Massachusetts Native, Ex-Bruins Forward Earns First All-Star Nod

Anaheim Ducks forward Frank Vatrano has increased his value tremendously during the 2023-24 NHL season.

With 33 points (23 goals, 12 assists) in 46 games, it looks like Vatrano will have no issue bypassing his previous career highs (24 goals, 19 assists and 41 points) this season.

Not only has the Massachusetts native seen an increase in his ice time by nearly two minutes, but the 29-year-old earned his first selection to the NHL’s All-Star game at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Feb. 3.

“It’s an honor, something I never thought I would accomplish in my career,” Vatrano said, per NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti. “To be a part of that, I’m excited for that. Guys in that room helped me to get to the point where I’m at right now, so if it wasn’t for those guys in that room, I wouldn’t be in the position I’m in.”

After foregoing his senior year at UMass, Vatrano signed an entry-level contract with the Boston Bruins before making his professional debut with the club’s AHL affiliate in Providence in the 2014-15 season.

“Always my goal was to play in the NHL, and as you get older and older, not in this league, just in college, you can see how close you are,” Vatrano said, according to Gulitti. “Once you get here, I think anyone can play one game, but the hardest thing is to stay. So, for me, it was always just wanting to be an everyday NHLer, and there were a lot of humps that I had to overcome to be an everyday guy, but once I got there, I knew I wasn’t going to lose it.”

Vatrano donned the Spoked-B for two and half seasons between Boston and Providence before being traded to the Florida Panthers in exchange for a third-round draft pick in the 2018 draft on Feb. 22, 2018. Playing mostly on the third line, the East Longmeadow, Mass. native lit the lamp 20 times in 108 games for Boston and 39 times in Providence. He notched his first NHL career hat trick against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 18, 2015.

The former Bruins forward has four goals and three assists in 17 games against Boston with the Ducks, Panthers and New York Rangers.

The Bruins and Ducks split their two-game regular-season games, with Boston taking the 3-1 victory on the road before dropping the 4-3 decision in overtime at TD Garden on Oct. 22 and 26, respectively. Vatrano posted one assist in the two games.