NCAA Players Moved at 2024 NHL Deadline

A number of former NCAA players changed places last week before the NHL trading deadline last Friday. Some of the more notable transactions (since Feb. 28):

Cole Brady, G (UMass) *            Calgary to Dallas

Devin Cooley, G (Denver) *         Buffalo to San Jose

Brandon Duhaime, F (Providence)    Minnesota to Colorado

Jake Guentzel, F (Omaha)           Pittsburgh to Carolina

Noah Hanifin, D (Boston College)   Calgary to Vegas

Erik Johnson, D (Minnesota)        Buffalo to Philadelphia

Ben Meyers, F (Minnesota)          Colorado to Anaheim

Casey Mittelstadt, F (Minnesota)   Buffalo to Colorado

Kyle Okposo, F (Minnesota)         Buffalo to Florida

Andrew Peeke, D (Notre Dame)       Columbus to Boston

Jack Roslovic, F (Miami)           Columbus to NY Rangers

Chad Ruhwedel, D (UMass Lowell)    Pittsburgh to NY Rangers

Chris Tanev, D (RIT)               Calgary to Dallas

Sean Walker, D (Bowling Green)     Philadelphia to Colorado

Cade Webber, D (Boston Univ.)*     Carolina to Toronto

Jason Zucker, F (Denver)           Arizona to Nashville

* Has not played in NHL yet

Former NCAA Players Taken by NHL's Kraken

Several former NCAA players were selected in last night's NHL Expansion Draft to help stock the league's newest club, the Seattle Kraken, who will begin play in October.

One player was chosen by Seattle from each of the 31 other NHL clubs, save for the Vegas Golden Knights, who only began play in 2017. Among the players taken by the Kraken were defensemen Gavin Bayreuther (St. Lawrence), Jamie Oleksiak (Northeastern) and Carson Soucy (Minnesota-Duluth), forwards Mason Appleton (Michigan State), Colin Blackwell (Harvard) and Brandon Tanev (Providence), and goaltender Joey Daccord (Arizona State).

Bayreuther, 27, skated for St. Lawrence from 2013 to 2017, where he recorded 35 goals and 76 points for 111 points over four seasons. He has three goals and three assists for six points in 28 NHL regular-season games with Dallas and Columbus.

Oleksiak, 28, played at Northeastern during the 2010-11 season, where he put up four goals and nine assists for 13 points with the Huskies before turning pro. He has registered 24-48—72 points in 369 NHL appearances with Dallas and Pittsburgh. and also helped Dallas to the 2020 Stanley Cup Final.

Soucy, 26, played four years at UMD, where he collected 12-35—47 points in 147 NCAA contests, and also captained the Bulldogs to a national championship game berth as a senior in 2017.  In 108 career NHL games, he has put up 8-23—31 points, all with Minnesota.

Appleton, 25, played at Michigan State from 2015 to 2017, scoring 17 goals and adding 36 assists for 53 points over 72  games with the Spartans. He has 20-23—43 points in 138 NHL outings, all with Winnipeg.

Blackwell, 28, skated for Harvard from 2011 to 2015, collecting 19-39--58 points in 94 games for the Crimson. He has 15-17—32 points in 80 NHL appearances with Nashville and the New York Rangers.

Tanev, 29, a member of Providence's 2015 NCAA title team, tallied 35-42—77 points in 149 games with the Friars from 2012 to 2016. In 295 NHL contests with Winnipeg and Pittsburgh to date, he has scored 42 goals to go with 50 assists for 92 points.

Daccord, 24, who backstopped ASU to its first-ever NCAA tournament berth in 2019, posted a career record of 32-40-7 with 3.07 goals-against average and eight shutouts in three seasons with the Sun Devils, including a 21-13-1 mark and seven shutouts in his third and final campaign. He has gone 1-4-1 with a 3.50 GAA in nine NHL appearances, all with Ottawa.

Jets Take 2-1 Series Lead over Nashville

The Winnipeg Jets just keep rocketing along in the NHL postseason, thanks to several former NCAA stars.

The Jets took a 2-1 series lead in their Stanley Cup Playoff Western Conference semifinal series against defending conference champion Nashville with a 7-4 victory over the visiting Predators on Tuesday night. The Jets fell behind, 3-0, after one period, rebounded for a 4-3 lead after 40 minutes, and then broke a 4-4 tie in the third period with three unanswered tallies, including two empty-net goals.

Winnipeg captain Blake Wheeler (Minnesota) paced the home team with two goals and an assist, including the game-winning goal with 4:59 remaining in regulation before he scored an insurance marker into an empty-net just over four minutes later. Paul Stastny (Denver) notched a goal and two assists for the Jets, while Jacob Trouba (Michigan) provided a goal and an assist for Winnipeg from the blueline. Brandon Tanev (Providence) provided the final margin with his own empty-netter with 31 seconds left, while also boosting his goal-scoring streak to four games.

Connor Hellebuyck (UMass Lowell) overcame a rocky start to finish with 26 saves on 30 shots for Winnipeg, which will next host Nashville on Thursday night for Game Four.

Providence Wins First National Title

For the first time in its long history, Providence College is the national champion of NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey.

The 15^th-ranked Friars defeated the favored No. 2 Boston University Terriers, 4-3, in the NCAA title game before 18,022 at TD Garden in Boston.  Brandon Tanev scored the game-winning goal with 6:17 remaining in regulation, picking up a loose puck after a faceoff win by Kevin Rooney and stepping to his left before roofing a shot over the glove of BU netminder Matt O’Connor.

Tanev’s goal came less than two minutes after Friars defenseman Kyle McKenzie flipped the puck in from center ice.  O’Connor (39 saves) gloved it, but somehow lost control, dropped the puck, and kicked it into the Terriers’ net to tie the game, 3-3. It was his second major puckhandling gaffe of the Frozen Four, and helped to end BU’s 17-0-0 season streak when taking a lead into the third period.

The Friars (26-13-2) took a 1-0 lead 9:25 into the contest after Anthony Florentino blasted the puck home from the right side after Providence had milled about the offensive zone for several moments. BU (28-8-5), though, which was seeking is first NCAA title since 2009 and sixth overall, took a 2-1 lead on goals a record four seconds apart by Ahti Oksanen and Danny O'Regan just over three minutes later.

Providence would tie the game 4:29 into the second stanza on a power-play one-timer from Mark Jankowski, the only power-play goal of the night in a game that featured only four penalties. BU regained the advantage on Mark Hohmann's rebound goal just over seven minutes later.

Former Northeastern recruit Jon Gillies made a career-high 49 saves for Providence, including 21 stops in the second period alone. He also made a diving save in the final minutes of the third session on an open Friar net as the Terriers pressed for the tying tally, and ultimately earned Most Outstanding Player accolades.

Providence, which has played regularly since 1952, had last made the national title game in 1985, when the Friars fell, 2-1, to Rensselaer at Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena. Rooney’s uncle, Steve, who went on to win the Stanley Cup with Montreal a year later, was a member of that Providence squad.

The Friars became the fourth Hockey East school to win a national title, joining BU, Boston College, and Maine, and also gave Hockey East its ninth NCAA title since 1995.