Hobey Baker Award finalist T.J. Hensick signed a three-year contract with the Avalanche on Wednesday.
Colorado also signed prospect Raymond Macias to a three-year deal. Macias was the top-scoring defenseman in the Western Hockey League this season.
Hensick, a third-round choice by the Avs in the 2005 entry draft, led the nation in scoring with Michigan. He posted 23 goals and 69 points in 41 games for the Wolverines and was a Central Collegiate Hockey Association first-team all-star. His final collegiate game was at the Pepsi Center on March 24, when he scored three points in an 8-5 NCAA Tournament loss to North Dakota.
Hensick, 21, was the first Wolverine to record three consecutive 50-point seasons since Bill Muckalt from 1996-98 and first to record 40-plus points in all four seasons since Brendan Morrison (1994-97).
Macias, 20, led WHL defensemen in scoring with 30 goals and 70 points, and was plus-29. He was a fourth-round selection of the Avs in 2005.
Avalanche director of player development, Craig Billington, said Macias showed “outstanding progress” with the Kamloops Blazers this year, and said Hensick is a shifty, skilled forward who benefited from playing with one of the top college programs in the nation.
Adrian Dater can be reached at 303-954-1360 or adater@denverpost.com.
