ITHACA, N.Y. — The Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League announced Thursday that they have signed senior forward Trevor Yates to a one-year contract for the 2018-19 season. Yates will also join the Griffins on an amateur tryout for the remainder of this season.

Yates led his classmates with 120 career games and 65 points on 32 goals and 33 assists through four years on East Hill. He was tied for the team lead in goals (13) and scoring (26 points) this season while serving as an alternate captain. He scored the Big Red's only goal in each of its final two games of the season, both in the ECAC Hockey semifinals against Princeton on March 16 and in the NCAA Northeast Region semifinals against Boston University last Saturday.

Though he played on the wing early on, Yates established himself as one of the Big Red's go-to centermen over the last two seasons. He also developed a knack for scoring on the power play, leading the team with eight during his breakout junior season that saw him score 12 goals in 35 games. He started this year off in similar fashion with three power-play goals in the first two games against Alabama-Huntsville. By season's end, he brandished a plus-17 rating – tops among the team's forwards.

Yates is the Cornell men's hockey team's third professional signing this week – all coming from forward in the senior class. Dwyer Tschantz signed with the ECHL Worcester Railers and made his professional debut on Wednesday, and Alex Rauter was formally announced as an addition for the ECHL's Atlanta Gladiators earlier today. Yates is eligible to appear in his first professional game as soon as 7 p.m. Friday, when the Griffins host the San Jose Barracuda.