Thursday: Nashville has indeed won the bidding on Wilkins, signing him to a two-year entry-level contract.
Wednesday: Providence had a strong run to close the college season, making it to the Frozen Four semifinals before being ousted by the eventual champions at Minnesota Duluth. They’ve lost defenseman Jacob Bryson and winger Brandon Duhaime in recent days and it appears they may not be done yet. Mark Divver of the Providence Journal reports (Twitter link) that center Josh Wilkins could soon be turning pro with the Predators being as the likely destination.
The 21-year-old just wrapped up his third year with the Friars and it was his best by far. After collecting 31 points in each of his first two seasons, he took a big step forward offensively with 46 points (20-26-46) in 40 games, eclipsing the point-per-game mark for the first time. That allowed him to lead the team in scoring by seven points.
As a result of his strong season, Wilkins was named to the Hockey East First All-Star Team as well as the NCAA (East) Second All-American Team. Nashville has been active this month adding winger Lukas Craggs (Bowling Green) and defenseman Brandon Fortunato (Quinnipiac) and it appears they’re not done just yet. Assuming a deal does get done, he will not be eligible to play in the postseason as he was not on their Reserve List past the trade deadline.