University of Maine goalie Victor Ostman has joined UMaine teammate Donavan Houle in launching his pro career instead of returning for a fifth season.
The 23-year-old Ostman signed a two-year, two-way entry-level contract with the National Hockey League’s Seattle Kraken.
According to the Kraken website, he is expected to report to the Kraken’s AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds on an amateur tryout contract for the rest of the season.
“We are excited to have Victor join our organization after a strong performance over his college career,” said Kraken General Manager Ron Francis on the website. “Victor adds to our goaltending depth and we look forward to working with him as he continues to develop.”
Right winger Houle signed an amateur tryout contract with the San Jose Barracudas of the American Hockey League, the top affiliate of the San Jose Sharks.
Ostman was a second team All-Hockey East selection last season but lost the starting job to freshman and fellow Swede Albin Boija this season.
The 6-foot-4, 205-pound Ostman, who was undrafted, had attended the Kraken’s development camp last summer.
Ostman’s last game was a 15-save performance in a 3-1 loss to Cornell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass. last Thursday.
Boija had started the previous nine games and 12 of the last 13 but came down sick on Thursday morning and was replaced by Ostman.
Ostman was 13-6-1 this season with a 2.81 goals-against average and a .892 save percentage.
He had a five-game winning streak in December, posting victories over UConn, Union, Bentley, the Rochester Institute of Technology and Dartmouth, allowing only nine goals in those starts and making 125 saves.
But he allowed 14 goals in his next four starts and Boija won the job.
Last season, Ostman had a 2.21 GAA, a .918 save percentage and posted five shutouts. His five shutouts tied him for second in Hockey East.
His 2.21 GAA was 12th best in the country.
He had a 14-12-4 record and he held opponents to two goals or less in 17 of his 31 starts.
He was a semifinalist for the Mike Richter Award which goes to the nation’s top goalie.
This season, he had 21 starts and gave up two goals or fewer nine times.
He concluded his career with a 35-38-7 record, a 2.82 GAA and a .905 save percentage.
Boija finished the season with a 10-6-1 record, a 2.01 GAA and a .916 save percentage.
Boija will be joined in goal next season by former Latvian World Junior Championships mainstay Patriks Berzins.
UMaine’s third-string goalie, senior Connor Androlewicz, didn’t get any playing time this season and has entered the NCAA transfer portal.
Berzins was going to join Ostman and Androlewicz this season and was involved in summer workouts but the NCAA made a ruling that he and several other Latvian players were ineligible so UMaine head coach Ben Barr brought in Boija to replace him.
The NCAA rescinded the ineligibility ruling shortly after but Berzins had a year of junior hockey eligibility remaining so he went to the Madison Capitols of the United States Junior League where he was 13-12-2 with a 3.22 GAA and a .898 save percentage.
But he had a .950 save percentage over his last four outings.
In other UMaine hockey news, freshman left winger Bradly Nadeau was named a New England Hockey Writers Association Division I All-Star.
The first round draft choice of the Carolina Hurricanes and 30th overall pick led the team in scoring and goals. He had 19 goals and 27 assists with four game-winning goals, three power play goals and one shorthanded tally.
He had 11 multi-point games and six multi-goal games.
The All-Hockey East second team and All-Rookie squad selection led the team with a plus-20 rating in plus-minus. A player receives a plus-one if they are on the ice when their team scores an even-strength or shorthanded goal and a minus-one if the other team scores one.
And sophomore left wing Parker Lindauer, who earned steady playing time on the fourth line for the final 10 games of the season, has entered the transfer portal.
He had a goal and an assist in 16 games this season. He played in 15 games last season and didn’t register a point.