Today, Monday April 13th,, the transfer portal has opened and as of 6pm EST there are over 250 players in. Here is a breakdown of what we are seeing today.
Lack of Difference Makers
Out of 250+ prospects only 8 players so far have a 4.25-star grade (Tanner Henricks, Miguel Marques, Evan Murr, Leo Gruba, JJ Wiebusch, Jeremy Loranger, Austin Burnevik, and Cade Christenson) and only two players thus far who are 4.5-stars (Cullen Potter and Justin Poirier). That means, as of now, 97% of the NCAA Transfer Portal are not what we’d categorize as higher-end talent or “difference makers.”
Ian Moran, Neutral Zone’s Director of NHL Scouting, said “it’s rare to find blue chip prospects in the transfer portal because most NCAA players who are 4.5-stars or higher are making decisions about signing in the AHL/NHL and not about switching schools.”
High Volume Day #1
There were some early entrants – especially considering Mercyhurst dropped their program a few weeks ago and all of those players entered instantly. However, today alone there were over 230 entrants in the first 24 hours which is a much more rapid pace than in years past. This was being talked about in the rinks by agents given the schools have a 15 day window to land prospects so many of the deals done today and even more we have knowledge of that we are waiting for an official post were done days or even weeks prior.
Teams with 7 or More Entants (so far)
There are a multitude of reasons for the turnover we are seeing with these teams. Some cases it’s players looking to move to a percieved “better” spot. In other cases it’s players who are being told they will not make the team next season, also known as “cuts.” Some players are solid – came to the program with success at the junior level but the “fit” wasn’t right. Regardless of the reason – with new roster rules as they are – these teams will have some work to do either in the freshman class or transfer portal to replace what they’ve lost here.
Alaska-Fairbanks – 11
Alaska-Anchorage – 9
Lake Superior – 9
Arizona State – 9
Maine – 8
New Hampshire – 8
UMass Amherst – 8
Merrimack – 8
RPI – 8
Minnesota – 7
North Dakota – 7
Northern Michigan – 7
Ferris State – 7
Sacred Heart – 7
Who are the top committed/uncommitted players (so far)?
We will be updating our Transfer Portal Player Rankings throughout the week as teams come in but here we give free snapshot of top 10 who have committed and top 10 uncommitted officially. (This was made as of 6pm 4/13/26)
Committed
- Austin Burnevik (4.25), F, St. Cloud to Minnesota
- Tanner Henricks (4.25), D, St. Cloud to Minnesota
- Evan Murr (4.25), D, Minnesota State to Minnesota
- Leo Gruba (4.25), D, Minnesota to Notre Dame
- Justin Kipkie (4.0), D, Arizona State to St. Thomas
- Caeden Herrington (4.0), D, Vermont to Penn State
- Michael Quinn (4.0), D, Miami (OH) to Notre Dame
- Dylan Compton (4.0), D, Northeastern to Wisconsin
- Finn McLaughlin (4.0), D, Minnesota to St. Cloud
- Jacob Leblanc (4.0), D, Mercyhurst to Lindenwood
Uncommitted (officially)
- Cullen Potter (4.5), F, Arizona State (later announced commitment to Michigan State)
- Justin Poirier (4.5), F, Maine
- JJ Wiebusch (4.25), F, Penn State
- Finn Loftus (4.0), D, St. Cloud (later announced commitment to Minnesota)
- Miguel Marques (4.25), F, Maine
- Jeremy Loranger (4.25), F, Nebraska-Omaha
- Cade Christenson (4.25), D, Penn State
- Andrew Strathman (4.0), D, North Dakota
- Daniel Shlaine (4.0), F, Minnesota-Duluth
- Barrett Hall (4.0), F, St. Cloud
** We have insights from coaches/agents that at least 4 of the players above are already”committed” to a new school but we are waiting until an official post before updating in our system.
