More 2026 NCAA Skaters Joining NHL

More NCAA Division I players, some with college eligibility remaining, are making the jump to the professional hockey ranks.

Charlie Stramel has left Michigan State after two seasons with the Spartans to sign a three-year entry-level contract with the Minnesota Wild, who drafted him 21st overall in 2003. A native of St. Paul, Minn., he tallied 19 goals and 25 assists for 44 points this past season in helping MSU to its third straight Big Ten conference regular-season title. Stramel, who began his NCAA tenure with two years at Wisconsin, finished his college career with 36-55—101 points.

The brother combination of Hampton and Grant Slukynsky, who led Western Michigan to its first-ever NCAA title last spring, is taking its act to California. Hampton has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Los Angeles Kings, who inked brother Grant to a similar deal for one year. Both natives of Roseau, Minn. will report to the AHL's Ontario Reign for the rest of the 2025-26 campaign. Hampton Slukynsky, who was drafted 118th overall by the Kings in 2023, fashioned a record of 46-16-2 with a 2.14 goals-against average and five shutouts in 64 career games with the Broncos over two years, while Grant, who began his college career at Northern Michigan, tallied 26-59—85 points in 115 outings over three seasons. 

James Hagens of Boston College has inked a three-year deal withe Boston Bruins, who drafted him seventh overall last summer. He had earlier signed an amateur tryout agreement with Providence (AHL), the Bruins' top affiliate, and tallied a goal and four points in his first six AHL outings. The Hauppauge, N.Y native paced BC with 23-24—47 totals this season, and was also named MVP as the Eagles won their first Beanpot Tournament in 10 years. He finished with 34-50—84 points in 71 career NCAA games.

Notre Dame forward Cole Knuble signed earlier on with the Philadelphia Flyers, who drafted him 103rd overall in 2023, and has been skating with Lehigh Valley (AHL), notching a goal and an assist through his first five games. The son of former NHL player Mike Knuble, the East Grand Rapids, Mich. native spent the last three seasons with the Fighting Irish, compiling 30-60—90 points in 106 appearances.

 

25 Years Ago Today ... BC 3, UND 2

A quarter-century ago today, Krys Kolanos scored 4:43 into overtime to lift Boston College to a 3-2 win over North Dakota in the 2001 NCAA Division I men's hockey national title game in Albany, lifting the Eagles to their first NCAA title since 1949.

Shasby Steps Down as UAA Coach

Former Seawolf defenseman Matt Shasby has stepped down as head coach at Alaska Anchorage, after four seasons at the helm of his alma mater.

Shasby, 45, from Eagle River, Alaska, took over the UAA program in 2021, after it had been reinstated following budget cuts. He fashioned a 34-86-9 record in that time as an NCAA Division I independent, including a 5-27-1 mark this past year. His best campaign came in 2023-24, when he led UAA to a 15-17-2 finish.

Shasby joined the Seawolves as a player after winning a Clark Cup with Des Moines (USHL) in 1999 and being drafted 150th overall that same year by the Montreal Canadiens. In four seasons on the blueline at UAA, he collected 12 goals and 53 assists for 65 points to go with 158 penalty minutes over 127 outings. 

He spent the majority of his six-year professional career with the ECHL's Alaska Aces, winning a Kelly Cup in 2005-06 while recording 46-186—232 points and 408 PIM in 364 career regular-season ECHL appearances. 

UAA is expected to conduct a national search for his successor.

Hockey Easter 2026

BC's Perreault Gets First NHL Hat Trick

Gabe Perreault (Boston College) has notched his first NHL hat trick. 

The right wing from Sherbrooke, Quebec. tallied three goals in the New York Rangers' 4-1 win over visiting Detroit today. He collected his first goal late in the second period, added another midway through the third, and completed the trifecta by scoring into an empty net with just under two minutes remaining in regulation. He now has 10 goals and 15 assists for 25 points in 45 outings so far this season for the Rangers, who had been previously eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff consideration for this year.

Perreault, 20, made his NHL debut last spring by going scoreless in a five-game audition with the Rangers, who drafted him 23rd overall in 2023 out of the U.S. National Team Development Program. He spent two years at BC, collecting 35-73—108 points in 73 appearances with the Eagles, while helping them to two Hockey East regular-season titles and two NCAA tournament berths, including the 2024 national championship game.

