UMD men's hockey: Swaney signs 1-year deal with Minnesota Wild

Matt Wellens, Duluth News Tribune, Minn.
·2 min read

Apr. 12—Minnesota Duluth senior wing and two-time national champion Nick Swaney has signed a one-year NHL contract with the Minnesota Wild, the franchise announced Sunday.

Swaney, a native of Lakeville, Minnesota, was drafted by the Wild in the seventh round in 2017, No. 209 overall that year. Swaney will report to the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League for the remainder of the 2020-21 season on an amateur tryout, and his one-year entry-level deal with Minnesota will begin with the 2021-22 season.

The 23-year-old Swaney led the Bulldogs to three NCAA Frozen Fours in his four seasons at UMD, winning back-to-back NCAA championships in 2018 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul and in 2019 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.

After the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2020 NCAA tournament, Swaney helped get UMD back to the Frozen Four for a third time in his career in 2021. The Bulldogs lost 3-2 in overtime to eventual NCAA champion Massachusetts last Thursday in the national semifinals at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

Swaney, an assistant captain as a senior, finishes his career as a Bulldog with 101 points in 134 games, totaling 46 goals and 55 assists. Despite playing a shortened schedule due to the pandemic, Swaney posted a collegiate-high 28 points — 13 goals and 15 assists — in 28 games to lead UMD in scoring and land on the All-NCHC first team.

One of six seniors on the Bulldogs' roster in 2020-21, Swaney could have returned to UMD for a fifth season in 2021-22 as the NCAA is granting all student-athletes in all sports who take part in the 2020-21 season an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Swaney is the first of the 2020-21 Bulldogs to sign a professional contract this offseason.

— Bulldog Insider Podcast: Dreaming big with Nick Swaney

— Bulldog Insider Q&A: Swaney made a name for himself in middle school not as a hockey player, but as a runner

— UMD men's hockey: Swaney registers hat trick, 100th point in Bulldogs' win over St. Cloud State