Frank Vatrano

History

2009-10: Frank Vatrano was the leading scorer for the Junior Bruins in the Empire Junior Hockey League. In 37 games he scored 38 goals with 41 assists and had 18 penalty minutes. He scored five game-winning goals and had 17 points on the power play  (7 goals, 10 assists). The Junior Bruins finished first in the Eastern Conference and advanced to the playoff semifinals. In six playoff games Vatrano scored 6 goals with 9 assists. In four games at the USA Hockey junior nationals he scored 2 goals with 3 assists. The Junior Bruins won their bracket before falling to New York Apple Core in the semifinals. 

2010-11: Vatrano joined the United States National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor and skated for the U17 team. In 53 games he was the team’s second-leading scorer with 19 goals and 11 assists and had 50 penalty minutes. He led the team with seven game-winning goals. Vatrano recorded 2 assists in 4 games as the USA squad gold won gold at the Four Nations Cup in Illinois. In five games at the 2011 U17 World Hockey Challenge, Vatrano scored 2 goals with 2 assists and had 4 penalty minutes. The USA finished second to Canada Ontario. The USA U17 team won the 2011 U18 Vlad Dzurilla tournament in Slovakia and Vatrano had 1 goal and 1 assist in three games. 

2011-12: Vatrano returned to Ann Arbor to skate for the US NTDP U18 squad. He was the team’s fourth-leading scorer —  finishing with 16 goals and 19 assists – and had 24 penalty minutes in 60 games. Vatrano scored 2 goals with 2 assists and was plus-six with 2 penalty minutes in six games at the 2012 U18 World Junior Championship. The USA won its fourth straight U18 championship. Vatrano committed to playing college hockey at Boston College in 2012-13. He was ranked 88th amongst North American skaters in the Central Scouting final rankings prior to the 2012 NHL Draft but was not selected.  

2012-13: Vatrano skated in the inaugural CCM/USA All-American Prospects game but withdrew from Boston College before skating in a game with the Eagles — returning to the Boston Junior Bruins as an 18-year-old. He also played six games with the USA NTDP’s U18 team. Vatrano scored 13 goals with 9 assists and had 20 penalty minutes in 19 games with the Junior Bruins. He had five assists in six games with the NTDP U18 squad. Vatrano committed to attending Massachusetts-Amherst for the 2013-14 season in October 2012. He  practiced with the Minutemen during the second semester but was not eligible to play in any games. 

2013-14: Vatrano made his long-awaited debut in college hockey for Massachusetts-Amherst in a Hockey East tournament play-in game on March 7th at Vermont after sitting out most the year due to NCAA transfer rules. He had no points nor penalty minutes in his only game with the Minutemen. 

2014-15: Vatrano signed an  entry-level contract with the Bruins in March 2015 after leading Massachusetts-Amherst with 18 goals in 36 games in his only season of college hockey. He had 10 assists and was -15 with 28 penalty minutes. The Minutemen finished 11th in the 12-team Hockey East Conference; upsetting fifth seed Notre Dame, 4-3 in five overtimes in the first game of their best-of-three series before losing the next two games; finishing the season 11-23-2.

Talent Analysis

Vatrano is a short but thickly-built winger who has a goal scorer's mentality and the requisite skating and technical skills to create scoring chances.

Future

Vatrano made his NHL debut with Boston in a November 7th game against Montreal after starting the 2015-16 season with the AHL's Providence Bruins. He skated in 30 games with Boston before being reassigned to the AHL. A goal scorer who finds a way to get into open spots and makes plays despite being undersized, he is continuing to develop the supplementary areas of his game.