When Noah Hanifin inked his name to a stack of papers in front of several thousand Carolina Hurricanes fans on Saturday, he not only signed his first NHL contract but also signed a goodbye to his NCAA career at Boston College.
Hanifin, the Hurricanes' No. 5 overall selection in this summer's draft, ascended to such a high position in the draft order because of a splendid freshman season with the Eagles.
Yet on Saturday, he prevented himself from ever returning for a sophomore campaign by signing a three-year entry-level contract, per the team reporter Terrell Williams.
Since being drafted just over two weeks ago, Hanifin's verdict on his path forward entering 2015-16 has been uncertain to everyone but the Massachusetts native.
Players under contract to play hockey professionally are ineligible to play in the NCAA, but they can play in Canadian junior leagues if not in the NHL or affiliated minor leagues. Meanwhile, players under contract in the juniors can be called up to the NHL but not to the AHL or ECHL.
Hanifin could have returned to B.C. for another season of development while ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Mark Jones
Noah Hanifin Takes Risk by Signing Contract with Carolina Hurricanes
July 11th, 2015 by Mark Jones Leave a reply »
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