Former NCAA Players Taken by NHL's Kraken

Several former NCAA players were selected in last night's NHL Expansion Draft to help stock the league's newest club, the Seattle Kraken, who will begin play in October.

One player was chosen by Seattle from each of the 31 other NHL clubs, save for the Vegas Golden Knights, who only began play in 2017. Among the players taken by the Kraken were defensemen Gavin Bayreuther (St. Lawrence), Jamie Oleksiak (Northeastern) and Carson Soucy (Minnesota-Duluth), forwards Mason Appleton (Michigan State), Colin Blackwell (Harvard) and Brandon Tanev (Providence), and goaltender Joey Daccord (Arizona State).

Bayreuther, 27, skated for St. Lawrence from 2013 to 2017, where he recorded 35 goals and 76 points for 111 points over four seasons. He has three goals and three assists for six points in 28 NHL regular-season games with Dallas and Columbus.

Oleksiak, 28, played at Northeastern during the 2010-11 season, where he put up four goals and nine assists for 13 points with the Huskies before turning pro. He has registered 24-48—72 points in 369 NHL appearances with Dallas and Pittsburgh. and also helped Dallas to the 2020 Stanley Cup Final.

Soucy, 26, played four years at UMD, where he collected 12-35—47 points in 147 NCAA contests, and also captained the Bulldogs to a national championship game berth as a senior in 2017.  In 108 career NHL games, he has put up 8-23—31 points, all with Minnesota.

Appleton, 25, played at Michigan State from 2015 to 2017, scoring 17 goals and adding 36 assists for 53 points over 72  games with the Spartans. He has 20-23—43 points in 138 NHL outings, all with Winnipeg.

Blackwell, 28, skated for Harvard from 2011 to 2015, collecting 19-39--58 points in 94 games for the Crimson. He has 15-17—32 points in 80 NHL appearances with Nashville and the New York Rangers.

Tanev, 29, a member of Providence's 2015 NCAA title team, tallied 35-42—77 points in 149 games with the Friars from 2012 to 2016. In 295 NHL contests with Winnipeg and Pittsburgh to date, he has scored 42 goals to go with 50 assists for 92 points.

Daccord, 24, who backstopped ASU to its first-ever NCAA tournament berth in 2019, posted a career record of 32-40-7 with 3.07 goals-against average and eight shutouts in three seasons with the Sun Devils, including a 21-13-1 mark and seven shutouts in his third and final campaign. He has gone 1-4-1 with a 3.50 GAA in nine NHL appearances, all with Ottawa.

SLU's Bayreuther Signs with Stars

 

St. Lawrence senior blueliner Gavin Bayreuther has signed an amateur tryout agreement with the Texas Stars, the American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL's Dallas Stars, according to the AHL club’s website. The New Hampshire native, who was never drafted by an NHL squad, concluded his college career last weekend with the Saints’ three-game ECAC quarterfinal defeat against Quinnipiac.

Bayreuther tallied eight goals and 21 assists for 29 points in 30 games this year with SLU, and led the Saints in scoring for the second straight season despite missing seven contests due to injury. He recorded a career-high 27 assists and 36 points as a freshman in 2013-14, when he earned ECAC Co-Rookie of the Year recognition. He later notched a career-high 12 goals as a junior in 2015-16 when he was tabbed as both a First Team All-ECAC selection and an ECAC All-Tournament choice, and also earned Second Team All-America accolades.

The 6-foot-1, 195-pound blueliner finished his four-year NCAA career with 35-76—111 points in 142 contests, including 13 power-play goals and seven game-winners, while also collecting 96 penalty minutes, according to USCHO.com.

Bayreuther prepped at The Holderness School prior to enrolling at SLU and was also a USHL All-Rookie Team selection in junior hockey with the Fargo Force in 2012-13, per his Saints online biography. His 35 career goals set a new school record for Saints defensemen.

Sun Devils Earn First NCAA Win over Nanooks

Arizona State made Alaska (Fairbanks) its first victim in NCAA play as the Sun Devils defeated the Nanooks, 2-1, on Saturday in the Kendall Classic in Anchorage. Ryan Belonger, who set up ASU’s tying goal early in the third period at Sullivan Arena, connected for the game-winner with 34 seconds remaining in regulation. Ryland Pashovitz made 37 saves for the Sun Devils (1-1-0), while Tyler Morley scored the lone goal for Alaska (0-2-0), which won last year's Classic.

In one of the bigger shockers of the day , Union won, 5-3, over No. 3 Boston University as Matt Wilkins scored the go-ahead goal and assisted on an insurance marker, both in the final three minutes of regulation. Also out east, No. 19 St. Lawrence topped RIT, 5-1, with Gavin Bayreuther scoring the game-winner and adding an assist.

No. 18 Quinnipiac downed Holy Cross, 4-2, after Thomas Aldworth notched one goal and set up two more for the Bobcats. New Hampshire ran roughshod over American International, 7-3, as Tyler Kelleher had a four-point night, while Alabama-Huntsville scored a 5-2 victory over UConn for a series split, thanks to 29 saves by Carmine Guerriero.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Michigan State defeated Lake Superior State, 4-1 at the Icebreaker Tournament in Portland, Me. thanks to 29 saves from Jake Hildebrand. Mackenzie MacEachern notched the game-winning goal for the Spartans, Mason Appleton had two assists, and JT Stenglien posted a goal and an assist. Also, No. 10 Omaha completed a two-step sweep at No. 6 Minnesota State with a 2-0 victory, powered by two goals from Jake Randolph and 40 saves by Evan Weninger.