According to the Duluth News Tribune, Minnesota-Duluth sophomore defenseman Dylan Olsen has signed a three-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks and will join their AHL affiliate in Rockford, Ill., immediately following the World Junior Championship.

Olsen is currently playing for Canada at the World Junior tournament in Buffalo, N.Y.

“Dylan was having a good year and we were expecting a better, more confident player to return to us after the experience of the junior tournament,” UMD coach Scott Sandelin told the paper. “We knew how much making Canada’s team meant to him and that it could only help his play.

“We’re just disappointed he chose to make a change at midseason.”

Sandelin also said that recent academic issues would probably have left Olsen ineligible for the second semester.

The 19-year-old Olsen had two goals and 22 assists for 24 points in 53 career games with the Bulldogs, including a goal and 12 assists for 13 points in 17 games this season.

Olsen was taken by Chicago in the first round (28th overall) in the 2009 NHL draft.