- Twenty-one drafted college players can hit unrestricted free agency on Aug. 15
- Arizona State winger Cruz Lucius headlines the class after telling Pittsburgh no in April
- Read below for the full rundown of NHL signing rights about to expire
Twenty-one drafted college players are three days away from picking their own NHL team.
Aug. 15 is the cutoff. Once a player wraps up his fourth NCAA season and tells the NHL Central Registry he is no longer enrolled in school, he comes off his drafting club’s reserve list and becomes an unrestricted free agent. Pro Hockey Rumors laid out the full list Wednesday.
Cruz Lucius sits at the top of it, and he has known where this was headed since spring.
The Arizona State winger told Pittsburgh in April that he would not sign his entry-level contract. Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas was asked about the decision on the GM Show on the Penguins Radio Network, and he did not sugarcoat it:
“We felt we had a great opportunity for him, and the proof is in the pudding on the development side. Players are entitled to make their decision, and I don’t think we’re in a position here anymore where we have to beg people to come.”
Carolina drafted Lucius 124th overall in 2022. His signing rights landed in Pittsburgh two years later as a piece of the Jake Guentzel trade.
He spent two years at Wisconsin and put up 24 goals and 68 points in 70 games. A transfer to Arizona State followed, then a junior season wrecked by injuries that held him to 10 points in 19 games.
Healthy again as a senior, the Lawrence, Kansas native led the Sun Devils in every offensive category with 15 goals and 46 points in 36 games. That put him 11th in the country in scoring, one point behind Boston College’s James Hagens, and earned him First-Team All-NCHC honors.
His senior year opened with a three-goal night against Alaska in the Icebreaker final. Here’s goal No. 2:
Watch the one that finished off the hat trick:
Samu Salminen is the highest pick on the list, a 2021 third-rounder the Devils grabbed 68th overall out of Denver. Philadelphia has three days to get Owen McLaughlin signed. Washington has two names hanging out there.
A few of the bigger ones:
- Samu Salminen, F, Devils (2021, 68th overall, Denver)
- Adam Ingram, F, Predators (2022, 82nd overall, St. Cloud State)
- Stiven Sardaryan, F, Sabres (2021, 88th overall, Michigan Tech)
- Jack Smith, F, Canadiens (2020, 102nd overall, Minnesota State)
- Owen McLaughlin, F, Flyers (2021, 206th overall, Boston University)
None of this moves the needle like the 18 restricted free agents still waiting on new deals, but cheap young forwards with NCAA production are exactly what teams dig for in August. Lucius has had four months to build his list. Saturday he gets to use it.
