Bruins Prospects on Display at NCAA Tourney

BostonBruins.com - While the Bruins gear up for a run at their first playoff appearance since 2014, some of the Black & Gold's prospects are already in the thick of the postseason.
Six Bruins draft picks will be part of the 2017 NCAA Men's Division I Tournament, which begins this weekend. Here is the rundown:

Anders Bjork (Notre Dame): The Fighting Irish fell to UMass-Lowell in the Hockey East semifinals at TD Garden last weekend, but still earned a spot in the D1 Tourney as the 13 seed. Notre Dame will take on Minnesota in the opening round of the Northeast Regional on Friday at 3:30 p.m. (ESPNU) in Manchester, N.H.
Bjork, a 2014 fifth-round pick, leads the Fighting Irish with 47 points (19 goals, 28 assists) this season. The junior forward was recently named one of 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey's top player.
Charlie McAvoy and Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson (Boston University): After sweeping Northeastern in the Hockey East quarterfinals, the Terriers fell to rival Boston College, 3-2, in the semis. Forsbacka-Karlsson assisted on BU's second goal.
The Terriers earned a spot as the seventh seed in the NCAA Tourney and will battle North Dakota on Friday in Fargo (3 p.m., ESPN2) at the West Regional.
Forsbacka-Karlsson (2015 second-round pick) ranks third on the Terriers with 32 points and second in goals with 13. McAvoy, last June's 14th overall pick, was named a Hockey East First Team All-Star last week after notching four goals and 20 assists in 36 games.

Ryan Donato and Wiley Sherman (Harvard): The Crimson enter the tournament as the nation's second-ranked team and the ECAC champions after defeating Cornell, 4-1, in the league title game last Saturday.
Donato (2014 second-round pick) pumped home two power-play goals in the victory, while Sherman (2013 fifth-round pick) added an assist. Sherman also notched an assist in Harvard's semifinal win over Quinnipiac.
Donato led the Crimson with 20 goals this season, while ranking third with 38 points in 33 games. Sherman, a junior defenseman, has no goals and 12 assists.
Harvard will face off with Providence at 4 p.m. on Friday (ESPNU) in the first round of the East Regional in Providence.
Ryan Lindgren (Minnesota): The Golden Gophers dropped a double-overtime thriller to Penn State in the Big Ten tournament last Friday. It was the longest game in the conference's history. Minnesota will take on Bjork and Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA Tourney.
Lindgren, a 2016 second-round pick, will miss the tournament with a lower-leg injury suffered in Minnesota's regular-season finale, according to the team's website. The freshman defenseman, who required surgery but is expected to make a full recovery, notched a goal and six assists in 32 games during his first season with the Gophers.

College Seasons Wrap Up

For the Bruins' remaining collegiate prospects, the season has come to an end.
Ryan Fitzgerald potted two goals in Boston College's Hockey East semifinals win over BU and added another in the Eagles' loss to UMass-Lowell in the title game. The 2013 fourth-round pick finished his senior season with 31 points (12 goals, 19 assists), which ranked fourth on the Eagles.
Forwards Trent Frederic and Cameron Hughes both had strong campaigns for Wisconsin, which fell to Penn State in double overtime of the Big Ten title game. Frederic, the 29th overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, finished his freshman season with 15 goals and 33 points, both ranking second on the Badgers.
Hughes, a junior and 2015 sixth-round pick, was third on the Badgers with 32 points (seven goals, 25 assists).
Defenseman Cam Clarke's freshman season at Ferris State finished with the 2016 fifth-round pick tallying one goal and 10 assists in 35 games.