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Sean Farrell

Snapshots: Willander, Steen, Sheahan

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The vast majority of high-end draft prospects that head to American collegiate hockey after their draft year do so after playing prominent roles either with the United States National Development Team Program or excelling in the USHL. Swedish defenseman Tom Willander, a likely first-round selection in next week’s 2023 NHL Draft, will buck that trend. He told NHL.com last weekend he’s now committed to spending 2023-24 at Boston University after spending all of last season with Rogle BK J20 in the J20 Nationell, Sweden’s top junior league.

Willander’s strong performance at the 2023 IIHF U18 World Championship with Sweden saw him rocket up most public draft boards, displaying his high-energy two-way play en route to scoring eight points in seven games and posting a +6 rating. The 6-foot-1, 179-pound defender is ranked 12th among European skaters by NHL Central Scouting but has been rumored as an option some teams are considering in the early teens of the first round. Willander dressed for two SHL games with Rogle early in the season, but he didn’t ever touch the ice – maintaining his collegiate eligibility in the process.

Other tidbits from the NHL news cycle today:

  • 2019 Stanley Cup champion Alexander Steen could return to NHL work in some capacity, surmises Bally Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland. The 2002 first-round selection of the Toronto Maple Leafs would go on to play just over 1,000 NHL games, 765 of which came in a St. Louis Blues jersey. A revered versatile two-way forward, Steen retired 18 months after lifting the Stanley Cup for the first time in his career. If he is to join the ranks of NHLers to keep working in the league in front-office roles, it’s hard to imagine it being with another team than the Blues.
  • NHL coaching hopeful Brock Sheahan will have to wait a little longer for his first role on an NHL bench, as he’s rejoined the University of Notre Dame in an associate head coaching role. Sheahan, 39, rose to prominence behind the bench of the USHL’s Chicago Steel, guiding them to a Clark Cup in 2021 and coaching many high-end NHL prospects, including 2023 draft-eligible center Adam Fantilli, Calgary Flames winger Matthew Coronato, Montreal Canadiens center Sean Farrell, and Florida Panthers winger Mackie Samoskevich. He joined the Carolina Hurricanes in 2022-23, taking over as head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves. With the Wolves deciding to operate independently of an NHL organization next season, Sheahan found himself on the open market after just one year there. He returns to Notre Dame, where he played four seasons from 2004 to 2008 and spent the 2013-14 campaign as an assistant coach.

USA Hockey Announces First 22 Players For 2023 Worlds

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The first 22 players that will compete for Team USA at the upcoming IIHF World Hockey Championship have been named, with an interesting mix of NHL experience and college excitement.

Lane Hutson is the youngest player in the group at just 19 years old, and he’ll be sharing the ice with 35-year-old Nick Bonino, the oldest. General manager Chris Clark released the following:

The depth of our player pool is reflected with our team and we’re excited about the group we have to represent our country at the world championship. We’ve got a great mix of experience and youth and most of our players have represented the U.S. before and know what it takes to be successful at a world championship.

The team will start training on Saturday in Munich, before a pre-tournament game on Tuesday. The tournament schedule for the U.S. begins next Friday, against Finland.

Here’s a look at the 22 players that have made the team so far:

G Casey DeSmith
G Drew Commesso
G Cal Petersen

D Henry Thrun
D Connor Mackey
D Ronnie Attard
D Dylan Samberg
D Scott Perunovich
D Lane Hutson
D Nick Perbix

F Samuel Walker
F Drew O’Connor
F Luke Tuch
F Nick Bonino
F T.J. Tynan
F Cutter Gauthier
F Sean Farrell
F Anders Bjork
F Matthew Coronato
F Conor Garland
F Alex Tuch
F Carter Mazur

Montreal Canadiens Sign Sean Farrell

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After speculation yesterday that a deal would be coming soon, the Montreal Canadiens have made it official, announcing that they have signed forward Sean Farrell to a 3-year, entry-level contract. At this time, the financial details of the deal are unknown, but Farrell will be joining the team on their trip to play the Buffalo Sabres and Philadelphia Flyers.

A fourth-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, Farrell easily transitioned from the USHL to the NCAA. After his draft year, Farrel scored 101 points in 53 games played for the USHL Chicago Steel. As he started his career at Harvard University for the 2021-22 season, Farrell once again scored over a point per game, putting up 28 points in 24 contests. This year, on a very good Harvard team, the young forward scored 20 goals and 33 assists in only 34 games played.

On March 24th, Harvard took on the Big Ten’s Ohio State University in the first round of the NCAA DI Men’s Ice Hockey Tournament, losing by a final score of 8-1. In the contest, Farrell was able to put up one point, assisting on the team’s lone goal for the night. Farrell will now join up with a struggling Canadiens team, likely playing in their final nine games of this season.

College Notes: Farrell, Boston University, Minnesota, Gibson

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John Buccigross of ESPN reports Sean Farrell is going to sign with the Montreal Canadiens in the next few days. The skilled left-winger was a fourth-round draft pick of the Canadiens in 2020, and could add some scoring punch to a struggling offence in the near future.

The 21 year old just wrapped up his second college season and it was an impressive showing. Though his Harvard squad bowed out rather meekly in a 8-1 drubbing at the hands of Ohio State, Farrell was phenomenal all season. He had an assist in that NCAA Regional Semi-Final, and it gave him 53 points in 34 games, a big improvement from his 28 points in 24 games in 2021-22.

Farrell is a smart player with incredible vision, who had 33 assists in 34 games this season. Add in his 20 goals and he has the second best points-per-game average in college hockey, trailing only Adam Fantilli of Michigan.

Though it is just his second actual college season, it counted as Farell’s junior campaign because the 2020-21 counted as his freshman season even though Harvard did not play due to Covid restrictions. So, Farrell could choose to return for one more season and then become a free agent in August of 2024, but it sounds like we will not get that far as Buccigross suggests the Canadiens could get his name on an entry-level contract soon.

  • Also in college hockey, Boston University punched its ticket to the Frozen Four national semi-final with a 2-1 win over Cornell. Wilmer Skoog scored his 16th goal of the season to give BU a second period lead and Ethan Phillips scored the game’s winning goal in the third period on his own rebound. Dalton Bancroft scored in the final minute for Cornell, but BU was able to hold them off and advance to the Frozen Four in Tampa Bay on April 6.
  • BU will face Minnesota who also advanced to the Frozen Four today. Minnesota was led by Logan Cooley, the Arizona Coyotes third overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, who had a goal and an assist in a 4-1 win over St. Cloud State. Jackson Lacombe, an Anaheim Ducks prospect also had a goal and an assist, as did undrafted Jaxon Nelson who sealed the game with an empty net goal.
  • Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic reports one of Farrell’s teammates is close to signing as well. Goaltender Mitchell Gibson was drafted by the Washington Capitals in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL Draft and just saw his Harvard hockey career come to a close. The 23 year old’s final NCAA game was not flattering as he allowed seven goals before being pulled in that blowout loss, but he had a stellar college career. He finished this season with a 2.25 GAA and a .919 SV% in 27 games. He would add some youth to the Capitals goaltending pipeline as they have been relying on 27 year old goalies Zach Fucale and Hunter Shepard at the AHL level.

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