Vanroboys signs with AHL club for next season

Lucas Vanroboys

Thamesville’s Lucas Vanroboys is on an amateur tryout agreement with the San Jose Barracuda, the top affiliate of the San Jose Sharks. It appears Vanroboys has shown San Jose enough so far that he has been signed to play next season with the club.

“I am super-excited, so far so good,” Vanroboys told reporters on the weekend, when asked about signing a contract with the Barracuda for next season.

“Everything from the staff to the players on the team, to the facilities is top-notch and everyone is super-welcoming. I am super-happy to be back for next year. This experience here coming in early is great to get my feet wet and get to training camp and hit the ground running.”

Vanroboys, who finished up his five-year NCAA hockey career a couple of weeks ago, has played in three games with San Jose. He scored a goal in a 3-1 victory over the Texas Stars on April 12.

Vanroboys said there is a big difference from college hockey to professional hockey.

“The biggest difference I have noticed is that the game is a little bit quicker. The passes are little bit harder, and I think that’s the players are bigger and stronger, people move their feet faster and it’s more physical and the pucks are snapping around the ice faster,” Vanroboys said.”

A defensive forward, Vanroboys played this season as a graduate transfer with the University of Massachusetts. He played the previous four years with Bentley University.

This past season Vanroboys had three goals and five assists in 29 games, his first with the Minutemen. Vanroboys led UMass in faceoff percentage at 60.1% winning, 170 of 283 draws, good for second in Hockey East among players with 200+ attempts.