Lumberjacks attain Daniel Willett in trade with Lincoln

Press Release

USKEGON, Michigan (January 3rd) – The Muskegon Lumberjacks have announced a trade with the Lincoln Stars in which they have added Defenseman Daniel Willett in exchange for Defenseman Tristan Rostagno, Forward Blake Christensen, and a Phase Two fourth-round draft pick.  Willett will be making his Lumberjacks debut tonight in Sioux City against the Musketeers.

Willett, the Bayville, New York native, is currently in his second season in the USHL and has spent all of it with Lincoln totaling 3 goals and 14 assists to go along with a plus-one rating in 69 games played.  Additionally, Willett is committed to play collegiately for Northeastern University out of the Hockey East Association following his junior career.

Prior to joining the league, Willett spent the 2011-12 season with the New Jersey Rockets junior hockey program recording 9 goals and 18 assists in 26 games played.  The newest Lumberjack also spent two seasons with the Long Island Gulls from 2009-11 out of the Atlantic Youth Hockey League (AYHL) accumulating 27 goals and 38 assists in 52 games played.

Willet was drafted by Lincoln in the second-round (18th overall) during the 2012 USHL Futures Draft.

Tristan Rostagno was in his first season with the Lumberjacks after being drafted by the organization in the fifth-round (70th overall) during the 2012 USHL Futures Draft.  This season, Rostagno appeared in nine games and is committed to Michigan Tech University out of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) following his junior career.

Blake Christensen is currently in his second season in the USHL and appeared in ten games this season with the Lumberjacks notching a goal in his first game with the team back on November 15th in Youngstown.  Christensen was traded to the Lumberjacks in mid-November after beginning the year in Youngstown in which he scored two goals in 12 games played.  The Phantoms drafted Christensen in the first round (9th overall) during the 2013 USHL Entry Draft.  The Rochester, Michigan native played last season with the USNTDP program recording three goals and two assists in 29 USHL games played.

 (Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)