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With “remarkable” college run behind him, Bruins get a winner in Nick Wolff |
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The city of Boston knows a thing or two about winning teams and winning players. Bruins fans will certainly be impressed with the college resume of Nick Wolff.
If you take out the 2019-20 season which was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Wolff’s tenure at the University of Minnesota Duluth reads: three seasons, three National Championship appearances and two National Championship titles.
With National Championship appearances being the norm at Duluth, Wolff has been a big part of the program’s success. The Bruins hope that Wolff brings his championship pedigree to their organization.
Wolff’s freshman year saw the Bulldogs reach the National Championship, losing to the University of Denver before back-to-back National Championships with wins over Notre Dame and the University of Massachusetts.
Although a loss in the National Championship is never the way one wants to end their freshman season, it was a season that Assistant Coach Adam Krause said gave Wolff a ton of confidence going into his sophomore and junior seasons.
“What was good for Nick was that freshman team he was on was pretty special. They had arguably probably the best group of players individually from an individual standpoint within all the National Championship teams,” Krause told Hockeybuzz Monday afternoon. “He got to learn from some really high-end players and he was put into some really big situations as a freshman.”
The Bulldogs roster in Wolff’s freshman season was filled with current NHL players such as Neal Pionk, Alex Iafallo, and Karson Kuhlman. The roster also featured many others who are currently sitting in the American Hockey League, waiting for their turn to crack an NHL roster.
“I think that experience gave him the confidence to go into his sophomore and junior years and be a big part of those National Championship teams,” said Krause. “Even as a freshman, I know he played mature beyond his years. But right when he stepped on campus, it was almost like he had that maturity about him. He always seemed to play older than he was and I don’t think it was any different as a freshman. He played some big minutes on a really good team his freshman year, kind of carried that and didn’t look back.”
After the Bulldogs dropped the National Championship in 2017, Wolff got the invite to the Calgary Flames development camp. From there, he spent the next two summers in Boston skating with the Bruins in their camps. Like any camp invitee, Wolff was there to prove his worth.
“I think he took big steps every year and those development camps certainly put into perspective for lack of a better term here, competition around the world, kind of saying these are the guys I am competing with in terms of earning those contracts,” said Krause.
At 6’5” 229lbs, it’s easy for Wolff to throw his body around and let his physical nature do to the work for him. But over the course of the last two seasons, Wolff has put an emphasis on developing his offensive side of his game, with become a better puck-moving defenseman his main goal.
Last summer when speaking to the improvements Wolff made from his first camp with the Bruins to his second, Providence Bruins head coach Jay Leach was pleased to see how much better of a passer Wolf had become in just one year.
“The good thing with Nick is that he’s really coachable and took a lot of things and worked on them. He was a guy who was really receptive to criticism and there was nothing you could really say about him that could get him too upset,” said Krause.
“That’s one of the things that I think for him to be successful and for him to make the highest level he needed to be a good puck-moving defenseman and breakout pucks. That’s something he got really good at towards the end and used his body his real well and it plays real well as he got the puck up to his forwards. It’s something he got better and better at and something that’s really important at the next level.”
When it comes to Wolff as a whole on the ice, his compete level and willingness to put the work in can't be questioned.
“He’s an interesting guy. You wanna talk about competitive? He’s as competitive as it gets,” Leach said about Wolff's game last June.”
Krause had much of the same to say about the 23-year old.
“First thing that comes to mind is he’s just a competitor. He’s kind of a throwback if I were to use a term as far as like the new age hockey player. He’s a little bit old school, he was a tremendous competitor in practice and I think that’s something that really stood out different about him,” said Krause. “He led by working harder than you. He always raised the level in practice and just from a leadership standpoint this year, that was something he really had to adjust to.”
When the NCCA season officially shut down in March, Wolff had interest from several NHL teams. But because of the relationship the Bruins created with Wolff over the last two years, Boston became an easy choice for him.
