Former Boston College Men's Hockey Defenseman Signs Contract With Manitoba Moose
Former Boston College men’s hockey defenseman and team captain Lukas Gustafsson signed an AHL contract with the Manitoba Moose, the AHL affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets, according to a release from BC’s athletic communications department on Thursday.
Goose to the Moose!
— BC Men's Hockey (@BC_MHockey) April 2, 2026
Congrats to Lukas Gustafsson on signing with the @ManitobaMoose!
📰 https://t.co/7r3hfw3gHy pic.twitter.com/XyKcMe07Mw
Gustafsson will join the Moose for the remainder of the 2025-26 season on an Amateur Tryout Agreement (ATO), but his contract will officially kick in at the beginning of the 2026-27 season.
He is the fourth former Eagle to sign a professional contract following the conclusion of BC’s 2025-26 campaign, in which it fell in the Hockey East Tournament semifinals to miss an NCAA-Tournament bid.
An Atlanta, Ga., native who came to the Heights from the United States Hockey League’s Chicago Steel in 2023, Gustafsson finished his final campaign for the Eagles with the fifth-most points (22) and assists (16) on the roster, which were the most by a defenseman on the team.
He generated six multi-point games, including a three-point performance against Boston University in the 2026 Beanpot Championship — which BC captured for the first time since 2016 — and 12 points (4 goals, 8 assists) in league play, which led to a Hockey East Third Team All-Star nod.
Over four years with the program, Gustafsson totaled 14 goals and 58 assists for 72 points in 147 games on the blue-line. He contributed to two Hockey East regular season titles, a Hockey East Tournament Championship, one Beanpot, and a postseason run to the Eagles’ 12th all-time National Championship appearance back in 2023-24.
The other three players who signed professional contracts after the conclusion of last season were sophomore forward James Hagens, and sophomore defensemen Aram Minnetian and Drew Fortescue.
Fortescue is the only player of the four that has made his debut in the National Hockey League (NHL), which he did for the New York Rangers on March 27.
Hagens has now played in four contests for the Providence Bruins, the AHL affiliate of the Boston Bruins, in which he has garnered two points with a goal and an assist.
Minnetian has played only one game for the Texas Stars, Dallas’ AHL affiliate.
With a 31-26-5 overall record, Manitoba currently sits in fourth place in the AHL's Central Division, which means it will likely miss the playoffs. There are nine games remaining, however, so Gustafsson will likely still get his shot to skate for the Moose before their season is over.
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Graham Dietz is a 2025 graduate of Boston College and subsequently joined Boston College On SI. He previously served as an editor for The Heights, the independent student newspaper, from fall 2021, including as Sports Editor from 2022-23. Graham works for The Boston Globe as a sports correspondent, covering high school football, girls' basketball, and baseball. He was also a beat writer for the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod Baseball League in the summer of 2023.
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