The NHL’s San Jose Sharks announced Thursday that the club has signed Quinnipiac junior forward Collin Graf to a standard, entry-level contract.
The contract will begin immediately for the 2023-24 season.
“Graf has excelled at the collegiate level, finishing as a Hobey Baker top-10 finalist for the last two seasons,” said San Jose GM Mike Grier in a statement. “His on-ice awareness allows him to process the game at a high level and is a unique player with a quality 200-foot game who excels in the offensive zone. We are excited to have him join the organization.”
Graf led Quinnipiac in scoring with 49 points and 22 goals and was second on the club with 27 assists in the 2023-24 season. Named ECAC Hockey’s player of the year and the conference’s best defensive forward, Graf registered 12 multi-point games on the season and tallied an assist in Quinnipiac’s NCAA quarterfinal contest, an overtime loss against top-ranked Boston College.
The native of Lincoln, Mass., helped the Bobcats win the NCAA national championship in the 2022-23 season as a sophomore, scoring a third-period, game-tying goal with 2:47 remaining in regulation to force the contest to a decisive overtime. Graf led the team in all scoring categories with 21 goals, 38 assists and 59 points, with his assist total tying for the NCAA lead and tied the program record in the process for most points in a season.
He was an HCA co-national player of the month in November, a two-time ECAC forward of the month in December and March, was tabbed for the ECAC first all-conference team, earned a spot on the NCAA all-tournament team, and was an AHCA first team All-American.
Graf played one year at Union before transferring to Quinnipiac, earning a spot on the ECAC all-academic team.
He finishes his collegiate career with 130 points (54 goals, 76 assists) in 112 games.
