NHL Source: Bruins In On Quillan; Out On Graf

Could the Boston Bruins be on the verge of signing the overtime hero of the 2023 NCAA National Championship game?

According to a well-placed NHL source, the NHL betting odds on the Boston Bruins signing one of the most coveted NCAA free agents, Quinnipiac University forward Jacob Quillan, who actually attended the Bruins’ 2023 Development Camp.

The 22-year-old native of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, will forever be part of Quinnipiac and NCAA Hockey tournament lore after scoring ten seconds into overtime of the 2023 NCAA Championship game to give Quinnipiac a 3-2 win over the University of Minnesota and their first-ever National Championship.

That capped off a brilliant sophomore season that saw Quillan score 19 goals to go with 19 assists in 41 games for the Bobcats. The 6-foot, 196-pound pound forward has followed that up with 15 goals and 29 assists in 37 games this season and is now one of the in-demand NCAA UFAs this spring. There are still a few other teams in the running for Quillan and waiting to pounce once the Bobcats are either eliminated from or win the NCAA tournament again. Quillan and his Quinnipiac teammates kick off their title defense in Providence on Friday against the University of Wisconsin. The other game in that regional will be top-seeded Boston College against 16th-seeded Michigan Tech.

The aforementioned source has also confirmed to BHN that the Boston Bruins are out of the running for Quillan’s teammate, Collin Graf, who is viewed by many as the top NCAA free agent available right now. The 21-year-old, 6-foot-1, 194-pound forward and native of Lincoln, MA, scored the game-tying goal that sent the 2023 National Championship game to overtime. Graf, who played for the powerhouse Boston Junior Bruins program for five seasons, began his college career at Union College, where he scored 11 goals and had 11 assists in his 2021-22 freshman season. Graf then transferred to Quinnipiac and had 21 goals and 38 assists in 41 games last season. Graf followed that up with 22 goals and 26 assists in 32 games this season.

An NHL betting man would’ve thought the Lincoln, MA, native would be headed to the Bruins, but it appears Bruins captain Brad Marchand could have another Nova Scotia native joining him in Black and Gold.