NIL Impact
NCAA hockey is far different animal than Basketball or Football for a variety of reasons; one the money is significantly smaller, second the families invovled are typically wealthy and money isn’t a top priority but this tim of year the biggest difference is freshman recruiting is a higher priority for teams. In basketball and football the portal is payday for top eschlon prospects; in hockey there are very few transfers who are earning significant money in a given year. So far, there have been a few upper eschlon prospects in the portal who will yield some cash but haven’t seen an active and significant bidding war at this point.
Some Insights on Uncommitted Players
Jeremy Loranger (4.25), F, Nebraska-Omaha – he’s undersized and a bit of a soft-skill finesse forward which usually doesn’t translate well in college hockey but he’s only 18 years old, highly dynamic with the puck and makes everyone around him better. He is a dual threat as a scorer and a playmaker and seemed to get better as the season went on and he got the hang of college hockey and the NCHC. The fit will matter here but his skill-set is rare in collee hockey.
Rasmus Svartstrom (4.0), F, St. Lawrence – this is a Finnish prospect who came over to the BCHL last year in his first season in North America and scored nearly a goal per game with a rare combination of size, skill and scoring ability. The question mark was his pace of play and overall foot-speed as he was raw and clunky in junior. He backed that up this season in the ECAC scoring 17 goals in 34 games earning a spot on the All-Rookie team in the ECAC. We saw last year that there is buyer-beware taking players out of the ECAC as the stats didn’t translate at the NCHC and Big 10 levels (not that the sample size was very big) but that being said, there is not a lack of speed and pace and in the ECAC so we wouldn’t discount his accomplishment and overcoming his biggest hurdle coming out of junior.
David Klee (4.0), F, North Dakota – Klee is a big, strong, physical, two-way forward. He’s not going to wow with skill or put up big numbers but he plays a winning brand of hockey. A team that is in contention who is looking for leadership, gritty play, secondary scoring and a versatility to play with energy, tight-checking, net front and win pucks and blocks shots and kill penalties will find Klee to be the best of that elk in this portal calss thus far. He also has three years left of eligibiilty.
Tyler Krivtsov (3.75), G, Alaska-Anchorage – One of the better stories in this years portal class Kirvstov was a lightly recruited goalie coming out of the NAHL. He came up through Shattuck St. Mary’s but didn’t make the prep team as a 16 year-old so he played on the U18 AAA and the following year he went back and forth between the prep and the U18 AAA. He earned a spot on Fairbanks in the NAHL where he split time and then earned a starting role the next season. He didn’t put up tantalizing stats and wasn’t heavily recruited but Alaska Anchorage knew him welll and took him and he played split time as a freshman and then earned the starting job this season facing a lot of shots and keeping his team in games. He isn’t the most talented goalie in the class but he’s a gamer and he’ll battle for the starting job wherever he ends up.
Colton Jamieson (3.75), D, St. Thomas – Jamieson was a Minnesota HS standout out of Cretin-Derham who tooks some lumps early in the USHL but had an excellent 20 year old year with Madison notching over 40 points as a defenseman, running their powerplay and using his speed, agility and fluid stride to be both a breakout machine and a fourth forward on the rush. With that being said, the NCHC is a different animal and pure skater stuggled to find his fit ending the year with a 20-1-1-2 line. Needs to make smarter decisions with the puck – simplify areas of his game and learn to defend in order to gain his coaches trust but he’s got legit wheels and could be a hidden gem in this portal class for a strong rebound season with three years of eligibility remaining.
Diego Buttazzoni (3.75), F, UMass Lowell – Diego is one of the more exciting prospects in the portal class and will be one to keep an eye on. He’s undersized, creative, high-skill finesse type forward who thrives in space. His playoff run for Portland in the WHL right before going to UMass Lowell was impressive – not only did he score 14 goals and 27 points in 18 games but he was competitng at both ends, playing with some edge, winning pucks and playing in all-situations. At Lowell they play a very structured defensive game and it may not have been a great fit for him as he likes to play a more loose, creative style so fit will be important for him in his next destination. He’s a candidate who could have a big second season in NCAA now that he understands the college game and has a summer to train and tighten up the details in his game. **committed to Sacred Heart soon after this was published.
