Flyers sign college free agent center Mike Vecchione

PHILADELPHIA (AP) The Flyers signed sought-after college center Mike Vecchione to one-year entry-level contract on Friday. General manager Ron Hextall said

SI Staff | Mar 31, 2017

Flyers sign college free agent center Mike Vecchione /

PHILADELPHIA (AP) The Flyers signed sought-after college center Mike Vecchione to one-year entry-level contract on Friday.

General manager Ron Hextall said Vecchione would play for the team this season but added that the 24-year-old's NHL debut probably wouldn't come Saturday against the New Jersey Devils.

''We're excited about it,'' Hextall said. ''We identified a couple of guys, college free agents, and Mike was one of them. Thankfully we got him.''

Budding prospect Mike Vecchione fueled to succeed in senior season with Union

Philadelphia has five games remaining. If Vecchione plays this season, he would become a restricted free agent this summer.

Vecchione had 29 goals and 34 assists in 38 games for Union College and is a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award as the NCAA's top player. His 63 points were tied for the most in the country.

He is Union's all-time leading scorer with 71 goals and 105 assists in 149 games and won the 2014 national title in Philadelphia alongside Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere.

The 5-foot-10, 195-pound Vecchione was one of the top college free agents available, ultimately picking the Flyers over the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning. He could make his debut against the Rangers on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.

NHL's All Time Best and Worst College Free Agents

Best: Adam Oates

A brilliantly creative playmaker, Oates was originally signed by Detroit in 1985 and went on to become the set-up man who keyed Brett Hull to three consecutive seasons of 70-plus goals in St. Louis. Oates then moved on to Boston, where he helped Cam Neely to three years as a 50-goal man. He ranks seventh on the NHL's all-time assist list with 1,079.

Worst: Drew Leblanc

The 2013 Hobey Baker Award winner arrived in Chicago with a reputation as an elite playmaker but he lasted just two games with the Blackhawks before being relegated to the AHL. Leblanc spent two undistinguished seasons in Rockford before moving on to the German League.

Best: Blake Wheeler

Using the same clause that allowed Jimmy Vesey to become a UFA out of college, Wheeler spurned the Phoenix Coyotes to sign with the Boston Bruins in 2008. Traded to the Atlanta Thrashers in 2011, he's since matured into an outstanding leader and a top scorer with the franchise since its relocation to Winnipeg.

Worst: Jarod Palmer

A star forward at Miami of Ohio, Palmer was rated the top college free agent of 2010 by Red Line Report. Lingering injuries and a lack of finish conspired against him, limiting him to just six games and one goal in the NHL before he retired in 2013.

Best: Ed Belfour

Expectations were high for Belfour, who signed as a free agent after leading North Dakota to a national championship 1987. He did not disappoint. The Eagle spent seven seasons in Chicago, picking up a pair of Vezina trophies before moving on to Dallas where he won the Stanley Cup in 1999. He won 484 games during his career, ranking third on the all-time list, and was a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Worst: Matt Gilroy

Gilroy seemed to be the complete package when he signed out of Boston University. At 6' 2", 200 pounds, he was a smooth-skating, puck-moving defender and a Hobey Baker winner, prompting the Blueshirts to sign the 24-year-old to a lucrative two-year, $3.5 million deal. He went on to play 225 games for four different NHL clubs, but never managed to move beyond the third pair. Out of NHL options, he eventually shuffled off to the KHL.

Best: Joe Mullen

The Boston College star was a victim of the NHL's anti-American bias at the draft but made an immediate impact as a free agent, scoring 25 goals in his rookie season of 1981-82. He went on to become the first American to score 500 goals and 1,000 points in the NHL, blazing a trail for the next generation of U.S.-born stars.

Worst: Stephane Da Costa

The French-born center led the Merrimack Warriors in each of his first two college seasons, inspiring the Ottawa Senators to outbid 20 teams sign the top-rated free agent to a two-year deal. But Da Costa's puck skills and creativity failed to impress over four seasons and 47 games in the NHL, so he moved on to the KHL where he had some success.

Best: Dan Boyle

The NHL valued size over skill when Boyle was starring at Miami of Ohio, but the Panthers liked his numbers (94 points in 77 games during his junior/senior seasons) and gave him a chance in the minors. He eventually was moved to Tampa Bay where he became a two-time All-Star and a 2004 Stanley Cup winner.

Worst: Ray Staszak, Chris Cichocki, Dale Krentz

detroit-red-wings-ray-staszak-chris-cichocki-dale-krentz.jpg

Starving for talent, the Red Wings went on an epic college free agent shopping spree in the summer of 1985, highlighted by the signing of Staszak to a four-year, $1.4 million deal, the richest rookie contract in NHL history. He went on to play just four NHL games before being sent down, getting injured and calling it quits, assuring himself a place in hockey history as the greatest UFA bust of all time. Cichocki and Krentz hardly fared better, lasting just 68 and 30 games, respectively.

Philadelphia has had success with college free agents recently, signing winger Matt Read out of Bemidji State in 2011 and goaltender Alex Lyon out of Yale last year.

''There's not a lot of hits with NCAA guys,'' Hextall said. ''There's a lot of players signed. We typically look at the top end and we take a run - and if we don't get them, we don't get them. Mike was clearly one of the top guys.''

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This story has been corrected to show that Vecchione would be a restricted, not unrestricted, free agent this summer if he plays this season.

Published Mar 31, 2017

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