McAdam Signs With The New York Islanders

Story posted March 23, 2016 in CommRadio, Sports by Tyler Brackbill

The New York Islanders have signed Penn State junior goaltender Eamon McAdam, who will forgo his senior season, to a three-year, entry-level contract today according to a release earlier today.  McAdam will play the remainder of the 2015-16 season on an amateur try-out with AHL Bridgeport.

"We are very proud of Eamon and his growth as a goaltender and a teammate," said Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky in a statement. "He had a tremendous season and we will surely miss him, but we are very excited to watch his success with the Islanders.”

In McAdam’s statement, he thanked everyone at Penn State including the whole staff, teammates and the fans.

“Thank you for all the opportunities and chances they've given me over the past three years,” McAdam said. “It's been an amazing time, the best three years of my life and I'm excited to see where this program will go in the near future.”

The Islanders selected McAdam in the third-round (70th overall) of the 2013 NHL draft before he signed with Penn State.

McAdam is coming off of his best season as a Nittany Lion, playing in a career high 22 games, recording 13 wins and posting a .913 save percentage which led the Big Ten.  The Perkasie, Pa. native even contributed three assists on offense.

McAdam will join current Binghamton Senator Casey Bailey as the only two Nittany Lions to sign NHL contracts.

McAdam will become the third Nittany Lion goaltender to play professionally after leaving Penn State.  PJ Musico debuted with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits of the ECHL this season before being moved to his current team, the Quad-City Mallards.

Matthew Skoff also joined the professional ranks when he signed an ATO yesterday with the ECHL’s Reading Royals, a Philadelphia Flyers affiliate.  Skoff just completed his senior season at Penn State.

With Penn State losing its top two goaltenders in as many days, current freshman Chris Funkey becomes the heir-apparent between the pipes.  Funkey appeared in only four games this season, all in relief, making 28 saves on a total of 30 shots in 71 minutes played.

Perhaps a second option for the starting job could be class of 2016 recruit Peyton Jones.  Jones is a big body at 6’4”, 210, and has placed himself as one of the elite goaltenders in the USHL during his time with the Lincoln Stars.  The Langhorne native posted a 2.24 goals against average and a .925 save percentage in 30 games and put up a record of 17-9-2 with four shutouts.

Coach Gadowsky has been known to split time between his goalies during his time at Penn State, so fans can expect both Funkey and Jones to each see a significant workload in 2016-17.  This season, McAdam and Skoff basically split their starts in half until late in the season and postseason when Gadowsky named McAdam the starter.

 

Tyler Brackbill is a senior, telecommunications major. He can be reached at tbb5100@psu.edu