Keith Petruzzelli named 2nd ranked North American goaltender

Keith Petruzzelli (photo by Muskegon Lumberjacks)

Incoming Quinnipiac University men's ice hockey freshman goaltender Keith Petruzzelli has been named as the number two ranked goaltender according to the final NHL Central Scouting rankings that came out today. He fell one spot behind Boston University's Jake Oettinger who finished an impressive freshman season with the Terriers going 21-11-3 with a 2.11 goals against average, a .927 save percentage with 4 shutouts and helping lead them to the NCAA West Regional final.

Petruzzelli is in the midst of his own impressive season with the USHL's Muskegon Lumberjacks where in 35 games played he went 22-10 with a 2.40 goals against average and a .918 save percentage with two shutouts. His 22 wins and .918 save percentage led all USHL rookie goaltenders. Muskegon is in the USHL Clark Cup playoffs where it is expected Petruzzelli will get the majority of the starts for the Lumberjacks.

With a high central scouting ranking and scouts raving about his size and talent he should at least be a second round selection and possibly could slip into the back of the first round depending on the team. Should he go higher than the 4th round, he will he become the highest selection ever by a Quinnipiac player followed by Devon Toews who was selected in the 4th round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Islanders.

Jonathan Singer is a 2004 Quinnipiac alum. You can follow him on Twitter @QHockeyBlog.