Massachusetts sophomore forward Josh Lopina has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Anaheim Ducks.
Lopina will give up his junior and senior seasons with UMass.
In two seasons with the Minutemen, Lopina helped UMass to back-to-back Hockey East tournament titles and NCAA berths and a national championship in 2020-21.
The Minooka, Ill., native, who was selected in the fourth round (98th overall) by the Ducks in the 2021 NHL Draft, is the 11th player in head coach Greg Carvel’s UMass tenure to sign an NHL contract, the seventh in that group to do so after coming to Amherst undrafted.
“Josh Lopina adds to the list of student-athletes who came to UMass as an undrafted and under-the-radar player who developed quickly into an NHL prospect,” said Carvel in a statement. “We knew that Josh was going to be a solid, high-character player with good hockey sense who just needed time to develop. In two years, he became a dominant center who was effective in every situation. He’s a big strong kid who dominated on faceoffs, scored around the net and played a physically demanding style of hockey. He came to the rink every day with a smile and an amazing attitude, and he will be missed as both a great player and a phenomenal person who made our program and our culture better.
“We wish him all the best as he starts his professional career with the Anaheim Ducks and thank him for everything he has done for UMass hockey.”
Lopina became first Minuteman to earn Hockey East co-rookie of the year recognition and was selected to the Hockey East all-rookie team while helping UMass to its first NCAA Division I national championship in 2020-21. He finished sixth in the nation in freshman scoring with 23 points on nine goals and 14 assists over 29 games last season, 10th in points per-game by a freshman (0.79). He logged four power-play goals and two game winners and put up six points (two goals, four assists) in the postseason. Lopina tied for fourth in the nation among freshmen in assists and ninth in goal scoring, while he tied for eighth nationally in plus-minus at plus-21. The centerman led all rookies nationally in faceoff wins (312) and held a .545 (312 of 573) faceoff percentage.
Despite missing 10 games mid-season in 2021-22 due to injury, Lopina still managed to put up 27 points on 12 goals and 15 assists, all career highs for the center who also added six power-play goals and four game winners with a plus-21 rating.
For his career in a UMass uniform, Lopina logged 50 points over 56 games on 21 goals and 29 assists with 10 power-play tallies, six game winners and was plus-42.
