Minnesota Wild General Manager Bill Guerin today announced the National Hockey League (NHL) club has signed forward Vladislav Firstov to a three-year, entry-level contract starting with the 2022-23 season. He will report to the Iowa Wild in the American Hockey League (AHL) on an amateur tryout (ATO) for the remainder of this season.
Firstov, 20 (6/19/01), tallied 23 points (12-11=23), one power-play goal (PPG), one game-winning goal (GWG), 18 penalty minutes (PIM) and 70 shots in 35 games with the University of Connecticut this season. He recorded a career-high four-game point streak twice: Feb. 4-11 (2-3=5) and March 5-19 (3-1=4). The 6-foot-1, 185-pound native of Yaroslavl, Russia, ranked T-2nd on the team in goals and third in scoring. He collected four multi-point games, including two multi-goal contests and a season-high three-point match vs. Yale (1/29).
Firstov owned 58 points (26-32=58), three PPG, four GWG, 61 PIM and 158 shots in 82 contests with UConn in three seasons (2019-22). The left-shot forward was named to the 2020 Hockey East All-Rookie team and skated in five games with Team Russia at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship. Prior to joining UConn, he spent one season with Waterloo of the United States Hockey League (USHL) and registered 58 points (26-32=58) in 62 games and was named to the 2019 USHL/NHL Top Prospects Game (12/18/18).
He was selected by Minnesota in the second round (42nd overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft.
(info courtesy of Wild)