Frozen Four loaded with NHL prospects

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- For a growing number of players in the National Hockey League, the path to the pros began with college hockey.
Future NHL talent will be on display at the 2018 NCAA Frozen Four, which begins Thursday at Xcel Energy Center when Ohio State plays Minnesota Duluth (6 p.m. ET; ESPN2) and Notre Dame plays Michigan (9:30 p.m. ET; ESPN2). The championship game is Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN).

Nineteen NHL teams have prospects competing. Here is a look at some of the top prospects, free agents and draft-eligible players.

Prospects

Jake Evans (Notre Dame, senior forward, 6-1, 190, Montreal Canadiens, 2014 NHL Draft, 7th round, No. 207): Evans, Notre Dame's captain, is having a career year. He leads the team with 42 points (11 goals, 31 assists) and has four game-winning goals. He has 134 career points, the highest total in the Frozen Four.
Tanner Laczynski (Ohio State, sophomore forward, 6-1, 190, Philadelphia Flyers, 2016 NHL Draft, 6th round, No. 169): He has powered the Buckeyes offense this season with 46 points (16 goals, 30 assists), is plus-19 and has 158 shots. A Big Ten First-Team selection and finalist for Big Ten Player of the Year, Laczynski has improved on his freshman season, when he had 32 points (10 goals, 22 assists).
Joey Anderson (Minnesota Duluth, sophomore forward, 6-0, 195, New Jersey Devils, 2016 NHL Draft, 3rd round, No. 73): Anderson ranks fourth on the Bulldogs with 27 points (11 goals, 16 assists) in 34 games. He missed six regular season games while he was at the IIHF World Junior Championships, where he is a two-time member of the U.S. Men's National Junior team and helped the United States win back-to-back medals (gold 2017, bronze 2018) at the Under-20 tournament for the first time in USA Hockey history. He scored seven points (four goals, three assists) in this year's tournament.
Cooper Marody (Michigan, junior forward, 6-0, 190, Edmonton Oilers, 2015 NHL Draft, 6th round, No. 158):The Oilers acquired Marody from the Flyers after the trade deadline in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. One of Marody's strongest suits is passing. He had 34 assists and 50 points this season.

Draft eligible

Scott Perunovich (Minnesota Duluth, freshman defenseman, 5-10, 170): The Bulldogs lost six defensemen after the 2016-17 season, putting pressure on an incredibly young new group, and Perunovich responded. He leads NCAA freshman defensemen with 36 points (11 goals, 25 assists) and a plus-20 rating. He was undrafted in his first two seasons of eligibility, but the 19-year-old is one of only five freshmen and six defensemen to lead his team in scoring, according to College Hockey, Inc. He was the National Collegiate Hockey Conference's Rookie of the Year, and along with sophomore Nick Wolff has been the Bulldogs top pair.
"I think my confidence has gone up. That's definitely a big part of [my game developing]," Perunovich said. "The guys are always helping, being positive. … I think the team we have, no matter what you're doing, they'll be supporting no matter what. If you make a mistake, they'll say 'get over it.' I think just my confidence overall [has improved]."
Quinn Hughes (Michigan, freshman defenseman, 5-10, 175): Hughes, 18, ranks third nationally among freshman defensemen with 29 points, and his 24 assists set a Michigan record for freshmen defensemen. He is expected to be a top-10 pick in this year's NHL Entry Draft, thanks to his strong skating and ability to break the puck out of the zone.

Undrafted free agents

Cale Morris (Notre Dame, sophomore goaltender, 6-1, 190): He has been a savior -- and saver -- this season with a 26-7-1 record, a 1.91 goals-against average and four shutouts, and leads all NCAA D-I goaltenders with a .945 save percentage.
"Cale was awesome last year -- his attitude, his work ethic," coach Jeff Jackson said. "I mean, he's getting what he earned."
Mason Jobst (Ohio State, junior forward, 5-8, 185): Jobst says his size has been the knock against him and he is quick to refute the claims that it's a deterrent for playing in the NHL.
"I think I've had a chip on my shoulder my whole life. I've been undersized my whole life," Jobst said. "There are a lot of guys coming out of college who have been undersized [and] who are kind of paving the way for my size-type player. I guess you'd say [Pittsburgh Penguins forward] Conor Sheary (5-8, 175) and guys like that that are excelling at the NCAA, and they can prove that they can play at the next level. You've got to be able to play a 200-foot game, you can't be a perimeter player when you're my size. And you have to produce to make it."
Jobst, 23, has a team-high 21 goals and earned a spot on the Big Ten Second Team. He has 12 goals and 10 assists in his past 17 games. He also plays a key role on special teams, scoring 20 power-play goals and four shorthanded goals in his career. Jobst was invited to development camps for the Penguins and Boston Bruins in 2017.

Hobey Baker Award

The three finalists for this season's Hobey Baker Award, given to the top men's college hockey player, are already in the NHL.
Ryan Donato (forward, Harvard/Bruins): Seven points (four goals, three assists) in nine NHL games.
Henrik Borgstrom (forward, Denvere/Florida Panthers): Zero points, three shots in two NHL games.
Adam Gaudette (forward, Northeastern/Vancouver Canucks): Zero points, five shots in three NHL games.
All signed three-year, entry-level contracts. The winner will be announced Friday at Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul (6 p.m. ET; NHL Network, livestream at hobeybaker.com).

By the numbers

32: Percentage of NHL players in 2017 who played college hockey.
25: NHL prospects appearing in the 2018 Frozen Four.
12: Draft eligible players in the 2018 Frozen Four.
10: NHL draft picks from the University of Michigan.
8: NCAA Division I players among the NHL's top 20 rookie scorers.
7: Potential NHL free agents.
\College Hockey, Inc., contributed to statistics in this report*