Hunter Shepard, the reigning North American Hockey League Goaltender of the Year, has signed a National Letter of Intent to attend and play hockey for the University of Minnesota Duluth in 2016-17.

The second-year Bismarck Bobcat and Cohasset, Minn., native joins forward Joey Anderson (U.S. National Under-18 Team), defenseman Jarod Hilderman (Fargo Force/United States Hockey League), forward Josh Laframboise (Salmon Arm/British Columbia Hockey League), goaltender Hunter Miska (Dubuque Fighting Saints/USHL), forward Riley Tufte (Blaine High School) and defenseman Nick Wolff (Des Moines Buccaneers/USHL) in UMD's 2016-17 recruiting class.

During the 2015-16 regular season, Shepard paced the NAHL in wins (he was 34-11-3), shut outs (eight), minutes (2,932:11) and appearances (50) while ranking second in goals against average (1.90) and fourth in saves percentage (.926). Both his victories and shut out totals were franchise records. He backstopped the Bobcats to the Central Division regular season and playoff titles this past winter as well as a berth in the NAHL Robertson Cup semifinals, which get underway tomorrow (May 12) in Edina, Minn.

Shepard, a member of the 2015-16 All-NAHL Team, manned the crease in 31 games as a Bobcat rookie in 2014-15 and had a 14-14-1 record, a 3.28 goals against average and an .878 saves percentage to show for it. One year earlier while tending goal for Grand Rapids High School, he received the Frank Brimsek Award as the top senior netminder in Minnesota. He compiled a 2.64 goals against mark and a .918 saves percentage for the Thunderhawks that season.