Two more Hockey East players left eligibility on the table to sign NHL deals, it was announced Wednesday.
Providence junior right wing Tyce Thompson and UMass Lowell junior defenseman Seth Barton inked deals with New Jersey Devils and Detroit Red Wings, respectively.
Thompson’s signing with the Devils was a forgone conclusion. The 1999 birth-year player from Milford, Conn., enjoyed three solid years with the Friars. In 2020-21, he scored 11 goals and 14 assists in 25 games. His best statistical season came as a sophomore in 2019-20 when he recorded 19 goals and 25 assists in 34 games. He was drafted in the fourth round of the 2019 NHL draft after a freshman season in which he scored eight goals and 17 assists.
Prior to playing for Providence, Thompson laced up the skates for Salisbury and the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints. Thompson has good size, skates well and thinks the game at a high level. He does a good job of finding soft spots in opposing defenses. His older brother, Tage Thompson, plays for the Buffalo Sabres. His father, Brent Thompson, has been the head coach of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the New York Islanders’ AHL affiliate, since 2014.
Barton left UMass Lowell after three seasons to sign with the Red Wings, the organization that selected him in the third round of the 2018 draft. From Kelowna, British Columbia, Barton scored two goals and nine assists in 20 games this season. He finishes his career in a River Hawks uniform with seven goals and 29 assists in 83 games.
Barton was a good player for UML but isn’t irreplaceable. Norm Bazin’s team is expected to return its top three blueliners in Chase Blackmun, Ben Meehan (Walpole, Mass.) and Jon McDonald. If the River Hawks can figure out their goaltending situation, there should be plenty of wins for the team from Lowell in 2021-22.
Friars pick up grad transfer
After playing four seasons at Vermont, Alex Esposito will join Providence for the 2021-22 season as a grad transfer. The West Hartford, Conn., native played prep hockey at Loomis Chaffee and junior hockey for the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms before skating for the Catamounts. In 106 games for Vermont, Esposito scored 23 goals and 29 assists for 52 points.
Two locals get NTDP call up
Defenseman Ryan Healey (Hull, Mass.) and right wing Michael Callow (South Boston, Mass.) will join USA Hockey’s NTDP U-17 team for this weekend’s games. Both 2004-born prospects are committed to play college hockey at Harvard.
It’s been an eventful year for Healey. In addition to playing full time with Boston Advantage, he’s already skated in five games for the NTDP and another five for the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede.
Callow has played for St. Sebastian’s the past two years. This weekend will mark his first appearance in a junior hockey game.
Lindner commits to AIC
Former Junior Bruins defenseman Luis Lindner has committed to American International. The ’01 from Spittal an der Drau, Austria, appeared in 39 games for the Junior Bruins’ NCDC team in 2019-20. He potted eight goals and added 34 assists for 42 points.
This season, Lindner competed in the World Junior Championships for his native Austria. In addition to numerous national team appearances over the years, he played youth hockey for RB Hockey Academy.
