TRANSFER PORTAL QUICK FACTS

Q: How many entrants are currently in the portal?

A: As of 10pm on Sunday, April 26, I had 328 entrants in my Men’s Transfer Portal Tracker.

Q: How many of those athletes were cut vs. how many of those athletes were top-level guys on their teams?

A: Well, to give you a better idea of who is in the portal, I went through and calculated how many athletes were goaltenders with less than five games played in 2025-26 or skaters with less than 10 points scored. It wound up being about 69% of the total pool of entrants, so over two-thirds of all entrants were not top-level guys and are more than likely guys who were ‘cut’. A majority of guys in the portal are not skaters that will be big difference makers on their new teams, points-wise.

Q: With the possibility of the NCAA adding a fifth-year of eligibility, what does this mean for the men’s transfer portal?

A: That’s hard to put into a short one paragraph answer, but there are already athletes who have started to enter the portal in anticipation of this rule change (i.e. Max Dukovac of Ferris State, Jaxson Ezman of Princeton, etc.). These athletes have played four full seasons of college hockey and wouldn’t typically be able to enter the portal but because there is a chance they may be granted a fifth year of eligibility they are starting to enter the portal with hopes of one more final year in the NCAA. There are less than 10 of these athletes currently in the portal but if the rule does pass then the NCAA would likely have to reopen the portal or have a special transfer portal window for those that are eligible for the extra year if they hadn’t already entered their names.

Q: Which schools have had the least entrants into the portal?

A: Dartmouth, Harvard and Yale all have no entrants into the portal. That isn’t surprising since most Ivy League athletes likely aren’t going to want to give up a degree and/or educational experience from a university as prestigious as those are. Wisconsin, Union, UConn and Minnesota Duluth all have had only one entrant each per team.

Q: Which schools have had the most entrants into the portal?

A: Mercyhurst by far the most entrants with 22, you can read more about that situation below. Alaska Anchorage has 12 entrants so far, which isn’t surprising for an independent program and as a school that is currently going through a coaching change as well. Alaska Fairbanks has 11 entrants, as does New Hampshire and Lake Superior State. Arizona State, Lindenwood, and RPI all have 10 each.

Q: Which schools haven’t recruited anyone from the transfer portal?

A: Army West Point and the Air Force Academy haven’t picked up any transfers (obviously). It is also unsurprising that Ivy League programs Harvard, Yale and Princeton haven’t picked anyone up either since it is quite difficult to transfer into those schools. Michigan has not picked up any recruits through the portal yet, along with Alaska Anchorage - but the Seawolves do not currently have a head coach at the moment. Tennessee State and Maryville, supposed Division I newcomers for next year, have not recruited anyone out of the portal yet either.

Q: Which schools have recruited from the portal the most?

A: Arizona State lost a lot to the portal but has subsequently gained a lot from the portal as well with 10 current roster additions from other teams. Ferris State has picked up eight athletes while Maine and Alaska Fairbanks both have seven current additions. Canisius has six pickups thus far.

Q: What’s the status on the Sun Devils? Will the new transfer portal additions outweigh the guys who left?

A: Tough to say as of now, but certainly losing athletes like Cullen Potter will be difficult to replace, along with a majority of their defensive core, BUT - the Sun Devils did not have a very good season in 2025-26 so maybe a large shake-up to the roster can be a net positive for the program. Two draft picks are incoming on the blue line in Filip Nordberg (Merrimack) and Matthew Mayich (Clarkson) and point-producing forwards Ben Muthersbaugh (Union) and Olivier Houde (Lindenwood) will certainly be fun to watch in 2026-27.

Q: What’s up with Lindenwood? That’s a lot of losses.

A: There certainly are a lot of departures for the Lions. Each of its seven top scorers are all in the transfer portal, which is not ideal for the program. These top seven athletes are all from Canada and three of them actually came from USports programs this past season. With Lindenwood being an independent program, it may just be a lot of guys who saw that they were able to produce well at the Division I level and want to move on to a more well-known program and a school that has a conference and can make a better run at the NCAA tournament.

Q: What’s up with all of the entrants from Mercyhurst?

A: Mercyhurst announced in late-March that it would be cutting its men’s hockey program at the end of the academic year. Coaches and athletes did not anticipate this move from the university and were allegedly extremely shocked by the announcement. Because the school will no longer have Division I hockey, a majority of the team immediately entered the transfer portal.

Q: Tennessee State hasn’t recruited anyone out of the portal and hasn’t had a new recruit from juniors in … maybe a year? Are they still going to be playing hockey in 2026-27?

A: I highly doubt it. I would absolutely love to see the Tigers join Division I hockey but the team would need an extreme amount of funding and tons of help to get going for next season. The school already postponed it’s inaugural season of hockey by one year and it doesn’t seem like the program has made any attempts in recruiting new players lately for their team so I feel fairly confident in saying that Tennessee State will not be playing (at least at the Division I level) in 2026-27. (Did you know: undefeated Denver goaltender Johnny Hicks - who just won the 2026 national championship - was committed to the Tigers at one point?)

