Following their 11th national championship win, Denver hockey is already seeing roster changes through the transfer portal and departures for the NHL.
To no surprise, some of Denver’s top players announced their departure to the NHL almost immediately after the championship.
Junior defenseman and Hobey Baker finalist Eric Pohlkamp signed with the San Jose Sharks, junior defenseman Garrett Brown signed with the Winnipeg Jets and senior forward Rieger Lorenz signed with the Minnesota Wild.
These players, along with the rest of the graduating seniors, leave a gap to fill for the next freshman class. But for Denver, their recruiting pull continues to grow with three championships in the last five years.
“That’s everything that this program is all about. I’m sure it’s not going to be the last one in this dynasty,” said senior forward Samu Salimen after winning the championship.
However, in a new age of college sports the transfer portal continues to pull athletes from even the most successful teams.
“We deal with it every day,” said Trevor Large, Canisus head coach and chair of the NCAA ice hockey rules committee, at a Frozen Four press conference. “Recruiting players and then retaining players — it’s something that we all have to do. I don’t know if there’s any coach that hasn’t experienced a player transferring.”
For Denver, they have already had two players leave once the transfer portal opened.
Sophomore forward Hagen Burrows, who scored six goals and provided 10 assists for Denver this season, will leave for Notre Dame.
Freshman goaltender Quentin Miller, who did not start since he was replaced by freshman goaltender Johnny Hicks midway through the season, is leaving for NCHC rival Western Michigan.
For Hicks, there’s no hard feelings. Before Miller’s transfer, he credited some of his improvement to their friendly rivalry.
“It’s hard not to get better when you have such great competition every single day,” Hicks said.
Despite their changing roster, the young base that helped Denver to their championship win has remained steady. Other programs will continue to use the transfer portal to try to catch up.
