Dartmouth sophomore forward Drew O’Connor signed an entry-level contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.
He’ll give up his final two seasons of eligibility with the Big Green.
O’Connor finished the season with a league-leading 21 goals and 33 points in 31 games.
In two seasons, his 38 goals are the second most any Dartmouth player has scored in an entire career since 2010. Those goals are also the fourth most by any player in Division I since arriving on campus last fall.
O’Connor became the first Dartmouth player in 40 years (Ross Brownridge in 1980) to lead ECAC Hockey in conference goals, scoring 16 in 22 league games this season.
As a rookie in 2018-19, O’Connor led all ECAC Hockey freshmen with 17 goals, tied for second in the nation amongst first-year players.
The Chatham, N.J., native was the only player to be named the ECAC Hockey Player of the Week more than once this season, earning the distinction three times, including the final week of the regular season after a hat trick against Union.
O’Connor will finish his final exams this week before joining the Penguins organization and will report to the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on an amateur tryout contract for the remainder of the season.
The start of his two-year NHL contract will begin at the start of the 2020-21 season.
