The Athletic: Alex Newhook To Return To Boston College Hockey For Sophomore Season

Boston College wunderfrosh Alex Newhook appears to be heading back to the Heights for his sophomore season, according to Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic:

Newhook was the 16th overall pick of last year’s NHL Draft and the first pick for the Colorado Avalanche, and he was as-advertised from the drop of the puck on his rookie season. Newhook led the Eagles in goals and in points — as a freshman — and was 7th in the country in scoring.

First round picks don’t stick around in college very long, and that’s especially true when the player has such a strong rookie campaign. But Newhook had always planned to spend at least two years at Boston College, and it appears that both he and the Avalanche agree that staying at BC for another season would be best for his development. And Colorado certainly doesn’t have to look very far back to find a player whose second season in college did wonders for his game — UMass’ Cale Makar is one of the NHL’s top young defensemen with the Avs.

Notably, Newhook’s sister, Abby, is a Boston College Women’s Hockey commit, and possibly the most elite player of her women’s hockey class — Alex put in his NHL draft profile that his sister is better than he is:

But she won’t be on the Heights until 2021, so Alex would need to stick around for a third season to be able to play with his sister. For now, though, we’ll certainly take a second season out of one of BC’s most elite forwards.