Way Too Early Winners and Losers of Day #1
This is a fluid situation with players committing throughout the day and will be throughout the next two weeks so you can follow along to Team Portal Class Rankings.
Winners
Minnesota – The Gophers might have 7 players in the portal including their goaltender – but they have picked up the #1, #2 and #3 committed prospects in the class thus far in offensive defenseman and two-time CCHA Defenseman of the Year Evan Murr, as well as Tanner Henricks and Austin Burnevik who follow Coach Larsen from St. Cloud to Minnesota. Not only are these two immediate impact players for Minnesota but they both bring an element the team is lacking in size, strength, experience and scoring. **They picked up Finn Loftus after this article was published; a top 10 uncommitted prospect and 4.0 star.
Notre Dame – The Fighting Irish had a tough season in the BIG 10 finishing at the bottom of the conference and only 9 wins on the season. It starts in net and on the blue line and picking up #4 and #6 ranked committed prospects in Leo Gruba and Michael Quinn . Both have played key minutes on their teams, come out of NCHC and Big 10 and have versatility to play heavy minutes in all situations.
Losers
St. Cloud – New Coach in Nick Oliver – a hard wroking alumn with a winning pedigree coming to the transfer portal right after his former team was in the national championship game. The problem for him is while he was interviewing moves were bing made up and down his roster and he loses his best forward (Austin Burnevik), his best defenseman (Tanner Henricks) and two quality players in Barrett Hall and Finn Loftus. Any one of those players is hard to replace, all four is likely impossible. They did manage to pick up Finn McLaughlin out of Minnesota with three years of eligibility who was under utilized this year.
Lindenwood – In the first day of the portal Lindenwood loses three of their top six forwards in Giovanni Morneau, Charles Savoie and Louis Philippe Fontaine their top defenseman in Nolan Seed. Those were all quality recruits, they performed well and have combined eight years of eligibility. With that being said they have locked up the two best players on Mercyhurst in Jacob Leblanc and Will Schumacher.
Maine – It’s not the total number for Maine because a lot of those players didn’t have a pathway forward with the Black Bears but losing Justin Poirier, the #2 overall prospects so far in the portal and #5 uncommitted portal entry Miguel Marques is a lot of talent to lose early. There won’t be any panic in Bangor os Maine has navigated the protal as well as anyone the past three years.
Arizona State – The Sun Devils may not have lost a lot of high impact players but they lost a lot of younger players with eligibility. Justin Kipkie is a promising freshman with size and athleticism,Sam Court and Joel Kjellberg are mobile, puck moving defenders and just sophomores and Carmelo Crandell is skilled forward who showed flashes this season in his rookie year of what he’s capable of. None of those individually are a huge loss but in aggregate that’s a sizeable hole and obivously losing #1 ranked protal entry Cullen Potter who hasn’t lived up to his 1st round NHL Draft billing but still one of the fastest skaters in college hockey with game breaking ability.
Also Took Some Hits
Brown – New Head Coach Tommy Upton, one of the best coaches and recruiters in college hockey will start his tenure without their starting goalie (Tyler Shea) and without their best player (Ivan Zadvernyuk) and best defenseman in Matthew Desiderio. Transfers are tough to replace at the Ivy’s so that won’t be an easy task.
Penn State – They lose a lot from last years squd and JJ Wiebusch and Cade Christenson were two of their better players down the stretch so to lose them in the portal hurts. The picked up Caeden Herrington out of Vermont who is better than his numbers would indicate, a former fourth round NHL pick to LA Kings who can run a power play and create offense from the backend.
Alaska Fairbanks and Alaska Anchorage – they may not have the four-star prospects leaving but they combined for losing 19 players, two starting goalies, defenders who played over 18 mintues a game for them and some top six forwards. As the portal wages on look for bot these schools to end up getting upgrades and potentially picking up moe than they lost.
Follow along on our three portal sites: