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QMJHL: Shipping up to Saint John; Charlie Coyle leaves BU (updated)
The reigning Memorial Cup champions will wake up on Christmas morning to find NHL first-round pick Charlie Coyle under the tree.
In what must be called a bit of a whirlwind, Coyle has left the Boston University Terriers to join the Saint John Sea Dogs after the world junior hockey championship ends, giving them four first-round choices in their lineup along with four players participating the tourney.
The Boston College Hockey Blog reported it first Thursday and other reports have followed up stating that the Minnesota Wild prospect has split from the Boston University Terriers due to "academic issues." The Sea Dogs' release counters that, saying "Coyle remained academically eligible at BU and made the decision in order to focus on hockey." Either way, it's academic; Coyle is headed to the Maritimes to team up with fellow Minnesota Wild prospect Zack Phillips.
From Tim Healey:
Charlie Coyle has now confirmed his departure from BU.
"Yes, I have made my decision to leave BU because I'm done being a student-athlete and I want to focus on just hockey," Coyle said via text. "I was not failing out.
"It was definitely a hard decision to make and I will miss my teammates and coaches. BU was a great place to be and I enjoyed my time there." (The Boston Hockey Blog)
Needless to say, it is a huge get for the Sea Dogs.
It is way too early to get into how much impact Coyle, who has 14 points in 16 games for the Terriers, will have playing against competition his own age in the Quebec league. He was Hockey East rookie of the year last season facing players in their early 20s, so the QMJHL is a lateral move. (One would assume that the Wild did not sign him immediately since they have only two contracts to give out, plus first-rounders generally don't sign AHL deals since they can get a bigger payday later.) Coyle is a 6-foot-2, 205-pound forward who can finish at the net and it's doubtful you can find any major junior team who could not use someone with those qualities. Let alone one with Phillips and two players on Team Canada, Jonathan Huberdeau and Nathan Beaulieu.
These are obviously tense times around Boston University hockey in the wake of the debacle with forward Cory Trivino being arrested for an alleged assault last weekend. It's not to what extent the fallout from how that was handled spilled over to Coyle's choice; all that matters is he's suddenly headed to a junior powerhouse.
Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Contact him at neatesager@yahoo.ca and follow him on Twitter @neatebuzzthenet (photo: The Canadian Press).
