ITHACA, N.Y. — Freshman forward Dalton Bancroft has been named to the watch list for the Tim Taylor Award, the Hockey Commissioners Association announced Thursday afternoon.

Since its inauguration in the 2006-07 season, the Tim Taylor Award is recognized as the National Rookie of the Year, as voted on by the nation's assistant coaches.

Bancroft is one of 27 players named to the watch list for this year's award, and is one of six players from ECAC Hockey named to the list. The other players from the ECAC include Brown's Ryan Bottrill, Quinnipiac's Sam Lipkin, Union's John Prokop, Harvard's Joe Miller, and RPI's Sutter Muzzatti.

In his first season on East Hill, Bancroft has 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists) over 22 games. His eight goals are tied with senior defenseman Sam Malinski for the team lead. Five of Bancroft's eight goals this season have come while the Big Red has been on the power play.

The Madoc, Ontario, native is coming off winning his third ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week honor following his second three-point game of the season. Bancroft scored twice and assisted on another Cornell tally — all of which came in the first period — in the Big Red's 10-1 win over Union last Saturday at Lynah Rink. The other three-point game for Bancroft came when he registered a hat trick at Madison Square Garden at the Frozen Apple against UConn on Nov. 26.

At the conclusion of the season, the Rookie of the Year winners from the six Division I hockey conferences will be presented to assistant coaches from each school, who will then vote for the winner of the award. The winner will be announced during the Frozen Four in April, which will be held in Tampa, Fla.

Tim Taylor Award Watch List

Atlantic Hockey (2): Max Itagaki (Army), Nicholas Niemi (Bentley).
Big Ten (6): Adam Fantilli (Michigan), Karsen Dorwart (Michigan State), Logan Cooley (Minnesota), Jimmy Snuggerud (Minnesota), Stephen Halliday (Ohio State), Cruz Lucius (Wisconsin).
CCHA (2): Joey Larson (Northern Michigan), Lleyton Roed (Bemidji State).
ECAC Hockey (6): Ryan Bottrill (Brown), Sam Lipkin (Quinnipiac), Dalton Bancroft (Cornell), John Prokop (Union), Joe Miller (Harvard), Sutter Muzzatti (RPI).
Hockey East (5): Kenny Connors (UMass), Cutter Gauthier (Boston College), Lane Hutson (Boston University), Philip Svedeback (Providence), Matthew Wood (UConn).
NCHC (6): Jackson Blake (North Dakota), Simon Latkoczy (Omaha), Kaidan Mbereko (Colorado College), Ryan McAllister (Western Michigan), Ben Steeves (Minnesota Duluth), Aidan Thompson (Denver).