Hunter Miska has decided to forgo his final three seasons of collegiate eligibility as today the Arizona Coyotes of the National Hockey League announced they signed the 6-1, 175-pound University of Minnesota Duluth rookie goaltender to an entry-level contract.
This past winter, Miska equaled a program single-season record for shutouts (five) while posting a 2.20 goals against average and a .920 saves percentage. A Top 5 Finalist for the 2016-17 Mike Richter Award (most outstanding collegiate goalie in the nation), Miska ranked third among all NCAA puckstoppers in winning percentage (.797 off a 27-5-5 mark) and victories (27, the second-highest single-season total in team history). He was unbeaten in 19 of his final 20 appearances as a Bulldog (16-1-3) with that lone loss coming to the University of Denver (3-2) in the NCAA Frozen Four title game. Besides the Mike Richter finalist citation, Miska was on the receiving end of a host of other honors during the course of the 2016-17 season including All-National Collegiate Hockey Conference second team, NCHC Rookie of the Month (January and February), NCAA West Regional All-Tournament Team, NCHC Frozen Faceoff All-Tournament Team and North Star College Cup Most Valuable Player. The Stacy, Minn., product, who was also a five-time NCHC Goalie/Rookie of the Week honoree, is the the first Bulldog netminder to ever begin his career by going 6-0-0. Miska started 36 straight games to close out the year, and wound up turning in both the fourth-best single-season goals against average and saves percentage in program history.
Miska, a free agent, is the 14th Bulldog since 2007 to leave UMD early for the professional ranks, joining wingers Mason Raymond (with Vancouver in 2007), Rob Bordson (Anaheim in 2010), Mike Connolly (San Jose in 2011), J.T. Brown (Tampa Bay in 2012) and Caleb Herbert (Washington in 2014), defensemen Matt Niskanen (Dallas in 2007), Jason Garrison (Florida in 2008), Evan Oberg (Vancouver in 2009), Dylan Olsen (Chicago in 2010), Justin Faulk (Carolina in 2011) and Chris Casto (Boston in 2013) and goaltenders Kasimir Kaskisuo (Toronto in 2016) and Alex Stalock (San Jose in 2009).
