The Minnesota Wild has announced that the team has signed UConn junior forward Vladislav Firstov to a three-year, entry-level contract starting with the 2022-23 season.
Firstov will report to the AHL’s Iowa Wild on an amateur tryout for the remainder of the 2021-22 season.
The native of Yaroslavl, Russia, just wrapped up his junior season in Storrs, Conn., where he played in 35 games, scoring 12 goals with 11 assists for 23 points. He had a power-play goal and a game-winning goal this season and was a +10 on the year. He was recently named to the Hockey East all-tournament team after scoring a goal in all three of UConn’s playoff games and helped the Huskies advance to their first-ever HEA championship game appearance.
Over his three-year career, Firstov appeared in 82 games, scoring 26 goals with 32 assists for 58 points. He had five multi-goal games and 12 multi-point games during his career and was plus-27 over 82 games.
As a freshman, Firstov had 11 goals and 12 assists and earned a spot on the Hockey East all-rookie team. As a sophomore, he earned a roster spot with Team Russia at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship, joining teammate Yan Kuznetsov. The duo made history as the first Russian-born NCAA players to make the final roster for the Russian national team at the prestigious tournament.
Firstov was originally drafted by the Wild in the second round (42nd overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft.
