Ty Smilanic, who spent the past two seasons as a forward for Quinnipiac, will transfer and join Wisconsin men's hockey for the fall of 2022, head coach Tony Granato announced.

"We are very excited to add Ty to our program," Granato said. "He's an exciting young player who has two productive years of college hockey under his belt. He is a great skater who will add speed and scoring punch to our lineup."

The Denver native comes to Madison after tallying 27 goals and 44 points in 70 career games during two seasons with the Bobcats. He was part of the 2022 U.S. National Junior Team that was competing last December in Red Deer, Alberta, before the event was canceled due to COVID-19.

Smilanic helped his Bobcats win the 2022 and 2021 ECAC Hockey regular-season titles and reach the 2022 NCAA Regional Final after defeating St. Cloud State in the opening round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament. In 2021, the team fell to eventual Frozen Four-participant Minnesota State in the first round.

Smilanic was a 2021 ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team skater and a finalist for the league's rookie of the year after earning three ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week honors and an ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Month accolade for February 2021. His 14 goals as a freshman led the nation's rookies and tied him for 11th in the country overall.

A 2020 third-round NHL draft pick of the Florida Panthers, Smilanic was traded to Montreal this past March in the Panthers' deal for Ben Chariot. He becomes the highest drafted forward on UW's current roster.

Before his collegiate career, Smilanic spent two seasons with the U.S National Team Development Program where he was teammates with current Badger defenseman Daniel Laatsch. Smilanic tallied 20 goals and 18 assists in 54 games with the U-17 squad in 2018-19. The following season he recorded seven goals and 15 assists with the U-18 team in a season cut short due to the pandemic.