Pittsburgh Penguins prospect and draft pick Ryan Segalla won't be returning to the University of Connecticut for his senior season
From SBN College Hockey:
Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Ryan Segalla will not return to the University of Connecticut hockey team for his senior season.
The Rockland, Mass. native was a fourth round selection of the Penguins in the 2013 NHL Draft out of Salisbury School, a perennial New England prep hockey powerhouse.
Segalla was a mainstay in the Huskies’ lineup over his first two seasons, but found his way into head coach Mike Cavanaugh’s doghouse as a junior. He played in only 21 games in 2015-16, some at forward.
Segalla’s next step is unclear, but he won’t be playing in a UConn uniform again. He concludes his Huskies’ career with three goals and 18 assists in 86 games.
That's a shame, but not totally out of left field after a few rocky seasons and the one last year as mentioned when Segalla (a defenseman) was used as a forward. That's some Michel Thierren/Brooks Orpik stuff and no defenseman likes being played out of position like that.
It remains to be seen what happens with Segalla and not having a team this close to when many seasons are about to start isn't ideal. It would remain to be seen if the Penguins have any plans for Segalla, who at 21 years old and 3 years after his draft, hasn't shown a lot of development. Teams don't usually like to punt completely on relatively high draft picks, but at this point it can't be looking too good.
Segalla didn't come close to sniffing a spot in the Pens Top 25 players Under 25, so it wouldn't be a huge loss in the big picture, but it bears watching to see how this situation plays out to see if Pittsburgh brings him into camp or if they feel he's ready to turn pro.