The dream to play in the National Hockey League had a very distinct element for East Longmeadow, Massachusetts native Frank Vatrano. He grew up a fan of his hometown Boston Bruins and now has a tale to pass on to future generations.

Vatrano watched several players and friends from his area join the United States National Development Team.  He then made it a goal of his, from an early age, to show that he could take that step and earn his spot in the program.  “When you are from the United States and know growing up that the National Development Team is the team everyone is playing for; you want to make that your goal. I was fortunate enough to earn a spot on the team and moved away at 15 years old. I played with the team from my junior year to my senior year of high school and learned a lot,” said Vatrano.

He realized that in order to become a successful pro you need to adapt and become comfortable with the lifestyle and a demanding schedule that comes with the territory.

“They teach you a lot of things that you don’t see at a young age and ultimately you just learn how to be a pro. They teach you everything from healthy eating to gaining weight to learning how to adapt to a professional-style schedule. They throw everything at you at once and you learn from it.  Then it just starts to become the norm for you. If I wasn’t part of that program, I don’t think my transition to college and then into pro would have been as easy.”

Education has always been a top-of-mind aspect of life for Vatrano.  For that reason, he made the decision to attend the University of Massachusetts-Amherst from 2013 – 2015. After a redshirt year his first season (2013-14), Vatrano went on to play 36 games in 2014-15, amassing 18 goals and 10 assists for 28 points.

In just his first full season of college hockey, Vatrano began receiving considerable interest from the nearby Boston Bruins – marking the beginning of his soon-to-be dream come true.

“I was having a pretty good year my sophomore year and the Bruins came knocking on my door pretty early. They showed some interest in me all year and at the end of that season I saw the opportunity to turn pro while I was in talks with them.”    

Vatrano would join the Bruins American Hockey League affiliate in Providence at the end of the 2014-15 season, scoring a goal in 5 games.

He forwent his senior year to pursue a professional career, signing a three-year entry-level contract with the Boston Bruins on March 12, 2015.

 “After sitting down with my family and my agent, it seemed like a great fit for me and so I made the decision to follow through.  It was a big decision to leave school early and make the jump to pro hockey but I felt like I was ready.”

When asked if there were specific individuals that helped him with his quick transition to the professional ranks after only one full season in college, Vatrano had nothing but praise for the staff in Providence. “Bruce Cassidy (now assistant in Boston), Kevin Dean (promoted to head coach in Providence), Jay Pandolfo, the list goes on and they all really helped me a lot. Everything they have in Providence is available to you to make you a better player and its up to you to utilize the people and resources there.”

The forward boasts an elite release and it showed during his lightning fast start to the 2015-16 campaign with Providence. Vatrano scored 10 goals and added 2 assists in just 9 games in the month of October on his way to having his childhood dream become a reality.

“I was a Bruins fan my whole life. I grew up watching the Canadiens vs. Bruins rivalry and whether its in the playoffs or regular season the games between those two teams are always intense. For me, being from around the Boston area and debuting in Montreal against them at the Bell Centre – I can’t really picture it in a better way. Scoring in that first game with my Dad and my uncle in the crowd was special and I couldn’t draw it up any better than that.”

WATCH: Frank Vatrano score his first NHL goal

Vatrano seemingly carries himself with a sense of quiet confidence surrounding his status as an NHL prospect ready to claim a full-time roster spot come 2016-17. “If you asked me the same question a couple of years ago, where I would be scoring my first NHL goal, I couldn’t tell you if I would even be playing in the NHL, so for it to unfold the way it did it was really special.”

Having played just under half of the 2015-16 season in the AHL, where he lead the League with 36 goals in just 36 games en route to being named co-recipient of the League’s Rookie of the Year Award, Vatrano was exposed to the business side of professional hockey for the first time.  Given his constant desire to further educate himself, Vatrano was attentive when it came time to learning more about the Professional Hockey Players’ Association (PHPA), which is the collective bargaining representative for all AHL and ECHL players.

“In Providence Ben Youds was our Player Rep for the PHPA and he did a great job explaining things to us. Obviously being a rookie you don’t quite understand everything that goes on with a professional team behind the scenes so there’s a lot to learn.  He made it clear to us what we have at our disposal through the PHPA which was really great. It is good for AHL players to have such great support and that’s what makes the PHPA so unique and special.”

Building off his impressive 2015-16 campaign where he also recorded 11 points in 39 NHL contests, the young forward has been working hard over the summer to ready his body and mind and prepare for what he hopes to be his first full NHL season with his hometown Boston Bruins.

Follow Brendan Connolly on twitter @BConnolly_