Forward Ty Smilanic, who spent the past two seasons at Quinnipiac, will transfer and join Wisconsin for the fall of 2022.
“We are very excited to add Ty to our program,” UW coach Tony Granato said in a statement. “He’s an exciting young player who has two productive years of college hockey under his belt. He is a great skater who will add speed and scoring punch to our lineup.”
Smilanic comes to the Badgers after tallying 27 goals and 44 points in 70 games with the Bobcats. He was part of the 2022 U.S. National Junior Team that was competing last December in Red Deer, Alberta, before the event was canceled due to COVID-19.
Smilanic was a 2021 ECAC Hockey all-rookie team member and a finalist for the league’s rookie of the year after earning three ECAC Hockey rookie of the week honors and an ECAC Hockey rookie of the month accolade for February 2021. His 14 goals as a freshman led the nation’s rookies and tied him for 11th in the country overall.
A 2020 third-round NHL draft pick (74th overall) of the Florida Panthers, Smilanic was traded to Montreal this past March in the Panthers’ deal for Ben Chariot. He becomes the highest drafted forward on UW’s current roster.
