NCAA Skaters Signing with NHL Clubs in 2024

The exodus of NCAA players to the professional ranks began before the 2024 NCAA tournament started, and has continued following the conclusion of the Frozen Four last weekend in St. Paul. 

Some of the more notable signings, many of them underclassmen, to date since April 1 have included (players listed in alphabetical order by last name):

PLAYER SCHOOL NHL CLUB
Sean Behrens Denver Colorado
Gavin Brindley * Michigan Columbus
Shai Buium Denver Detroit
Dylan Duke Michigan Tampa Bay
Cutter Gauthier * Boston College Anaheim
Lane Hutson * Boston U. Montreal
Victor Mancini #        Omaha           NY Rangers
Scott Morrow * UMass     Carolina
Bradley Nadeau *        Maine           Carolina
Frank Nazar III * Michigan Chicago
Victor Ostman Maine Seattle
Jacob Quillan # Quinnipiac Toronto
Massimo Rizzo Denver Philadelphia
Luke Tuch Boston U. Montreal 
Cade Webber Boston U. Toronto
Dylan Wendt # W. Michigan New Jersey

# Indicates player has made AHL playing debut 

* Indicates player has made NHL playing debut 

NCAA Players with Eligibility Left Leave for NHL

More than 20 NCAA Division I players (listed alphabetically by first name) with college eligibility remaining have signed with professional hockey clubs since the start of March, following the conclusion of their respective 2022-23 seasons:

Aidan Fulp, D, Jr., Western Michigan (NY Islanders/NHL)

Akito Hirose, D, Jr., Minnesota State (Vancouver/NHL) 

Alex Laferriere, F, So., Harvard (Ontario/AHL)

Anton Malmstrom, D, Jr., Bowling Green (St. Louis/NHL)

Brett Berard, F, Jr., Providence (NY Rangers/NHL)

Carter Mazur, F, So., Denver (Detroit/NHL)

Corson Ceulemans, D, So., Wisconsin (Columbus/NHL)

Devon Levi, G, Jr., Northeastern (Buffalo/NHL) *

Hunter McKown, F, Jr., Colorado College (Columbus/NHL) *

Jake Livingstone, D, Jr., Minnesota State (Nashville/NHL)

Jakub Dobeš, G, So., Ohio State (Montreal/NHL)

Josh Doan, F, So., Arizona State (Arizona/NHL)

Mason Lohrei, D, So., Ohio State (Providence/AHL)

Matthew Coronato, F, So., Harvard (Calgary/NHL)

Max Sasson, F, So., Western Michigan (Vancouver/NHL)

Nikita Nesterenko, F, Jr., Boston College (Anaheim/NHL) *

Ondrej Pavel, F, Jr., Minnesota State (Colorado/NHL)

Ryan Tverberg, F, Jr., UConn (Toronto/NHL)  

Ryder Rolston, F, Jr., Notre Dame (Chicago/NHL)

Sean Farrell, F, Jr., Harvard (Montreal/NHL) *

Trevor Kuntar, F, Jr., Boston College (Boston/NHL)

Tyler Kleven, D, Jr., North Dakota (Ottawa/NHL) *

Wyatt Kaiser, D, Jr., Minnesota-Duluth (Chicago/NHL) *

* Indicates player has made his NHL playing debut

Former DU Coach, NHL Forward Backstrom Passes

Former NCAA hockey coach and NHL forward Ralph Backstrom (Denver) has passed away at the age of 83.

Backstrom, a left-handed center from Kirkland Lake, Ontario, played in 1,032 career NHL regular-season outings with Montreal, Los Angeles and Chicago from 1957 to 1973, in which he tallied 278 goals and 361 assists for 639 points. He added 27-32—59 points in 116 Stanley Cup Playoff contests, and won the coveted Cup six times with Montreal. 

He finished his playing career with five seasons in the World Hockey Association with Chicago, Denver, Ottawa and New England from 1973 to 1977. He collected 100-153—253 points in 304 WHA regular-season games along with 10-18—28 points in 38 postseason appearances.

