With the 2016-17 NCAA hockey season coming to a close, many of the top graduating players will soon decide where they want to start their professional careers.
One of those players, Tyler Kelleher, will likely sign with the New Jersey Devils, according to Elliotte Friedman's latest 30 Thoughts column:
Another 63-point player is five-foot-six Tyler Kelleher, who is very skilled. He’s rumoured to be New Jersey-bound, and it’s not a surprise the Devils are the only NHL team following him on Twitter.
It would certainly not be a surprise if Kelleher puts pen to paper on a contract with the Devils. He attended their development camp last summer and management seemed to like what they saw.
Though he left without a contract, that certainly has more to do with him wanting to finish out his college career -- players can't remain in college after signing an entry-level contract -- than a lack of interest on the Devils' end.
He is coming off a strong season where he scored 23 goals and registered 63 points in 40 games. The undersized 22-year-old has produced at better than a point per game clip in each of the last three years so it's not as if his production has come out of nowhere. He has always been a point producer.
Given where the Devils are at, I wouldn't be surprised to see Kelleher thrown into the lineup immediately. It would be a good teaching point for Kelleher, allow the Devils to get a feel for exactly what they have, and also burn a year off of a two-year ELC, making him a restricted free agent after 2017-18 (that is something many college free agents often bargain for).
It's not guaranteed Kelleher signs in New Jersey but, at this point, it appears more likely than not. Watch for this in the coming days.
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