Fresh off an NCAA championship, Bobby Brink signs with the Flyers

In less than 24 hours, Bobby Brink went from the “surreal” moment of winning an NCAA hockey championship to the joy of becoming the newest Flyer.

“It’s awesome,” Brink said. “This is such a storied organization. So much history. I couldn’t be happier to be joining the Flyers.”

On Saturday night, Brink capped off his college career with the ultimate accomplishment, a national title. He and the Denver Pioneers beat Minnesota State, 5-1, for a record-tying ninth NCAA championship.

While Brink did not score in the game, he finished the season with the most points in college hockey with 57. He scored 14 goals to go with an NCAA-best 43 assists this season.

Brink was one of three finalists for the 2022 Hobey Baker Award, which went to Minnesota State goalie Dryden McKay. Brink earned many other honors, including first team All-American (West) and National Collegiate Hockey Conference player of the year. He finished his career with 27 goals and 65 assists in 84 games.

Brink, who was in his third season with the Pioneers, was selected by the Flyers in the second round (34th overall) of the 2019 entry draft. Sixteen hours after winning the title, he signed his first NHL contract.

On Sunday afternoon, the Flyers announced they had signed Brink to a three-year entry-level contract beginning this season (2021-22). Brink is the third college player, along with Minnesota-Duluth’s Noah Cates and Western Michigan’s Ronnie Attard, to join the Flyers this season. He is also the fourth of seven players from the Flyers’ 2019 draft class to sign, along with Attard, Cam York, and Mason Millman.

“We’re very excited to have Bobby under contract after an outstanding career in college hockey that concluded with a national championship,” general manager Chuck Fletcher said in the release.

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Brink said he hopes to show he’s a two-way player who sets up his teammates for success. Fletcher, who selected Brink in his first draft as general manager of the Flyers, expressed his faith in Brink’s potential to carry that to the next level.

“Bobby possesses a high compete level combined with terrific hockey sense and offensive skill that has led him to succeed at every level he has played in his young career,” Fletcher said.

In addition to this season’s accolades, Brink was also named to the NCHC academic all-conference team and was an NCHC distinguished scholar-athlete (2019-20, 2020-21).

Brink has played on an international level and represented the United States twice in World Junior Championships, helping the U.S. win a gold medal in 2021 with two goals and four assists in seven games. He also has a bronze medal from the Under-18 World Junior Championships in 2018-19.

A Minnesota native, Brink played at Minnetonka High School before joining the Sioux City Musketeers. In his 2018-19 season with the Musketeers, he averaged 1.29 points per game to rank 14th overall in U.S. Hockey League history.