Perk your ears up, there's hockey news!
The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed their 2018 sixth-round pick, Tim Berni, to a three-year entry level contract.
#CBJ have signed Tim Berni to a three-year entry level contract. https://t.co/2MQ4V75DkR
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) April 2, 2020
This news was announced by the organization on Thursday morning, less than three weeks after the official suspension of the 2019-2020 season due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Berni is a 20-year-old blueliner out of Switzerland who has played for the ZCD Lions in the NLA for the past three seasons. In that span, he has put up 5-14-19 in 94 games.
The left-handed defenseman has played in the last few World Juniors, and last fall, he spoke on his excitement to continue to grow and see a future for himself in the NHL and the Blue Jackets.
"I feel like it's a good thing to play against men there and really try to make myself into a top four defenseman on the team," Berni told the Blue Jackets in August. "That's a good way for me to keep improving myself, and I'll try to be better this year."
Berni's statistics in his time with the ZCD Lions may seem a bit underwhelming, but the fact that he was a teenager in the majority of his time playing in the NLA is an encouragement to what the 6'0-183 pound-prospect could turn into with a few more years of experience.
