Boston University defenseman Adam Clendening has signed with the Chicago Blackhawks and will forgo his final two years of school, according to RDS’s Renaud Lavoie. Clendening’s deal is for three years at $650,000 per season, Lavoie reports.

Clendening tallied four goals and 29 assists and earned a spot on the Hockey East First Team last season. As a freshman, he registered five goals and 21 assists and made the Hockey East All-Rookie Team. The Blackhawks picked Clendening in the second round (36th overall) in the 2011 NHL draft.

Rumors circulated in December that Clendening might leave BU mid-season, but he shot those down in an interview with College Hockey News. The rumors naturally popped up again once the season was over, but sources told CHN that the Blackhawks wanted him to stay at BU another season. On Thursday night, Clendening told The Boston Hockey Blog that Chicago showed increased interest lately and that he “felt it was the right time.”

Clendening’s departure leaves BU with five returning defensemen, plus incoming freshman Matt Grzelcyk. The Terriers will almost certainly add another defenseman or two over the summer. One possibility would be Marc Hetnik, who was originally committed for this fall before it was decided that he’d spend another season playing for the Vernon Vipers of the BCHL.

If the Terriers can fill their defensive holes without using Clendening’s scholarship, they could potentially use that to go after USHL Player of the Year Kevin Roy, who is reportedly looking into getting out of his commitment to Brown. The Pipeline Show named BU as one of the schools Roy would be interested in if he does decommit.

Jon Gillies, one of the top goaltending prospects in this summer’s NHL draft, will play for Providence next season, according to multiple reports. Gillies had originally committed to Northeastern, but he chose to decommit earlier this spring when Chris Rawlings elected to stay for his senior season.

Gillies narrowed his choices down to Providence, Notre Dame and the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Andrew Weiss of Future Considerations reported over the weekend that Gillies had eliminated Notre Dame from consideration. Gillies’ pick of Providence over Quebec was reported by both Weiss and Nathan Fournier of the Maine Hockey Journal. He told Weiss that he picked Providence because it allowed him “more time to develop if needed.”

Gillies, a native of South Portland, Maine, played for the Indiana Ice of the United States Hockey League this past season. The 6-foot-5 netminder led the league with 31 wins and ranked fourth with a .915 save percentage. Gillies was recently ranked sixth among North American goalies in NHL Central Scouting’s final draft rankings.

The Friars now have four goalies lined up for next year’s roster — Gillies, senior Russ Stein, sophomore Julien Laplante and incoming freshman Dylan Wells. Gillies adds to an already-impressive recruiting class for second-year coach Nate Leaman. He joins, among others, fellow NHL draft hopefuls Mark Jankowski and Paul DeJersey, both of whom were ranked among Central Scouting’s top 100 North American skaters.