“I think the one thing with Boston is they did a really good job building a relationship with him the last few years and Nick is a kid that builds all his relationships on trust,” said Krause. “I think if Nick trusts you, he will go to war with you and if he doesn’t trust you, he probably won’t give you too much time. Nick is a big relationship kind of guy and I think that was the biggest thing with him.”
A big part of what made Wolff an attractive option to the Bruins was how well he was able to develop from his freshman year all the way through his final game with Duluth in March. Wolf finished his collegiate career with 14 goals, 39 assists and 53 points in 156 career games.
“He was a big rugged defenseman that maybe doesn't look as pretty, but then you look at his game and breakdown his game and this kid is making some really nice plays along with defending well and using a good stick and ending plays along the wall," said Krause.
“Those are all things he continued to get better at and he earned what he got in Boston, and you’re going to get a guy who is going to compete every single night, every single practice and he just raises that level.”
Having your shot at another National Championship disappear is a tough pill to swallow. But for Wolff, having the season end so abruptly must feel even more strange seeing as he’s used to ending his season playing for college hockey’s ultimate prize.
“Nick Wolff hasn’t seen a season end without the National Championship game, that’s something that is remarkable. His freshman year he lost the National Championship game and then won back-to-back. That’s pretty remarkable,” said Krause. “So when you tell a kid a month before he knows his season ends, when he’s used to playing in late April and then in March, you tell him it’s done, it’s a pretty weird feeling. I think for those guys because all they’ve known here is success and championships.”
The Bruins have already found success with bringing in undrafted NCAA free agents out of Minnesota Duluth. Krause’s and Wolff’s former teammate Karson Kuhlman has turned into a nice depth piece with the Bruins during his brief time in the organization.
A big part of Duluth’s success these last four years has been head coach Scott Sandelin’s ability to get players to buy into the team’s system and show up every day with the right mindset. We’ve seen Kuhlman carry that with him into professional hockey and Krause expects Wolff to do the same.
“Here we’ve attracted guys who are ready to put the work in and Karson is no different. Obviously I would say [they’re] different type of players, as far as their skills and that sort of thing. But that mentality is the same and something coach Sandelin here stresses,” Krause said.
“Without that mentality it’s hard to have success and hard to have success as a team and then have success at the next level. You’re not going to find every single kid with that drive that the Karson Kuhlmans have and the Nick Wolffs have. But I think those guys are invaluable to have in your room because they set the standard.”
Climbing up the depth chart enough to crack the Bruins roster won’t be an easy task, especially as the Bruins continue to bring defensive talent into the organization.
Krause believes that Wolff has the talent and the work ethic to development into a reliable defenseman at the NHL level, but if Wolff fails to get there for whatever reason, turning into a key leader at the AHL level could be in the cards.
“I think worst case scenario with Nick you’re going to get a tremendous leader at the American League level, that’s going to show a lot of young prospects what it takes to be a hockey player from a work ethic standpoint,” said Krause. “He’s going to be a guy who protects his teammates, extremely well-liked away from the rink and for me, that’s going to be the bare minimum Nick Wolff will bring to an organization.”
Krause spent parts of three seasons in the AHL with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and the Rochester Americans. With Wilkes-Baree/Scranton, Krause got to play alongside younger guys who ended up turning into key depth players for the Penguins Stanley Cup runs in 2016 and 2017.
Krause can see Wolff someday playing a similar role.
“I played at the American League level where those guys are extremely important as far as the success of your NHL club. Those young guys in the American league like Nick Wolff are going to be tremendous," said Krause.
"It’s hard to say with Pittsburgh having obviously the Malkin’s and the Crosby’s of the world, the Kessel’s. But I don’t know if Pittsburgh wins those championships without guys like Connor Sheary, Bryan Rust, Tom Kuhnhackl and all those guys. I think that leadership at the level is so important and I think Nick could be that for a long time at that level, worst case scenario. You can’t go wrong signing guys like that.”
Coming to Boston with an impressive collegiate resume, Wolff hopes that whenever he leaves Boston down the road, it’s with an equally impressive NHL resume.
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