Backstrom went 182-174-14 at the DU helm from 1981 to 1990, including six winning seasons. His best campaign came in 1985-86 when the Pioneers finished 34-13-1 overall, won both the WCHA regular-season and tournament titles, and advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four in Providence.

He had previously served as an assistant coach for one year apiece with both Denver and the NHL's Kings prior to taking the top job at DU. He completed his coaching career by guiding the IHL's Phoenix Roadrunners for two seasons from 1990 to 1992, winning 67 regular-season games in that span.

Backstrom, who was also one of the founders and the first commissioner of Roller Hockey International, later served as a scout with the NHL's St. Louis Blues before founding the minor-league Colorado Eagles, who won several CHL titles before moving to the ECHL.  

U.S. Wins 2017 World Junior Gold

For the first time in four years and second since 2010, the U.S. National Junior Hockey Team is golden.

The Americans rallied from a pair of two-goal deficits on Wednesday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal to defeat host Canada, 5-4, in a shootout in the gold-medal game of the 2017 IIHF Under-20 World Junior Championship.

Troy Terry (Denver) was again the hero in the extra session for the Americans. Following a scoreless 20-minute overtime period, Terry tallied the only goal of the shootout to lift Team USA to its first WJC gold medal since 2013 in Russia. He had three shootout goals the day before in 4-3 semifinal win over Russia. Tyler Parsons made 46 saves for the U.S. on Wednesday, while also stopping all five Canadian shootout attempts.

Trailing 2-0 after the opening 20 minutes, Team USA knotted things up on goals by Boston University teammates Charlie McAvoy and Kiefer Bellows (power-play goal). After Canada connected twice early in the third period to again pull ahead, 4-2, Bellows scored his second goal of the game to bring the U.S. back within one.

Colin White (Boston College) then tied the game with just under 13 minutes remaining in regulation. White finished with a team-high seven goals in seven games for the Americans (7-0-0), and along with McAvoy also played on last year's American WJC squad that won bronze in Finland. Canada outshot the U.S., 50-36, on the night, including 17-7 in overtime

The U.S. has now won four gold medals (2004, 2010, 2013, 2017) in WJC competition, with three of those wins in the championship game coming against Canada.

Russia defeated Sweden earlier on Wednesday, 2-1 in overtime, to claim this year's bronze medal. Next year's WJC competition will be held in Buffalo for the first time since 2011, when the U.S. won bronze.

U.S. to Play for Gold After Edging Russia

Troy Terry (Denver) scored three times in the shootout to lift the U.S. National Junior Team to a 4-3 victory over Russia in a 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship semifinal game at the Bell Centre in Montreal. It was the first time ever that the U.S. had defeated Russia in the medal round in WJC play.

Colin White (Boston College) scored twice in regulation for Team USA, giving him six goals in six games this tournament, with his second goal lifting the U.S. to a 3-2 lead late in the second period. Russia forced overtime with a third-period tally, after holding leads of 1-0 and 2-1 over the first 40 minutes. Luke Kunin (Wisconsin) scored a second period power-play goal for the U.S., which also got two assists on the day from Clayton Keller (Boston University).

Tyler Parsons made 33 saves for the Americans (6-0-0), which outshot Russia, 40-36, over regulation and a scoreless 10-minute overtime period that initiated the shootout. The U.S. then outscored Russia, 4-3, over the extra session, with former Boston College forward Jeremy Bracco getting the other American shootout goal to keep the U.S. effort alive at the time. Terry scored on all three of his shootout attempts, including two in a row, as international rules dictate that shooters can repeat after the first five shootout attempts have been conducted if there is no winner to that point.

Parsons was named the American MVP for the game, while Keller, White and Jordan Greenway (Boston University) were tabbed as Team USA's top players of the tournament. The Americans will now play the winner of Sweden-Canada on Thursday in Montreal for the gold medal (8 p.m. ET, NHL Network). The U.S., which will medal for the fifth time in eight WJC tournaments, last finished first in WJC competition in 2013 in Ufa, Russia.

