ITHACA, N.Y. — Senior defenseman Yanni Kaldis from the Cornell men's hockey team has signed a two-year professional contract with the American Hockey League's Bakersfield Condors, the team announced.
 
Kaldis recently capped a stellar collegiate career with a spot on the 2020 CCM/AHCA Division I All-America second team for the East Region after becoming the program's first-ever four-time selection to the All-Ivy League first team. He played in all of Cornell's 133 games and helped lead the team to three consecutive selections to the NCAA tournament before being aligned for a fourth (which would have been a first in program history) before his senior season was canceled after the regular season due to COVID-19 concerns.
 
While serving as a pillar of the defense corps, Kaldis racked up 85 points – the most points accrued by a Cornell defenseman since 2002-03. He excelled at production on the power play, serving as the primary play-maker from the center point on the top unit for each of his last three seasons. While more visible on the offensive side, Kaldis was depended upon in all three zones. He was named to three All-ECAC Hockey teams (first team in 2020, second team in 2019, third team in 2018) after being named to the league's All-Rookie team in 2017. He was the 11th All-American among Cornell defensemen in program history.
 
The Bakersfield Condors are the AHL affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers, which had several Cornell alum in its minor-league system last season. Beau Starrett '19 split time between the Condors and the ECHL's Wichita Thunder, while Mitch Gillam '17 spent the full season in Wichita, and Brendan Smith '19 and Eric Freschi '16 were in Wichita for a portion of the season.
 
Kaldis joins the professional ranks with senior Jeff Malott, who signed with the AHL's Manitoba Moose in April. Cornell had 28 program alumni play professionally during the truncated 2019-20 season, including four in the National Hockey League.