March 20, 2023
CHN Staff Report
In what has already become an annual college hockey tradition, the NCAA’s transfer portal officially opened today, and already the names are piling up.
NCAA rules changed two years ago to allow for instant transfer of players from one school to another, one time, without having to sit out a full season. It has created annual free agency in college hockey.
The portal was set up to more easily facilitate transfers, allowing players to announce their intention to other schools without representatives needing to contact everyone on their behalf. The portal list is not officially public, though it has leaked out to numerous places on the internet.
Not all players who enter the portal will transfer, or have to.
A new rule implemented last September created a 60-day window for transfer activity to take place without penalty. The 60-day time frame begins the day after NCAA Tournament selections are announced, thus today, and will end May 18.
Nearly 200 players transferred teams last year. That number was boosted by the NCAA still allowing fifth-year eligibility due to the 2020-21 COVID year. Once that goes away, the number of transfers is expected to subside, though will continue to be much greater than it ever was before.
Among the biggest names in the portal so far this year are:
- Miami F Red Savage
- Northeastern F Sam Colangelo
- Northeastern F Riley Hughes
- Princeton F Liam Gorman
- Wisconsin F Ryder Donovan
- Princeton D Pito Walton
- Massachusetts G Luke Pavicich
- Michigan G Noah West
In the case of the Princeton players, for example, those are seniors who, because of Ivy League rules, cannot play the fifth year at Princeton, so are looking elsewhere to continue.
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