A Tale of Two NCAA Netminders

A pair of former NCAA netminders made their NHL debuts against one another on Sunday night in Canada's capital city.

Mike Condon (Princeton) made 20 saves in earning his first NHL victory, leading the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-1 win over Matthew O'Connor (Boston University) and the host Ottawa Senators.

“A lot of energy going into the game, but after that first shot comes, all the interior monologue just quiets down and all your training takes over,” said Condon to NHL.com afterwards. “After the first shot, I was just having some fun.”

A 6-foot-2 native of Needham, Mass., Condon went 23-19-0 with Hamilton (AHL) last season, after playing the previous season with Wheeling (ECHL). He recorded 18 victories at Princeton from 2009 to 2013, and also saw time with the former Houston Aeros AHL franchise after originally turning pro.

O' Connor, who made 31 stops for the Senators on Sunday, also made his professional debut that evening. He went 25-5-4 at BU last season, backstopping the Terriers to the Hockey East regular-season and tournament titles, along with a national runner-up finish. A 6-foot-6 native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., he notched 40 wins from 2012 to 2015 at BU.

Rangers Push Habs to Brink with 3-2 OT Win

Carl Hagelin (Michigan) scored for the second straight contest, and Martin St. Louis (Vermont) notched the game-winning goal just 6:02 into overtime to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden.

Hagelin, who scored on a first-period breakaway off a set-up from Brian Boyle (Boston College) and Ryan McDonagh (Wisconsin), also assisted on St. Louis' game-winner as the Rangers took a 3-1 lead in their Stanley Cup Playoff series with the Habs. Rene Bourque (Wisconsin) assisted on the Canadiens first goal of the game as Montreal twice fought back from one-goal deficits to again force sudden death.

Game 5, and New York's first chance to clinch the series and move on to the final, will be on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Crash Kreider He's Not

From Easy Kreider to Crash Kreider? Don't think so.

Concerning Saturday's collision in Montreal between New York Rangers foward Chris Kreider and Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price, I don't see how Kreider could have stopped in time to avoid contact with Price. The Rangers won, 7-2, scoring two goals late in the second period on Price, who finished the period, and then three more on backup Petr Budaj in the third stanza in a 7-2 romp in Game 1 of the 2014 Eastern Conference Final.

Kreider, who is 6'3" and 220 pounds before he even puts on his equipment, had the puck and was going hard to the net at full speed in a 2-0 game, with two opponents whacking away at him. It all happened fast, and he could just as easily have wrecked himself in the ensuing collision.

Habs coach Michel Therrien said on Monday that Kreider's play was "reckless". If Price was so badly hurt, or the Canadiens had concerns about his knee, then why did he last the rest of the period? Now he's said to be out the rest of the series. It's gamesmanship on the part of Montreal's head coach, but that's as much a part of the Stanley Cup Playoffs as winning faceoffs and scoring goals.

Kreider has been accused of running into NHL goalies before, as seen here, including the Price play. The sequence with Fleury was questionable, but with the others, why would Kreider slide if he really wanted to take them out? Why not stay upright and barrel them over at full speed, rather than risk getting cut with a skate or slamming a knee into a goal post? The second coming of Matt Cooke, Kreider isn't. Plus, he's even coming off of surgery on a broken hand.

“I think I’m a clean player,” said Kreider, who catalyzed the Rangers' rebound from the brink of elimination in the last round with a power-play goal at Pittsburgh in Game 5. “I don’t go out with the intent to hurt any player. Ever. I’m going to continue to try and score goals.”

He did on Saturday, racing in and beating Price stick-side to give New York a 3-1 lead at the time. And I'm not defending Kreider because we both went to Boston College, albeit him going more than 20 years after me. Brooks Orpik also attended BC, and he's thrown more than a few questionable hits in his time in the NHL that have injured opposing players.

