Sunrise, Fla. – Robert Morris University men's hockey all-time leading scorer Zac Lynch '16 has been named to the Florida Panthers 23-man rookie tournament roster. On Monday, Florida Panthers President of Hockey Operations Dale Tallon announced the Panthers roster for the four-team rookie tournament taking place from Saturday, Sept. 17 to Tuesday, Sept. 20 at the Panthers IceDen in Coral Springs, Florida. Lynch is on an amateur tryout agreement with the Panthers organization and will be one of 13 forwards participating in the tournament.

Following his Colonials career, Lynch signed with the Panthers AHL affiliate, the Portland Pirates, playing in seven games and recording an assist. (The Panthers AHL affiliate is now the Springfield Thunderbirds.) Most recently, Lynch attended the Panthers development camp held in July.

A Hobey Baker Top Ten Finalist in the 2015-16 season, Lynch set the Robert Morris all-time scoring record with 156 career points and set the single-season record with 55 points on 25 goals and 30 assists. He finished the season as the third leading scorer in NCAA hockey and was the NCAA's statistical leader in shorthanded goals with 8. Lynch set an NCAA record, scoring shorthanded goals in four consecutive games this season and holds the shorthanded goals record at Robert Morris with 14 in his career. Lynch is second all-time in career assists with 89 and holds the program record with a plus-64 rating as well.

Lynch earned his second CoSIDA Academic All-American honor, named to the second team his senior year, and was a third-team selection during his sophomore campaign. Lynch was also a top ten finalist for the Senior CLASS Award for excellence on the ice and in the classroom, along with teammate and fellow AHL signee Tyson Wilson. Lynch won five championship trophies with the Colonials, two Three Rivers Classic tournament championships, two Atlantic Hockey regular season titles and one Atlantic Hockey playoff championship, helping Robert Morris to its first NCAA tournament appearance.

Lynch is the second Colonials player to participate in preseason activities with the Panthers organization. Defenseman Denny Urban '11 was with Florida for development and training camps. 

Last week, the Chicago Blackhawks announced Colonials graduate, goaltender Eric Levine '13 will attend their training camp. Several NHL teams have yet to announce rosters for rookie tournaments and training camps. Since 2004, when Robert Morris University began its run in NCAA Division I men's hockey, 59 former Colonials have gone on to play hockey professionally.

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