The NHL’s Washington Capitals have signed forward Andrew Gordon to a three-year entry-level contract beginning next season, vice president and general manager George McPhee announced Tuesday.
Gordon was a seventh-round selection of the Capitals, 197th overall, in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. He recently completed his junior season with the Huskies and completed his career with 51 goals and 51 assists for 102 points. He is the 20th player in team history (all games played at the Division I level) to join SCSU’s elite 100-point club.
A 5-foot-11, 200-pound native of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Gordon led the Huskies in goals each of the past two seasons and was a first-team All-WCHA selection this year. He helped lead St. Cloud State to a second-place finish in the conference and a berth in the NCAA tournament — the team’s first NCAA bid since 2003.
Said SCSU head coach Bob Motzko, “Andrew has been a true student-athlete in every meaning of the term. He’s gotten better every year he’s been here, and he’s a great example of how college hockey can truly help a player develop. We’re sad to see him leave, no question, but we wish him well.”
Added Gordon, “It’s something I’ve dreamed of my whole life, obviously, and now that it’s staring me right in the face, I’m looking forward to getting back in the weight room and back out on the ice to prepare myself for the next level.
“It was extremely tough. It was something Bob Motzko and I talked about a lot. I’d go to sleep one night sure and secure about coming back and finishing my career here, and then I wake up the next morning and feel like I’m ready to go. It was back and forth, but it finally came down to being offered a deal around what I was looking for and one that gives me a great opportunity to play in the NHL in the next couple of years.”
Gordon finished this season with 45 points (22 goals, 23 assists) in 40 games, including 12 power-play goals, which led St. Cloud State and ranked tied for third nationally. He led the team in goals and was second in points, one point behind linemate Andreas Nodl. Gordon led the Huskies in goals (20) and points (40) in 2005-06.
He was a three-time WCHA Player of the Week in 2006-07, and he also gained All-WCHA Academic honors in 2006 and 2007.
Gordon played through the end of the season with an ankle injury from which he is still recovering, so he will not be reporting immediately — in the interim he’ll be working to finish up his classes for the semester.
USCHO.com’s Tom Reale contributed to this article.
