Days after his NCAA career ended in heartbreaking fashion, Jordan Kawaguchi has signed a one-year entry-level deal with a National Hockey League club.
Considered one of the top college free agents, on Wednesday (March 31) the 23-year-old Abbotsford product put pen to paper with the Dallas Stars, one of several NHL clubs teams that had expressed interest in the graduating University of North Dakota (UND) senior.
Kawaguchi will spend the remainder of the 2020-21 on an amateur tryout with the American Hockey League’s Texas Stars.
We’ve signed forward Jordan Kawaguchi to a one-year, entry-level contract. Kawaguchi will report to the @TexasStars. #GoStars https://t.co/GMD5xZP9I5
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) March 31, 2021
Kawaguchi captained the Fighting Hawks this season and spent four years in Fargo, North Dakota.
The all-time Chilliwack Chiefs points leader played 136 games for UND, producing 40 goals and 126 points.
He could have left college after the 2019-20 season and gotten himself a pro contract, but he returned for his senior season and led the Fighting Hawks to the NCAA playoffs as the top-ranked team in the nation.
They fell in heart-breaking fashion to Minnesota-Duluth last weekend, losing a five-overtime thriller in a regional playoff.
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