Minnesota Adds Northeastern Transfer Mike Szmatula

The University of Minnesota officially announced on Thursday that they have added Northeastern transfer Mike Szmatula to their roster. Szmatula will sit out next season as a transfer year before having two years of eligibility remaining beginning in 2016-2017.

Szmatula came to Northeastern as a highly-regarded prospect after being named first team all-league and playoff MVP as an overage player in the USHL. And he largely lived up to that hype at Northeastern, scoring 68 points in his two seasons. But it was always a rocky relationship between Szmatula and the Huskies. Prior to enrolling at Northeastern, Szmatula tried to switch his commitment to the University of Denver to follow his junior coach Jim Montgomery. Northeastern refused to release him from his Letter of Intent, however, and with no junior eligibility remaining, Szmatula instead went to Northeastern.

This June, Szmatula announced he was leaving Northeastern, though the Huskies did not allow him to transfer to another Hockey East school or to Denver.

Szmatula's talent and experience should make an instant impact for the Gophers in two years.