The University of Denver is well-known for its ability to send athletes to their respective professional sports leagues.

The Hockey program now has 11 active players playing in the National Hockey League, third in the NCHC. This season alone, DU hockey had six players sign contracts in professional hockey.

This includes star defenseman Zeev Buium, who became the first Israeli citizen to play in the NHL and the first Minnesota Wild player to make his NHL debut in a playoff game on April 20. 

Former 2022 national champions Bobby Brink and Cameron Wright play for the Philadelphia Flyers and the Edmonton Oilers, respectively. 

 2017 National champions: Troy Terry of the Anaheim Ducks, Logan O’Connor of the Colorado Avalanche, Dylan Gambrell of the Columbus Blue Jackets. 

Other former DU hockey players include Scott Mayfield of the New York Islanders, Trevor Moore of the Los Angeles Kings and Jason Zucker of the Buffalo Sabres. 

But, it’s not just hockey that excels at sending athletes to the pro leagues. Andre Shinyashiki, a former DU soccer player, played locally for the Colorado Rapids of the MLS in 2022 and 2023. 

In this year’s MLS SuperDraft, Ian Smith went 14th to the Portland Timbers while Ronan Wynne was drafted by Atlanta United. Sam Bassett signed with the Colorado Rapids shortly after the end of the college season, after spending much of his youth career with their academy. 

DU athletes have had a total of 13 summer Olympians and sent 8 winter Olympians to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games alone, 5 of whom were former skiers at DU. 

In the 2022 Olympics, DU skier Katie Hensien competed for the USA’s Alpine Ski Team at the Beijing Olympics. 

With the current DU athletic program still packed with talent, Denver athletes will only continue to succeed in their future professional endeavors.