Every offseason there are always at least a handful of college free agents that are signed by NHL teams. Most of them don’t turn out to be much more than good minor-league players or depth forwards, but there are exceptions to the rule, and the 25-year-old Nico Sturm seems to be on his way to being one of those exceptions for the Minnesota Wild.
Age: 25
Weight: 207 lbs
After a very good junior season at Clarkson University where he recorded 45 points in 39 games and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, Sturm chose to forgo his final year of college eligibility to sign a one-year, entry-level contract with the Wild.