Three MSU Spartans Turn Pro

Michigan State will have to do without three key contributors going forward, all of whom recently signed NHL contracts.

Freshman right wing Porter Martone was the first to go, signing on Sunday with the Philadelphia Flyers, who drafted him sixth overall last year. Martone, 19, paced the Spartans this past year with 25 goals and 50 points in his only NCAA campaign, after skating three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League. The Peterborough, Ont. native, who played in two IIHF World Junior Championships for Canada, made his NHL debut on March 31 at Washington, and picked up his first pro point with an assist against Detroit tonight. 

Junior goaltender Trey Augustine has signed with the Detroit Red Wings, who selected him 41st overall in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, and has been assigned to Detroit's top minor-league affiliate in Grand Rapids (AHL). Augustine, 21, from South Lyon, Mich. fashioned a 24-9-1 record in 34 games this past season, with a 2.11 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage, while earning Big Ten Goaltender of the Year accolades. In three years with the Spartans, he went 66-25-7 with a 2.40 GAA over 99 career outings while notching nine shutouts and backstopping MSU to three consecutive Big Ten conference regular-season titles and two tournament crowns. He also won two gold medals with the U.S. at the WJCs, after prepping with the U.S. National Junior Team Development Program, and is a finalist this year for both the Mike Richter Award (top NCAA goalie) and the Hobey Baker Memorial Award (top NCAA player). 

Junior defenseman Maxim Strbak has signed with the Buffalo Sabres, who drafted him 45th overall in 2023, and has been assigned to Rochester (AHL). Strbak, 20, from Kosice, Slovakia, notched three goals and 15 assists for 18 points in 37 games this past season with MSU, and in three years in East Lansing collected 8-38—46 points over 102 appearances. A product of Sioux Falls (USHL), he also participated in four consecutive WJCs for Slovakia. 

MSU's 2025-26 campaign ended with a 4-3 overtime loss to Big Ten rival Wisconsin in the NCAA Worcester (Mass.) Regional final on March 29, one game short of the Frozen Four. 

ADDENDUM: Michigan State sophomore defenseman Colin Ralph and senior forward Daniel Russell have also signed pro contracts, with the St. Louis Blues and Wilkes-Barre Scranton (AHL), respectively. Ralph, 20, from Maple Grove, Minn., collected 2-16—18 points in 69 career games with St. Cloud State and MSU, after being drafted 48th overall by the Blues in 2024. Russell, from Traverse City, Mich., totaled 43-70—113 points in 140 career outings at MSU, after playing three years in the USHL and one in the NAHL. 

Mercyhurst Dropping Men's Ice Hockey

Mercyhurst University, which has iced a varsity men's hockey team since 1987-88, is apparently putting that program on ice. The university administration announced last week that it will discontinue men's ice hockey at the conclusion of the current academic year.

The Lakers have competed at the NCAA Division I, II and III levels since their inception. After spending their first five years in Division III, they elevated to Division II in 1992-93, one year after moving into the on-campus Mercyhurst Ice Center in Erie, Pa. They made the jump to Division I in 1999-2000 with the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), winning two conference titles and making two NCAA tournaments, before moving to Atlantic Hockey (now Atlantic Hockey America) in 2003-04, winning the conference playoff title and earning an NCAA tournament bid the following season.

Head coach Rick Gotkin, who retired following the conclusion of the 2025-26 season, had led the Lakers since 1988-89, fashioning a record of 617-579-114 overall. He also compiled 23 winning seasons, the last coming in 2017-18 when the Lakers claimed their second of two Atlantic Hockey regular-season championships. Although men's hockey moved up to the NCAA Division I level in 2003, the entire university athletic program did not did so until 2024. The Mercyhurst women's hockey team, which began play in 1999-2000, will continue to play on.

Mercyhurst becomes the third Atlantic Hockey America men's program to leave Division I in the last several years. AIC dropped back down to Division II following the 2024-25 campaign, and did not compete this past season. Robert Morris eliminated its men's and women's programs in 2021, but both were reinstated in 2023-24.