Then there's this semi-late hit on Derick Brassard by Montreal's Mike Weaver, who is not a dirty player, either, early on in Game 1. No word from the Canadiens on that one, even though Brassard left the ice and never returned to action.

Canadiens forward and former Ranger player Brandon Prust said that Kreider did what he did "accidentally on purpose". The same Prust who has 90 points and 843 penalty minutes in 369 career NHL regular-season games, plus 14 more minutes on Saturday for hacking away at Kreider in the third period, including a slash to the hand and a spear (of sort) to the groin. Nice.

The Canadiens should be worrying how to handle the Rangers' speed after that debacle on Saturday afternoon. Expect Montreal to tighten things up tonight in Game 2, hopefully with less fireworks.

St. Louis, Vanek Get New NHL Addresses

The biggest two transactions involving former NCAA players in yesterday's NHL trade deadline concerned a pair of New York metropolitan clubs.

The New York Rangers acquired Tampa Bay Lightning all-time leading scorer Martin St. Louis (Vermont) for Ryan Callahan and two high-level draft choices, while the New York Islanders shipped Thomas Vanek (Minnesota) to the Montreal Canadiens for Swedish prospect Sebastian Colberg and an exchange of draft picks.

St. Louis, who led Vermont to its first-ever NCAA Frozen Four in 1996, won a Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2004, when he also won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, and made his New York City debut last night in a 3-2 loss to Toronto. Vanek, who was dealt to Long Island in October after spending the inaugural part of his pro career with the Buffalo Sabres, led the Golden Gophers to the 2003 NCAA title.

There were other former college skaters and netminders who received new NHL zip codes as well on Wednesday.

The Florida Panthers sent Tim Thomas (Vermont) to the Dallas Stars in exchange for fellow goaltender Dan Ellis (Nebraska-Omaha). Forward Matt Moulson (Cornell), who was dealt to Buffalo from the Islanders in the Vanek trade last fall, will now take up residence with the Minnesota Wild, who sent Torrey Mitchell (Vermont) to Buffalo in turn.

Lee Stempniak (Dartmouth) joined the Pittsburgh Penguins from the Calgary Flames, while fellow forward Matt Frattin (North Dakota) is now a Columbus Blue Jacket after having been switched out for Marian Gaborik. Defenseman Matt Taormina (Providence) went from Columbus to Tampa Bay in a multi-player swap.

Concerning current college players, Hudson Fasching (Minnesota) is now Buffalo property after his rights were traded from Los Angeles.

Western Michigan Loses Two Skaters in McCarron and Haar

Western Michigan will have to make do with two less players next year, one a highly-prized incoming recruit and the other a defenseman with two years of NCAA experience, according to USCHO.com.

Michael McCarron, a first-round draft choice (25th overall) of the Montreal Canadians at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft last month, decided to bypass playing in the college ranks to sign a three-year deal with the Habs last week. The 6-foot-5, 228-pound winger from Michigan tallied 14 goals and 34 points with the U.S. National Team Development Program's U-18 squad last season, and will either be assigned to London (OHL) in the major junior ranks, or else start his pro career with Hamilton (AHL).

“Our feeling is our program is on solid footing and we will put someone in the lineup to replace Michael McCarron,” said WMU head coach Andy Murray at mlive.com.

Murray also announced that rising sophomore blueliner Garrett Haar has been released by the WMU hockey program and will no longer play for the Broncos after being ruled academically eligible earlier this year.

“Garrett has not lived up to his commitment to his academics and his Bronco hockey teammates and we have decided to part ways with him,” said Murray in a school news release last week.

Haar, a 6-foot-1, 198-pound California native and a 2011 Washington Capitals draft choice (207th overall) who posted four goals and 17 points in 58 career games with the Broncos, said on Twitter that the decision to leave WMU was all his own. He prepped with Fargo (USHL) before coming to Kalamazoo.

Western Michigan joins the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference this season, after playing its first 41 years in the now-defunct Central Collegiate Hockey Association.