Getting to know Frank Vatrano: Newest Bruin makes dazzling debut
As a 21-year-old undrafted player, Frank Vatrano did not enter his first full professional season this year with much hype. The Massachusetts native signed with the Bruins in March as a free agent following one season of college hockey at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, hardly a powerhouse program in the NCAA.
Although Vatrano performed well in that sole year, producing 28 points (18 goals, 10 assists) in 36 games, it seemed he would need time to develop in the Bruins system before really making an impact. After all, the NHL is a much different world than the NCAA.
Instead, Vatrano blew away the competition through his first 10 games in Providence this year, totaling 12 points (10 goals, two assists) in that time. He scored four goals in a win over Portland back on Oct. 11 and leads the AHL in goals. So when Boston's Chris Kelly went down with a broken femur and the Bruins were in sudden need of another forward, Vatrano was a natural choice for a call-up.
Vatrano continued to impress at the NHL level, netting a goal in his first game while doing all the little things well -- shooting, blocking a shot, earning two takeaways and delivering two hits -- in his second game. He is building a strong case for a longer-than-expected stay in Boston.
"He’s shown me that he’s reliable in those areas — in our own end, coming back, backchecking,” Bruins coach Claude Julien told The Boston Globe. "He skates well. I’m extremely pleased with what I’ve seen from Frank."
So who is Vatrano and where did he come from?
A native of Longmeadow, Mass., Vatrano was a talented high school hockey player who played for the U.S. National Team Development Program in Michigan before attempting to start his freshman year of college at Boston College in the fall of 2012. Vatrano, however, failed NCAA Clearinghouse -- according to the UMass Daily Collegian, it was due to Vatrano submitting the wrong test scores -- making him ineligible to play at BC. He withdrew from school immediately and spent the fall playing for the Boston Junior Bruins before enrolling at UMass in January of 2013.
Due to NCAA transfer rules, however, Vatrano had to wait until March of 2014 to be eligible to play in a game with the Minutemen. So in his year-plus of being limited to practices only, Vatrano worked on refining his game defensively and in the weight room in order to be a better all-around player once he was able to return.
It seems all that extra practice is paying off now. Most rookies struggle to adapt to the defensive and physical side of the game in the NHL, a process which Vatrano seems to be breezing through.
He was rewarded for his long years battling the college eligibility process by seemingly putting the start to his NHL career on a fast track, and the Massachusetts native who grew up on Boston's side of a bitter Bruins-Canadiens rivalry even played his first NHL game against Montreal.
Because Vatrano is so young, it is likely he will return to Providence to develop his game the second his play away from the puck dips. But if Vatrano continues to put forth the efforts he showed in his first two games, that demotion will not come any time soon.
(h/t The Boston Globe, UMass Daily Collegian)
