University of Maine junior defenseman Dan Renouf has decided to pass up his senior year to sign a two-year, entry-level contract with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings.
He was an undrafted free agent.
The 6-foot-3, 209-pound Pickering, Ontario, native will join the Red Wings’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Former Black Bear winger Gustav Nyquist and goalie Jimmy Howard play for the Red Wings.
The 21-year-old Renouf was the Black Bears’ top-scoring defenseman this past season with 15 points on six goals and nine assists. His 82 shots on goal were the most by a Maine defenseman and fifth among all skaters.
He received a ton of ice time as he quarterbacked a power-play unit and was an important penalty killer.
He was the Black Bears’ top defender this past year and was trusted with the task of playing against the opponents’ top line.
Renouf said it was a difficult decision to leave Maine and that he also weighed an offer from the New Jersey Devils.
“I lost some sleep over it,” Renouf admitted. “But I felt I was ready to take the next step.”
He is looking forward to joining a first-class Detroit organization that is steeped in tradition.
“Dan is a heck of a player. I think he has a chance to play for a long time in the NHL,” UMaine coach Red Gendron said. “He was a pretty good defensive defenseman early in his career, and he elevated his game as time went on. By the end of his sophomore year, he was our best defensive defenseman.
“He worked to add elements to his game and improve the elements he was already good at. He really elevated the offensive part of his game. He added poise with the puck to his game this year,” he added.
Gendron also said Renouf’s calmness with the puck and ability to make good decisions made him a “special player.”
“We’re going to miss him, but we’re extremely happy for him like we have been for all of our players in the past who have earned these opportunities for themselves,” Gendron said.
Renouf said he was grateful to Gendron and his staff for developing him and praised his teammates. He also said he intends to eventually finish his degree.
Renouf said his primary focus will be on developing his strength to handle the bigger, stronger players he’ll encounter in pro hockey.
In his first two seasons, Renouf was the team’s second-leading point-getter among defensemen behind All-American Ben Hutton.
Renouf had three goals and nine assists as a sophomore and a goal and 10 assists as a freshman.
Hutton also passed up his senior year to sign with the Vancouver Canucks, who drafted him in the fifth round. He is the Canucks’ leading point-getter among defensemen — one goal, 21 assists.
Despite the loss of Renouf and graduating Conor Riley, the Black Bears will still return five defensemen who received significant playing time this season in junior Eric Schurhamer, sophomore Mark Hamilton and freshmen Rob Michel, Keith Muehlbauer and Sam Becker.
Freshman Stephen Cochrane was a redshirt, and the Black Bears have an incoming defenseman in Patrick Holway, a sixth-round draft pick of the Red Wings.
Gendron said he likes his group of returning defensemen and added that “we haven’t stopped recruiting.”