DENVER – Forward Carter Mazur of the University of Denver hockey team has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Detroit Red Wings, the NHL club announced on Tuesday. The deal begins in the 2023-24 season, and Mazur will report to the American Hockey League's Grand Rapids Griffins for the remainder of the 2022-23 campaign on an amateur tryout.
 
Mazur led the Pioneers and ranked tied for fifth in the nation in goals this past season, recording 22 markers while playing in all 40 games. His six game-winning goals tied for third in the country, and he also added 15 assists to finish the campaign with 37 points and was named to the All-NCHC Second Team. Mazur led DU with eight power-play tallies, recorded 32 penalty minutes, had a plus-19 rating and was a finalist for the NCHC Defensive Forward of the Year award.
 
The Jackson, Michigan, native began this past season by totaling four points (3g/1a) in the wins over Notre Dame and Maine on Oct. 7-8, helping Denver win the Ice Breaker Championship and earn himself tournament MVP honors. Mazur recorded a five-goal weekend in late October at Miami, as he scored his first hat trick on Oct. 28 before contributing two more tallies the next night versus the RedHawks.
 
Mazur's three goals came consecutively for DU's first natural hat trick since Quentin Shore on Nov. 21, 2014 against Air Force, and it was the first five-goal weekend by a Pioneer since Jarid Lukosevicius on Nov. 2-3, 2018 at home versus Western Michigan. He was named the NCHC Player of the Month for October after tying for first in the country in goals (10) and leading all NCAA players with four game-winning tallies in the opening month of the season.
 
The forward went on a career-long, 10-game point streak from Feb. 10 to March 11 (5g/9a), which also included a personal-best, six-game assist streak from Feb. 24-March 11 (6a)—tied for the longest of the season by a DU player. He earned NCHC Forward of the Week honors twice during the season: Oct. 31 after his performance at Miami and Feb. 27 following a four-point weekend at Western Michigan (2g/2a).
 
An alternate captain on DU as a sophomore in 2022-23, Mazur finishes his collegiate career with 36 goals, 39 assists and 75 points and appeared in all 81 games. He was named the NCHC Rookie of the Year in 2021-22 after recording 14 goals, 24 assists and 38 points as a freshman and helped Denver win its record-tying ninth national championship.
 
Also a member of the NCHC's All-Rookie Team last year, Mazur was twice named Rookie of the Week and began his NCAA career by scoring twice in his debut on Oct. 8, 2021 versus Arizona State. He was the first Denver player to score multiple times in their first game as a Pioneer since Luke Salazar on Oct. 11, 2008 against Notre Dame.
 
Mazur was named Rookie of the Week two times as a freshman (Nov. 15, 2021, Jan. 17, 2022) and was named Rookie of Month in November 2021, December 2021 and March/April 2022. He had three assists in the 2022 national tournament, including a pair of helpers in the national championship game against Minnesota State on April 9, 2022.
 
The 6-foot, 173-pound winger competed in both iterations of the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship, playing one game for the United States in December 2021 before it was cancelled due to COVID-19 and in August 2022 in the reboot of under-20 tournament. He was named one of the three best players on Team USA in the August competition after leading the Americans and placing second overall with five goals. He also had two assists in five games.
 
Mazur was selected in the third round at No. 70 overall by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2021 NHL Draft. He was a product of the Little Caesars organization before playing two years of junior hockey with the Tri-City Storm of the USHL from 2019-2021. He was the first Denver player to wear No. 34, which is the reverse of 43 that was worn by former Detroit Red Wings forward Darren Helm, his favorite player growing up.
 
 
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