Princeton’s Ryan Kuffner is the front-runner for ECAC Hockey Player of the Year

Ryan Kuffner is posting a Hobey Baker caliber season for Princeton. (Princeton Athletics)

Ryan Kuffner picked up this fall almost exactly where he left off last spring — scoring goals.

The senior left wing from Ottawa set a Princeton University record with 29 goals last season, which ranked him second overall in the nation and also earned him second-team All-America accolades as the Tigers claimed their first ECAC Hockey championship in a decade. His 52 total points last year also ranked him fifth overall in NCAA Division 1.

Kuffner, 22, began the 2018-19 campaign with a team-best seven goals and 13 points over his first seven outings, including two-goal games in wins over Dartmouth and Rensselaer, and a tie against Harvard, all in conference play. For his efforts, Kuffner was named ECAC Hockey Player of the Week on two consecutive occasions, Nov. 5 and Nov. 12.

If he was supposed to receive some sort of plaques to commemorate his achievements, however, he was still waiting for them to arrive in the mail just before Thanksgiving.