By Emily McCarthy, News Staff
The tough task of replacing junior captain Josh Manson will be on the Northeastern men’s hockey team’s to-do list this offseason. The blueliner decided Tuesday to forgo his fourth and final year of NCAA eligibility and sign a two-year entry-level contract with the Anaheim Ducks National Hockey League (NHL) organization. The financial details of the contract will not be disclosed per club policy, according to the official release on the Ducks’ website.
“Josh Manson changed the culture of our hockey program and had a lot to do with the success of Northeastern hockey,” Huskies head coach Jim Madigan said in a release on goNU.com. “It’s a bittersweet moment where we’re losing a fine young man, a very good student and a very good hockey player, but I know that he’s ready for the next challenge.”
The 6-foot, 3-inch, 223-pound Manson was selected by Anaheim with the 160th overall pick in the sixth round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
Unlike athletes selected in the NBA and NFL drafts that play professionally during the first season following the draft, players selected in the NHL Entry draft often choose to play at the collegiate level after they are drafted. The professional teams hold those players’ rights during their college careers and retain them for an additional 30 days after those players leave college.
Manson played for the Huskies for three seasons, skating in 99 games and tallying six goals, 15 assists and 93 blocked shots.
This season, Manson scored three goals and recorded seven assists while leading Northeastern with a +12 rating and finishing fifth on the team in blocked shots with 35. He helped lead the Huskies to a 19-14-4 overall record and a fifth-place finish in the Hockey East standings.
The Prince Albert, Saskatchewan native was named to the Hockey East second all-star team and received the conference’s Old Time Hockey award which honors the best defensive defenseman at the conference’s postseason banquet.
Prior to coming to Northeastern, Manson played for the Salmon Arm in the British Coloumbia Hockey League (BCHL). In his two seasons with the BCHL club, Manson tallied 22 goals and 49 assists. He also skated in 20 BCHL playoff games.
Manson comes from a hockey family as his father, Dave Manson, played in the NHL for 17 seasons after being drafted 11th overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1985.
