Jake Oettinger has signed a three-year entry-level deal with the Dallas Stars, where he was selected with the 26th overall pick in the 2017 NHL draft.
Formerly a junior goaltender with Boston University, the Lakeville, Minnesota native was voted the 2018 Hockey East Tournament MVP and 2017 Hockey East Second-Team All-Star, and was selected to the 2018 Hockey East All-Tournament Team and 2017 Hockey East All-Rookie Team.
Additional accolades for the 17-time Hockey East Top Performer include being a five-time Hockey East Goaltender of the Week, two-time Hockey East Rookie of the Week, and one-time Hockey East Player of the Week and Hockey East Goaltender of the Month.
The 2017 World Juniors gold medalist took over between the pipes as soon as he arrived at BU for 2016-17, putting up a career-best .927 save percentage and 2.11 goals-against average to go along with a career-high 56 saves in the NCAA West Regional first round against North Dakota.
Oettinger tallied a career-best five shutouts as a sophomore in 2017-18, and backstopped BU to a Hockey East championship. Becoming an assistant captain for 2018-19, Oettinger made 89 saves on 93 shots when at the TD Garden, and tied BU’s career shut-out record with 13.
Having joined BU from the USA National Under-18 team, Oettinger now concludes his collegiate career having logged 6,566 minutes in the crease over 109 games, posting 3,054 saves en route to 58 wins and a career save percentage of .923 and career goals-against average of 2.34.
After graduating later this spring, Oettinger will join a Dallas Stars organization with tremendous young talent, and will likely take a spot in the American Hockey League with the Texas Stars to adjust to the professional game before aiming for a consistent NHL role.
During Oettinger’s time at BU, the Terriers won a Hockey East championship and made two appearances in the national tournament.
No one cared more about bu hockey then Jake I will miss him as much as Dante they both mean a lot to me outside the rink. I have never seen a goalie work harder to get better then jake. What he did in 3 short years is a credit to his commitment to the game. The fact that he’s graduating early shows the level of commitment he has to his studies
Thanks Colin! I love that you think so highly of my son.
Colin,
If he cared that much he would have been embarrassed by the teams performance and came back for his senior year. However I wish him nothing but the best. Obviously he must have thought he would receive better coaching in the AHL.
There was nothing to be embarrassed about. Jake poured everything he had into bu Hockey. I’m sure he evaluated his options with his family and made the best decision for him personally. It has nothing to do with better coaching. Coach O’Connell is a great coach it’s just what’s best for jake at this time.
Clearly a dysfunctional team as Bowers just left. I like Albie but he and his staff did a horrible job. Players left early do coaching issues . It is all over social media. Never head of so many leaving not directly going to the NHL for the remainder of the year.
First and foremost this blog is about jake and his accomplishments . I would guess you wrote on this particular article because you know how much I admire Jake and so be it. Coaching had nothing to do with jake or anyone else leaving. Kids have a dream to play professional hockey if given the opportunity to do it and make a living at it who are we to tell them they are making a mistake. A kid is going to make the decision he feels best for himself it’s not a opportunity for you or anybody else to second guess or speculate over. Bu Hockey will be back better then ever next year and me and you will still be going at it. I must say we did agree on a few things that’s better then congress. Enjoy your summer Frozen.