Devils sign college free agent Dylan Wendt to ELC

The 23-year-old scored 23 goals while leading the entire NCAA in shooting percentage.

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The New Jersey Devils dipped their toes into the NCAA free agency waters on Thursday, signing 6’1’ forward Dylan Wendt to a two-year entry-level contract.

The 23-year-old is coming off a very strong season with Western Michigan. He produced 23 goals and 44 points over 38 games, finishing 2nd on the team in each category.

His production was powered by extremely efficient shooting. He scored on a ridiculous 26.1% of his shots, which led the entire NCAA.

While it is possible he has improved his game and turned into a more clinical finisher, it’s likely just a matter of being so far along in his development. Statistically speaking, he is likely only a year or so away from the peak of his entire career.

He scored only nine goals throughout 73 games during his first couple of seasons at Western Michigan. That’s a little concerning given he wasn’t a scrawny teenager who had to sit on the sidelines, so to speak, while he physically matured. He was 20+ the entire time.

EliteProspects.com ranked Wendt as their 7th-best prospect in this year’s NCAA free agency class.