Mario Lucia plans to complete his degree with Notre Dame rather than turn pro in 2015-16.
The Minnesota Wild selected Lucia with the 60th overall pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft and would be happy to sign him now, but it looks like that won't happen. It's worth noting that this puts Lucia in a position where he can simply wait out Minnesota's claim on him and thus test the free agent market, but he insists that's not what this is about. "The Wild has a lot of interest in me," Lucia said. "It's my hometown team, and if I want to play in the NHL, I want to play with the Wild, for sure.