ITHACA, N.Y. — Senior defenseman Patrick McCarron has signed contracts to play the rest of this season and the 2017-18 season with the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins, the team announced Tuesday.
An alternate captain with the Big Red, McCarron logged countless minutes on the blue line with Cornell at even strength, on the power play and on the penalty kill. The leader among the team’s defensemen, McCarron finished second in team scoring with 25 points on six goals and 19 assists. His plus-11 rating was also tied for second-best on the squad, even though he was frequently matched up against the opposition’s top forwards.
Earlier this season, McCarron had an eight-game points streak — a first for a Cornell defenseman since 2003, and he was named to the All-Ivy League second team earlier this month. McCarron is the first member of the this year’s senior class to sign on with a professional team.
Originally from Toronto, Ontario, the undrafted McCarron attended an NHL development camp with the Detroit Red Wings last summer as a free agent. The Griffins are the AHL affiliate of the Red Wings, and McCarron will be eligible to play in Grand Rapids’ game Wednesday night against the Milwaukee Admirals. Officially, McCarron will compete on an amateur tryout for the rest of the 2016-17 season before entering a standard professional contract for next year.
McCarron’s signing brings the total of Cornellians on current AHL rosters to eight, joining Cole Bardreau and Reece Willcox (both Lehigh Valley Phantoms), Brian Ferlin (Providence Bruins), Colin Greening (Toronto Marlies), Joel Lowry (Ontario Reign), Jacob MacDonald (Albany Devils) and Joakim Ryan (San Jose Barracuda).
