The Tampa Bay Lightning have added another quality young netminder to the organizational depth chart, signing University of Minnesota stalwart Adam Wilcox -- their sixth-round pick at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft -- to a two-year, two-way contract on Wednesday.
Wilcox, 22, opted to forgo his senior year with the Gophers -- like fellow teammate Brady Skjei did -- and leaves the school tied for the all-time lead in shutouts, with 13. Over his three years at Minnesota, he was nominated for both the Mike Richter and Hobey Baker awards and, during a stellar sophomore campaign, was named the inaugural Big Ten Player of the Year.
As mentioned above, Wilcox joins an organization that’s pretty flush with talented young netminders. The Bolts have 20-year-old Andrei Vasilevskiy, their first-round pick in 2012, currently serving as Ben Bishop’s No. 2 at the NHL level while Latvian Olympic hero Kristers Gudlevskis, 22, is the starter in AHL Syracuse.