[sureLoss]

The reports are that this class of UFAs is pretty weak.

The following prospects are the more interesting if they elect not sign with the teams

One NHL scout cut to the chase on the biggest reason to be paying close attention to U.S. college hockey this season.

“We’re all watching the guys who aren’t free agents now but could be free agents by the summer,” he said. “They’re the big fish.”
The “guys” he’s talking about are, of course, Harvard’s Jimmy Vesey, Providence’s Mark Jankowski and Boston University’s Matt Grzelcyk, amongst others. I wrote about them here three weeks ago.

One name I didn’t mention then, but probably should have is Boston College freshman winger Miles Wood.

NHL scouts and college coaches rave about Miles Wood’s “pro-style” complete game and Top 6 potential.

Wood is the son of former NHL forward Randy Wood and was drafted out of Noble and Greenough prep school by the New Jersey Devils in the fourth round (100th overall) of the 2013 draft.

Unlike Vesey, Jankowski, Grzelcyk et al, Wood can’t be an unrestricted free agent this summer, but if he decided to return to Boston College for his sophomore season next year, he could use the CBA to be UFA in the summer of 2017. New Jersey’s minimum four-year hold on Woods’ rights included two years of prep school hockey and, potentially, only two years of college hockey, if the player decided he wanted to pursue free agency. If Wood decided to stay in school for four years, the Devils would hold his rights until graduation.