The University of Minnesota Duluth men's hockey team had one of better players over the past few years turn pro. Senior forward Nick Swaney has signed a one-year entry level contract with the Minnesota Wild that starts in the 2021-22 season. He will report to the Iowa Wild on an ATO (amateur try-out) for the remainder of the season.


 
Swaney has been a fairly productive player over the past four years for the Bulldogs. Just this past season as assistant captain, he became the 59^th player in UMD history to hit the century club.



He finished his collegiate career with 101 points in 134 games. He scored 28 points this season (13g, 15a) and was the Bulldogs' top point scorer this season. He recorded 10 penalty minutes (PIM), three power-play goals (PPG), one shorthanded goal (SHG) and one game-winning goal (GWG). The 5-foot-11, 175-pound native of Lakeville, Minn. ranked second in assists and shots (124), T-2nd in goals and T-3rd in PPG. His shot total ranked fifth in NCAA while he ranked fourth in the NCHC in scoring and T-5th in goals. The left-shot forward tallied his second collegiate hat trick on Feb. 27 vs. St. Cloud State. He was named NCHC Forward of the Week on March 1 and registered a career-high six-game point streak (4g, 4a) Jan. 23-Feb. 6.
 
On top of 101 career points, he collected 493 shots, a +41 rating, 12 PPG, four SHG and eight GWG with the UMD in four seasons (2017-21) and won back-to-back NCAA championships with the Bulldogs in 2018 and 2019.
 
Swaney was selected by Minnesota in the seventh round (209th overall) of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.