Just four games after signing his ATO with the San Diego Gulls, Sam Colangelo signed an ELC with the Ducks and will likely make his NHL debut on Friday against the Calgary Flames.

IRVINE, Calif. - Thursday morning before the Anaheim Ducks took the ice for practice, the team announced they signed Sam Colangelo to an entry-level contract. Colangelo’s ELC will be a two-year contract, with 2023-24 counting as the first year.

He practiced on a line alongside Isac Lundestrom and Jakob Silfverberg and indications are that he will make his NHL debut on Friday in Anaheim as the Ducks host the Calgary Flames. Friday’s game will be Colangelo’s first and Silfverberg’s last in the NHL.

In 2023-24, Sam Colangelo’s Western Michigan Broncos lost their first-round NCAA Tournament game to Michigan State in a heartbreaking 5-4 overtime defeat. Colangelo had a bounce-back season after transferring from Northeastern to Western Michigan for his senior year, scoring 24 goals and 43 points in 38 games.

"I think I grew a lot," said Colangelo. "This season kind of resurrected my career, in a way. I had a tough junior season and decided to make the change and go play for Pat Ferschweiler at Western Michigan and he helped me out an incredible amount. Can't really put into words how much he means to me and how much he helped me over the past seven or eight months."

After their loss to Michigan State, Colangelo signed an ATO with the San Diego Gulls. Colangelo played four games in the AHL for the Gulls and was a fixture in the team’s top six and second power play unit. He scored four points (a goal and three assists) in four AHL games, including a goal and assist in his debut.

"I think (my time in San Diego) went well. I think it was great to get kind of acclimated to pro hockey before coming up here. The AHL's probably the second-best league in the world, so it was nice to get acclimated to pro hockey––like I said––and get my first goal. Helped with the confidence a little bit."

Colangelo Scores Goal and Assist in AHL Debut

The knock on Colangelo’s game has always been skating, foot speed specifically. In his four years in the NCAA (three at Northeastern University, one at Western Michigan) and his short stint in the AHL, he has made a concerted effort to mitigate that perceived weakness.

He possesses a strong stride and good edges, making him difficult to knock off pucks. With his 6-foot-2, 205-pound frame, he has developed a cerebral approach to forechecking and reads opposing retrievals expertly. He pulls pucks off walls to dangerous areas of the ice and has shown vision to find teammates with seam passes.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY0CFR-pxG4[/embed]

Colangelo’s stickhandling and puck protection skills will likely be his trademark at the NHL level. He works to extend plays, getting himself and pucks to the front of the net. In 2023-24, he was able to unleash a lethal shot from the left circle with a man advantage and became one of the best goalscorers in the NCAA.

"Just learn how to use my size to my advantage and hold onto pucks more in the offensive zone," said Colangelo when asked about what the Western Michigan coaching staff helped him work on to improve his play. "Try to round out my game to play a 200-foot game, I think my defensive play's gotten a lot better over the last year or so, so just continue to build on that. I think I got a lot stronger and faster, so learn how to use my speed and size to my advantage."

With a good showing to end the season combined with undeniable results at Ducks development, rookie, and training camps, making the NHL roster to start the 2024-25 season isn’t out of the question. A likelier outcome, though, would be for him to start next season as a member of the Gulls.

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