The Bruins have signed another undrafted NCAA player that might be able to help them at some point down the road.
Miami University center Austin Czarnik confirmed on his own twitter account this morning that he had signed an entry level deal with the Bruins following his senior season of NCAA hockey. The RedHawks forward had nine goals and 45 points as a senior for Miami, and the Michigan native is a former linemate of Reilly Smith that posted 10 goals and 37 points while skating with him as a freshman in 2011-12.
The 36 assists this season tied him for third among NCAA players, and the former Hobey Baker finalist was a two-year captain for the RedHawks.
Smith expressed confidence that Czarnik will help the Bruins down the road, and it sounded like he’ll fit right as a feisty, smaller guy despite being a bit undersized for NHL standards at 5-foot-9, 167 pounds.
“I think every game we played together, and [Czarnik] helped me a lot of the success I had that year,” said Smith. “He’s a good, young player that got better over the course of his career. He’s a good, fierce young player, he’s talented and he likes to have the puck on his stick.
“I think I joked around with him a little bit this year because he had just one goal going into the last couple of weekends. But he turned that around quickly, and I feel like he’s a really good acquisition.”
It continues a solid connection between Miami University and the Bruins organization as well, with Smith, Czarnik and Carter Camper all logging NHL time with the Black and Gold, and Alden Hirschfeld and Steve Spinell at the AHL level, after spending their collegiate career with Enrico Blasi in Ohio.
TSN Insider Bob McKenzie had indicated on his twitter account that the Bruins were one of a number of teams interested in the undersized, playmaking pivot.