The Detroit Red Wings picked up a couple of players on Tuesday in signing a pair of free agent NCAA skaters to two-year entry-level contracts each.
Left wing Ryan Kuffner (Princeton) just completed his fourth and final season with the Tigers. An All-America choice in 2017-18 when he set a new Princeton school record with a 29-goal campaign, he completed his NCAA career on Saturday with two goals and two assists in a 6-5 triple-overtime ECAC Hockey tournament loss at Brown. The Ottawa native finished his college career with a school-record 75 goals in four seasons, and 152 points in 132 career games that leaves him second all-time in school scoring. Kuffner also paced Princeton with 44 points in 31 outings as a senior this season.
Detroit then delved within the state to sign junior forward Taro Hirose (Michigan State), who currently holds the NCAA Division I scoring lead with both 35 assists and 50 points. Hirose also completed his college season/career on Saturday, as the Spartans fell to Notre Dame in the first round of the Big Ten tournament. Part of MSU's renowned "KHL" line the last two seasons with Patrick Khodorenko and Mitchell Lewandowski, the Calgary native finished his three years in Green and White with 33 goals and 83 assists for 116 points in 106 career outings. Hirose also led the Big Ten in scoring this season, with 10-24--34 points in 24 conference contests.
Other NCAA players who left school early to sign NHL/professional contracts this week included defenseman Quinn Hughes (Michigan) with the Vancouver Canucks, defenseman Joseph Duszak
(Mercyhurst) with the Toronto Maple Leafs, defenseman Cooper Zech (Ferris State) with the Providnce (AHL) Bruins, and goaltender Ryan Huska (Connecticut) with the New York Rangers.
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