After spending the majority of his juniors career in Canada, Rodwin Dionicio’s journey will now take him way south of the border. Fresh off a season split between the Windsor Spitfires and the Saginaw Spirit where he put up 83 points in 60 games, won the Memorial Cup and signed his entry-level contract (ELC), Dionicio (dee-oh-nee-see-oh) is heading to San Diego to play for the Ducks‘ AHL affiliate.
Originally, the plan was for Dionicio to play in Switzerland––where the New Jersey native grew up––this upcoming season with EHC Biel after he signed a three-year deal with the club this past January. But, after Dionicio signed his ELC with the Ducks, he said that “(the Ducks and I) had a great talk about what is the plan for us.”
Anaheim now feels comfortable enough with his body of work that they have decided to keep him close by instead of having him play in Europe again, as he did prior to playing in the OHL.
“His body had completely changed,” Ducks director of player development Jim Johnson said to NHL.com’s Jon Paul Morosi. “He was strong and able to move well. He’s a good skater moving forward and has great offensive instincts. The training aspect is very important — how you fuel your body, get proper rest, have good nutrition. All of that showed in his play. With his offensively gifted instincts, the sky’s the limit. He needs to have the same level of focus and commitment without the puck as he does with the puck.”
Derek Lee-The Hockey News
“It’s not my plan to go back home right now,” Dionicio said. “I’ve been here (in North America) the last three or four years, so it’s not something that bothers me. I’m really excited to take my chance here and just work and earn my spot. It’s really exciting, it’s been exciting for the last couple of months.”
Dionicio spent most of his offseason––a short one because of the Spirit’s run to the Memorial Cup Final––training back home with “a nice group of three guys that I had (two of them are the New Jersey Devils‘ Timo Meier and the Chicago Blackhawks‘ Philipp Kurashev).” He expressed surprise and excitement about coming to camp having signed his first pro contract and that there’s still more to work for beyond that.
“It’s just really exciting that I got the chance to come here and present my skill,…