With the NCAA season coming to an end for all but the Frozen Four teams after this weekend, several top NHL prospects have big decisions to make about their short-term plans.
The biggest name in the U.S. college ranks, Gavin McKenna, will have to wait until June to hear his name called in the NHL Draft, but that doesn’t mean his hockey season is done.
The Penn State freshman likely will play for Canada at the world hockey championship in Switzerland in May, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Saturday Headlines during Hockey Night in Canada.
Penn State was eliminated in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Friday with a loss to Minnesota Duluth.
McKenna is fourth in NCAA scoring this season with 51 points (15 goals, 36 assists) in 35 games and is in the running to go first overall at the NHL Draft.
Meanwhile, Michigan State freshman forward Porter Martone is eligible to sign with the Philadelphia Flyers after the Spartans lost in overtime to Wisconsin in a regional final on Saturday.
Martone had 49 points (25 goals, 24 assists) in 34 games this season after he was picked sixth overall by the Flyers in last year’s NHL Draft.
“People just said this one could move very quickly,” Friedman said, adding that something could happen in the next 24-48 hours.
The Calgary Flames also could bring Jonathan Castagna aboard after his Cornell squad lost to Denver in the first round Friday.
The Flames acquired the rights to the third-year Cornell forward in the MacKenzie Weegar deal with the Utah Mammoth. Castagna had 15 goals and 19 assists in 34 games this season.
“There’s a lot of optimism here that something’s going to get done,” Friedman said.