Defenseman Karashik signs contact with Flyers’ AHL affiliate

SOUTH BEND – Notre Dame graduate student defenseman Adam Karashik has signed a one-year contract to play for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers, in the 2022-23 season.

Karashik, a transfer from Hockey East’s Connecticut and named one of the team’s three captains by coach Jeff Jackson after last summer’s workouts, will join the Phantoms for the remainder of this season on a PTO (professional tryout) contract. The Phantoms are based in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

► More:Irish captain Graham Slaggert signs ATO contract with Toronto Maple Leafs' AHL affiliate

► More:Notre Dame’s Frozen Four hopes dashed by No. 1 Minnesota State and its Olympian

Karashik is the third Irish player to sign a contract since the No. 8 Irish concluded their season one victory short of a trip to the NCAA Frozen Four. Notre Dame lost 1-0 to No. 1 Minnesota State last Saturday in the championship game of the Albany (New York) Regional to conclude a 28-12-0 season. Karashik was named to the all-regional team.

On Thursday, senior center Graham Slaggert, another captain, agreed to an ATO (amateur tryout contract) with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, an affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs, for the rest of the season. Slaggert was followed by defenseman Spencer Stastney, who signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the NHL’s Nashville Predators that begins with the 2022-23 season.

The 24-year-old Karashik began his collegiate career at UConn in 2017-18 where in four seasons he totaled five goals and 19 assists for 24 points. He was captain of the Huskies his senior season before transferring to Notre Dame to play his COVID-19 season.

The 6-foot, 205-pound Karashik, who scored one goal and had 15 assists, appeared in all 40 games for Notre Dame and finished with 99 blocked shots, the most in the Big Ten and third nationally. He was a big part of Notre Dame’s penalty-kill units, which finished No. 1 in the country with a .906 percentage, surrendering just 13 goals in 139 power-play opportunities by the opposition. Karashik also finished with a plus/minus ratio of +15, third best on the team behind Stastney and senior defenseman Nick Leivermann.