University of Minnesota Duluth senior defenseman Jarod Hilderman signed with the ECHL's Jacksonville Icemen on Thursday afternoon. 

Hilderman is the 24th Bulldog since 2007 – and fifth this spring -- to head to the professional ranks, joining forwards Mason Raymond (with Vancouver in 2007),  Rob Bordson (Anaheim in 2010), Mike Connolly (San Jose in 2011), J.T. Brown (Tampa Bay in 2012), Caleb Herbert (Washington in 2014), Adam Johnson (Pittsburgh in 2017), Joey Anderson (New Jersey in 2018), Riley Tufte (Dallas in 2019), and Justin Richards (New York Rangers in 2020), 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), Chris Casto (Boston in 2013), Neal Pionk (New York Rangers in 2017), Mikey Anderson (Los Angeles in 2019) and Scott Perunovich (St. Louis Blues in 2020) and Dylan Samberg (Winnepeg Jets in 2020), and goaltenders Alex Stalock (San Jose in 2009), Kasimir Kaskisuo (Toronto in 2016) and Hunter Miska (Phoenix in 2017).
 
Hilderman managed to play in 32 of 34 games this past winter, accumulating 3 assists in his final go around with the Bulldogs while posting a +4 this past season. Over the course of his career, Hilderman made appearances in 67 games over four seasons, amassing a total of 65 shots with one goal and 10 assists, for 11 points in his career. He managed to stay out of the box year in and out, committing only 13 offenses and spending only 26 minutes altogether in the sinbin while playing at UMD. While with the Bulldogs, Hilderman manned a +6 for his career and snagged one powerplay goal.
 
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