Draft picks in the portal

Listed in order of draft round. 36 total picks in the portal (approx. 11% of all entrants)

• Cullen Potter, Arizona State → Michigan State (CGY, 1st)

• Sascha Boumedienne, Boston Univ. → Ohio State (WPG, 1st)

• Will Skahan, Boston College → Minnesota State (UTAH, 2nd)

• Filip Nordberg, Merrimack → Arizona State (OTT, 2nd)

• Malte Vass, Boston Univ. → New Hampshire (CBJ, 3rd)

• Miguel Marques, Maine → Northeastern (NSH, 3rd)

• Hagen Burrows, Denver → Notre Dame (TBL, 4th)

• Quentin Miller, Denver → Western Michigan (MTL, 4th)

• Justin Poirier, Maine → Penn State (CAR, 4th)

• Andrew Strathmann, North Dakota → Quinnipiac (CBJ, 4th)

• Tanner Henricks, St. Cloud State → Minnesota (CBJ, 4th)

• Daimon Gardner, St. Cloud State → Minnesota State (VAN, 4th)

• Caeden Herrington, Vermont → Penn State (LAK, 4th)

• Justin Kipkie, Arizona State → St. Thomas (MIN, 5th)

• Alexis Cournoyer, Cornell → Wisconsin (MTL, 5th)

• Matthew Mania, Michigan → RIT (LAK, 5th)

• Melvin Strahl, Michigan State → Minnesota (CBJ, 5th)

• Hudson Malinoski, Providence → North Dakota (TOR, 5th)

• Rasmus Larsson, Robert Morris → TBD (NYR, 5th)

• Barrett Hall, St. Cloud State → Minnesota Duluth (SEA, 6th)

• Matthew Mayich, Clarkson → Arizona State (STL, 6th)

• Luke Coughlin, Maine → Ferris State (FLA, 6th)

• Ryan MacPherson, New Hampshire → Robert Morris (PHI, 6th)

• Chris Romaine, Ohio State → Maine (COL, 6th)

• Austin Burnevik, St. Cloud State → Minnesota (ANA, 6th)

• David Klee, North Dakota → Notre Dame (SJS, 7th)

• Matteo Mann, Colorado College → Lake Superior State (PHI, 7th)

• Casper Nassen, Miami → Lake Superior State (BOS, 7th)

• Austin Baker, Michigan State → Miami (DET 7th)

• Jimmy Clark, Minnesota → Michigan State (MIN 7th)

• Erik Pahlsson, Minnesota → Ohio State (NSH, 7th)

• Jeremy Loranger, Nebraska Omaha → TBD (CBJ, 7th)

• Cade Littler, North Dakota → Arizona State (CGY, 7th)

• James Fisher, Northeastern → St. Lawrence (CBJ, 7th)

• Owen Mehlenbacher, UMass → Ferris State (DET, 7th)

• Nick Van Tassell, UMass → New Hampshire (OTT, 7th)

FORMER MINNESOTA HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY PLAYERS IN PORTAL

Sorted by high school. 38 total played MN HS Hockey, which is about 11/12% of the total entrant pool.

Benilde-St. Margaret’s (1): Brady Yakesh (Lindenwood → TBD)

Blaine (2): Finn Loftus (SCSU → MN), Zane Spaniol (AFA → Bethel)

Blake (1): Will Svenddal (Augustana → TBD)

Brainerd (1): Haden Kruse (UAF → TBD)

Centennial (1): Henry Bartle (UAF → TBD)

Cretin-Derham Hall: Colton Jamieson (UST → FSU)

Eastview (1): Sam Groebner (Army → UST)

Edina (1): Jimmy Clark (MN → MichSt)

Farmington (1): Quinn Rudrud (Augustana → TBD)

Gentry Academy (2): Conner Brown (FSU → LIU), Barrett Hall (SCSU → UMD)

Grand Rapids (1): Garett Drotts (Augustana → TBD)

Greenway (1): Ben Troumbly (Augustana → TBD)

Hill-Murray (2): Leo Gruba (MN → Notre Dame), Jack Erickson (Bentley → TBD)

Maple Grove (3): Josh Giuliani (UST → Bentley), Landen Gunderson (OSU → SHU), Toby Hopp (AFA → TBD)

Minnetonka (1): Hagen Burrows (DEN → Notre Dame)

Moorhead (2): Gavin Lindberg (CC → UND), Joe Gramer (UNO → Bemidji State)

Prior Lake (1): Will Schumacher (Mercyhurst → Lindenwood)

Rochester Mayo (1): Hunter Hady (Michigan → ASU)

Rogers (1): Sam Ranallo (UST → TBD)

Rosemount (2): Luke Levandowski (LSSU → TBD), Zach Bade (WMU → FSU)

Sartell (1): Quentin Sigurdson (Northeastern → MichSt)

St. Cloud (2): Max Rud (MN → UAF), August Falloon (MN → TBD)

St. Michael-Albertville (1): Casy Laylin (UST → TBD)

St. Thomas Academy (2): Tommy Cronin (UAF → Union), Will Skahan (BC → MinnSt)

Stillwater (1): Evan Murr (MinnSt → MN)

Thief River Falls (1): Evan Bushy (LSSU → BG)

Totino-Grace (1): Austin Burnevik (SCSU → MN)

Warroad (1): Daimon Gardner (SCSU → MinnSt)

White Bear Lake (1): Grady Gallatin (WMU → UAF)

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