Former NCAA Players Still Changing NHL Clubs

A number of NCAA-trained players have changed NHL clubs recently, via trades or free agency. Below are some of them (not an all-inclusive list):

Player School          Old Team/New Team

Andrew Cogliano Michigan         Dallas/San Jose

Blake Coleman Miami          Tampa Bay/Calgary

Aaron Dell North Dakota     New Jersey/Buffalo

Ryan Dzingel Ohio State       Ottawa/Arizona

Derek Forbort North Dakota     Winnipeg/Boston

Erik Haula Minnesota        Nashville/Boston

Danton Heinen Denver          Pittsburgh/Anaheim

Jon Merrill Michigan         Montreal/Minnesota

Derek Stepan Wisconsin        Ottawa/Carolina

Matt Tennyson Western Michigan New Jersey/Nashville

NCAA Players Moved at 2021 NHL Trade Deadline

 

Following is a list of NCAA-trained players who were moved between April 1 and Monday's 2021 NHL trading deadline:

Player (School) Old NHL Club-New NHL Club

Ben Hutton (Maine) Anaheim-Toronto

Nick Desimone (Union) San Jose-Vegas

Josh Dickinson (Clarkson) Colorado-Chicago

Adam Gaudette (Northeastern) Vancouver-Chicago

Anders Bjork (Notre Dame) Boston-Buffalo

Mike Reilly (Minnesota) Ottawa-Boston

Jon Merrill (Michigan) Detroit-Montreal 

Brandon Montour (UMass) Buffalo-Florida

Henrik Borgstrom (Denver) Florida-Chicago

Kyle Palmieri (Notre Dame) New Jersey-NY Islanders

Travis Zajac (North Dakota) New Jersey-NY Islanders

A.J. Greer (Boston Univ.) NY Islanders-New Jersey

Mason Jobst (Ohio State) NY Islanders-New Jersey

Vinnie Hinostroza (Notre Dame) Florida-Chicago

Nieto, Pavelski, Stalock Lead Sharks over Devils

Former Boston University forward Matt Nieto scored the game-winner in the third period as the San Jose Sharks tallied three unanswered goals to top the New Jersey Devils, 4-2, on Sunday afternoon in an NHL contest at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

Nieto scored 6:20 into the final frame, one-timing home a pass from fellow former NCAA skater Joe Pavelski (Wisconsin), who assisted on both the tying and winning goals, to break a 2-2 tie. Alex Stalock (Minnesota-Duluth) had 21 saves for the Sharks (39-17-6) to personally improve to 10-4 on the season.

Jon Merrill (Michigan) assisted on New Jersey's second goal while Cory Schneider (Boston College) had 18 stops for the host Devils (26-23-13), who went 0-for-4 on the power play. The loss also snapped New Jersey's two-game post-Olympics winning streak.

After Logan Couture gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead off a rebound to Schneider's left at 3:26 of the second period, Adam Henrique brought the Devils back even 77 seconds later when he redirected home a crossing feed from the right wing by Steve Bernier. New Jersey took a 2-1 lead when Patrik Elias tipped home Merrill's shot from the left point at 14:22, but Raffi Torres tied it up again for San Jose at 15:54 when he converted a 2-on-1 break with Pavelski.

Following Nieto's heroics, Patrick Marleau picked off a pass and wristed a shot past Schneider with 2:25 remaining in regulation to close out the scoring. It was Marleau's 25th goal of the 2013-14 campaign, the ninth time he has hit that mark in his NHL career, all with the Sharks.

New Jersey outshot San Jose, 23-22, on the afternoon, and the Devils will now host Detroit on Tuesday night in the first meeting of a home-and-home series. The Sharks, who completed a three-game road trip with two wins following Sunday's contest, will entertain Carolina that same evening.

NCAA Players on the Move, NHL-Wise

The NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament is about to commence, and the Stanley Cup Playoffs are still over a month away—but three college players with National Hockey League ties were recently on the move, at least in the transactions section.

