotes would be front runners if he does decide to try the professional game.
By signing Khodorenko the Rangers got a jump on the rest of the NHL . The Penguins also went out and signed junior forward Drew O’Connor, a native of Wayne, New Jersey. Despite the hiatus from hockey, you can be sure that all NHL organizations are looking at these players. In fact, with the early end to the season the timetable for such transactions has been accelerated.