UND standouts Strinden, Rickwood sign AHL contracts, start pro careers

Two of North Dakota’s top scorers are leaving Grand Forks for the pro game almost immediately, a sign that the Fighting Hawks keep turning college standouts into AHL-caliber talent. Ben Strinden and Ellis Rickwood signed contracts on April 14, and both are set to begin the next phase of their careers with NHL affiliate organizations.

Strinden, a Fargo native and UND senior forward, signed an amateur tryout for the rest of the 2025-26 season and a two-year AHL contract starting in 2026-27 with the Milwaukee Admirals, the affiliate of the Nashville Predators. Rickwood, a 23-year-old from Brantford, Ontario, signed a standard player contract for the 2026-27 season with the Texas Stars, the Dallas Stars’ affiliate in Cedar Park, Texas, and will join Texas on an amateur tryout for the remainder of this season.

The timing matters for UND’s profile as much as it does for the players. Both signings came right after the Fighting Hawks’ regular-season NCHC championship run and their Frozen Four appearance, another reminder that the program’s best seasons are still producing immediate pro opportunities. For local hockey followers in Jamestown and across Stutsman County, the next few weeks will show how quickly two familiar UND names can adjust to older, faster, stronger competition.

Strinden finished this season tied for second on UND with 35 points, scoring 15 goals and adding 20 assists. He was selected as a Second Team NCHC All-Star and closed his college career with 72 points, 26 goals and 40 assists in 137 games, along with a plus-32 rating. His UND bio says he is believed to be the eighth Fargo native to play for North Dakota, and his family’s imprint runs deeper still through his late grandfather, Earl Strinden, whose long work with the UND Alumni Association and UND Foundation helped shape Ralph Engelstad Arena.

Rickwood also left UND with a major offensive season, finishing with 37 points on nine goals and 28 assists in 35 games. He earned a spot on the NCHC’s Third All-Star Team and was named NCHC Forward of the Month for January after posting a team-best 13 points in eight games, including six primary assists and a 59.9 percent faceoff rate. Before his three seasons at Clarkson University, where he played 96 games and made the All-ECAC First Team, Rickwood spent two seasons with the Victoria Grizzlies of the BCHL after going undrafted.

For both players, the AHL is now the proving ground. If Strinden’s scoring touch and Rickwood’s playmaking and puck-possession game translate quickly, Milwaukee and Texas could move them into the conversation for NHL camp spots before long, extending UND’s reputation as one of the region’s most reliable hockey pipelines.