Penn State Hockey: Sturtz To Forego Senior Season, Signs With Senators

Penn State junior forward and the program’s all-time leading goal scorer Andrew Sturtz will forgo his senior season, having signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League earlier Wednesday afternoon.

Sturtz led Penn State with a career-high 40 points on 14 goals and 26 assists this past season. He is the second Penn State player to reach 100 career points.

“We are extremely proud of Sturtzy, he’s an honors student who’s going to graduate with his degree from Penn State and he’s signing an NHL contract,” Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky said in a statement. “He made this program a heck of a lot better and he will always be an integral part of Hockey Valley.”

Sturtz joins Casey Bailey (Toronto), Eamon McAdam (New York Islanders) and Vince Pedrie (New York Rangers) as the only players to have left Penn State early for a professional deal. Bailey remains the only of the four to appear in the NHL having played a handful of games with Toronto in 2017 and most recently the Ottawa Senators this past season.

“This is a childhood dream come true, five or six years ago I didn’t even think I would be playing Division I hockey and then Matt Lindsay found me in Carleton Place and brought me to Penn State,” Sturtz said. “Being a part of this university and hockey program has opened my eyes to something bigger, the hockey program here is certainly going in the right direction and I think I left it better than I found it.”

“I am extremely grateful to have played under Guy Gadowsky and his staff and meet the best friends I could ever ask for, the one thing I will always remember is home games at Pegula, I don’t think anything will compare to that and I’ll always be true to dear old White and Blue it was the best time of my life and I’m excited for the next chapter.”

Penn State will miss Sturtz’s physical style of play and nose for the goal, especially as the Nittany Lions look to build on a 2018 season in search of a third straight NCAA Tournament appearance.