Penn State men’s hockey freshman goalie Eamon McAdam was drafted by the NHL’s New York Islanders today in the third round with the 70th overall selection. McAdam was ranked as the sixth best North American goalie pre-draft by the NHL.

As a junior, McAdam played for the Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League. This past season, McAdam started 29 games for the Black Hawks and finished the season with a 17-9-3 record, a 3.45 goals against average and a .896 save percentage.

He is committed to play for Penn State this coming season as the Nittany Lions move into the new Pegula Ice Arena for their second year of Division I play and the first year of Big Ten Conference hockey. Drafted goalies typically don’t get called up to the NHL until they are 21 or 22, so McAdam should be with the hockey program through at least his junior year.

“High energy, high risk, high reward goaltender,” said one scout of McAdam. “Great athleticism, but quirky. Attacks the puck, challenges shooters, but he does guess a lot – he’s not going to wait you out. Great kid in person, you can’t shake his confidence.”

McAdam is taking classes at Penn State this summer, but he was in Newark, New Jersey today at the Prudential Center — home of the New Jersey Devils — for the draft. He is expected to be the starting goalie for the Nittany Lions this coming season, and he now hopes to be the starting goalie for the New York Islanders down the line.