Yale junior forward Kenny Agostino and St. Cloud senior forward Ben Hanowski, a pair of Pittsburgh Penguins draft choices, were both included in the deal that sent longtime Calgary Flames star Jarome Iginla to the Steel City. Also going to Calgary in the deal was Pittsburgh's 2013 first-round draft choice.

Agostino leads Yale with 15 goals, and also has 22 assists for 37 points this season. The Flanders, NJ native has collected 40-56—96 points in 97 career games with the Bulldogs, who play Minnesota in the first round of the NCAA West Regional in Grand Rapids, Mich. on Friday.

Hanowksi, who was tabbed 63rd overall by the Penguins in 2009, has 16-13—29 totals this season for the Huskies, who face Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regional in Toledo on Saturday. In 153 career games, the Little Falls, Minn. native has registered 66-50—116 points in 153 appearances.

Elsewhere, Michigan junior defenseman Jon Merrill decided to skip his senior season in Ann Arbor and signed an amateur tryout contract with the New Jersey Devils organization, which drafted him 38th overall in 2010. Merrill, from Brighton, Mich., tallied 11-36--47 points in 82 career outings with the Wolverines, who just fell short of a 23rd consecutive NCAA Tournament berth. He will be assigned to Albany (AHL).

Merrill to Return for Junior Year at Michigan

Newspapers in Detroit and New Jersey revealed this week that New Jersey Devils prospect Jon Merrill, who recently attended a Devils' prospect camp in Newark, will be returning to the University of Michigan for his junior year. A 6'2", 209-lb. native of Brighton, Mich, he was drafted 38th overall by New Jersey in 2010.

Merrill, 20, missed the first 22 games of the Wolverines' season last year, when he was suspended for an unspecified violation of team rules. He then tallied two goals and nine assists for 11 points in 19 outings as Michigan fell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Cornell in overtime.

“I’ve talked to him all winter and spring,” said long-time Michigan head coach Red Berenson at NJ.com. “I think based on this year he knows that he needs another year. Another year in college would be really good for him. He needs a breakout year.”
 
As a freshman in 2010-11, Merrill recorded 7-18--25 totals in 42 games as the Wolverines were edged in OT by Minnesota-Duluth in the national title game in St. Paul, Minn. In two collegiate campaigns, he has notched 9-27--36 points in 61 contests.

Michigan is slated to open its 2012-13 season on Oct. 9 at home against Windsor.

Wolverines Back on Track

Earlier this season I wrote about what was wrong with the University of Michigan. Following a 4-3 loss at Alaska Fairbanks on Nov. 27, the Wolverines were just 7-8-2 overall less than eight months after coming within an overtime goal of a national championship.

Fast forward almost two months from that game in Fairbanks, and whatever ailed the Wolverines seems to have been cured. A 4-1 win over Ohio State outdoors at Progressive Field in Cleveland on Sunday completed a weekend sweep of the rival Buckeyes and left U-M with an overall mark of 14-9-4 overall.

Since a split at Alaska, and prior to last night's 3-1 setback at Notre Dame, Michigan had gone 7-0-2, including yet another Great Lakes Invitational title in December in Detroit when they bested both Boston College and Michigan State in back-to-back contests.

The return of defenseman Jon Merrill from a semester-long suspension has helped. So has the formation of a forward line of NHL draft choices in senior David Wohlberg, freshman Alex Guptill, and junior Chris Brown, who have 25 points apiece this season to lead all Wolverine scorers. Senior goaltender Shawn Hunwick has been steady in net, and is 14-8-3 this winter with a 2.22 goals-against average and a .926save percentage.

Michigan was also seventh in the nation in goals scored per game (3.44), and 11th in goals given up per outing (2.41). The Wolverines were also ranked seventh in NCAA Division I in the latest Pairwise Rankings, and should be in good shape to both compete for a CCHA crown and extend an NCAA Tournament streak that began back in 1991.