The Vegas Golden Knights won’t be signing Peter Diliberatore this spring, as according to Chip Malafronte of the New Haven Register the defenseman has turned down an NHL contract offer to return to Quinnipiac for his junior season.
If you haven’t heard of the 19-year old Diliberatore, even as a Golden Knights fan, you’re probably not alone. A sixth-round selection in 2018, he was picked out of the high school hockey circuit in Connecticut and was never a part of the major international tournaments for players of his age. That is, he didn’t actually take part in any—but he was certainly on their radar.
Diliberatore was invited to Canada’s selection camp for the most recent World Junior Championship, and though he didn’t make the cut it was a huge accomplishment for such an unheralded prospect. Scott Wheeler of The Athletic (subscription required) chronicled that journey, including speaking to his high school coach who explained exactly what makes him special:
He’s elusive, he evades forecheckers really well and then he passes the puck off to a forward and who knows where it goes from there. And he quarterbacked our power play but his ability to run the breakout is much greater than his ability to run the power play. That contributed to him not having huge, huge numbers. What contributed to him being a draft pick was his skating and his compete level.
He hasn’t had huge, huge numbers at Quinnipiac either, but 40 points in 72 games over his first two seasons is still a very interesting total for a player that isn’t offense-only. It’s no wonder that the Golden Knights wanted to get him into their development system quickly, but they’ll have to wait to try and convince him next year.
Deliberatore’s exclusive draft rights will continue to be held by Vegas until August, 2022.
A guy that actually *wants* to be a 200-ft. player??? At his age??? Unheard of! Good on him!