A Notable Player Departs Denver, 79 Players Already Have New Teams Through Transfer Portal : Puck Drop

By now you're probably well-versed in the rise of Denver goaltender Johnny Hicks, the freshman who was committed to Tennessee State, but when the start of the program was delayed instead joined the Pioneers, and after taking over on Jan. 24 didn't lose.

Well, the player he replaced in that game against St. Cloud State due to an lower-body injury, Quentin Miller, who didn't play again for the Pioneers the rest of the season, entered the NCAA hockey transfer portal on Tuesday, three days after being the backup in the national championship game.

Miller, a freshman out of Montreal, Quebec, started 25 games for the Pioneers, going 12-10-2 with three shutouts. The fourth-round selection of the Montreal Canadiens in the 2023 NHL Draft, had a 2.39 goals-against average, and .916 save percentage. Moreover, he was named to the 2026 Mike Richter Award Watch List.

It's just that Hicks' 1.19 and .957, respectively, led the nation, and by a large margin. The save percentage set an NCAA single-season record, and the goals-against-average was the third best all-time. Along the way he was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Big Ten Tournament, and the Frozen Four Most Outstanding Performer after making 49 saves in the semifinal against Michigan and 29 against Wisconsin in the title game.

Forward Hagen Burrows, a fourth-round selection in the 2024 NHL Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning, also entered the transfer portal. hHe played in 43 games this season for Denver and had 16 points.

Meanwhile, defenseman Matthew Mania, who entered the transfer portal for Michigan, committed to RIT. The fifth-round selection of the Los Angeles Kings in the 2023 NHL Draft played in just 15 games for the Wolverines.

Transfer Portal Update

Through Tuesday (April 14), the first 79 players to announce new destinations
Alaska: D Lukas Klemm (from Mercyhurst); F Joel Lehtinen (Stonehill)
Alaska Anchorage: F Connor Brown (Western Michigan)
Arizona State: F Nic Chin-Degraves (Penn State); D Matthew Mayich (Clarkson); F Benjamin Muthersbaugh (Union); D Filip Nordberg (Merrimack); F Daniel Shlaine (Minnesota Duluth)
Augustana: G Mathis Langevin (Miami)
Bemidji State: F Will Dawson (Air Force)
Bentley: F James Duerr (from Massachusetts)
Boston College: D Teddy Mallgrave (St, Lawrence)
Bowling Green: D Evan Bushy (Lake Superior)
Canisius: F Noah Quinn (Bemidji State); F Ethan Wolthers (Sacred Heart)
Clarkson: D Michael Craig (Robert Morris)
Colgate: F Elias Zimmerman (Massachusetts)
Colorado College: F Carmelo Crandell (Arizona State)
Dartmouth: D Matthew Desiderio (Brown)
Holy Cross: F Jack Larrigan (Notre Dame)
Lake Superior: D Casper Nässén (Miami); F Charls Savoie (Lindenwood)
Lindenwood: D Jacob Leblanc (Mercyhurst); D Andrew Leblanc (Mercyhurst); F Will Schumacher (Mercyhurst)
Long Island: D Conner Brown (Ferris State); F Dalton Andrew (North Dakota); F Anthony Calafiore (Maine)
Mass-Lowell: D Anthony Dowd (Arizona State)
Massachusetts: F Gavin Cornforth (Boston College)
Michigan State: F Jimmy Clark (Minnesota); F Cullen Potter (Arizona State); G Quentin Sigurdson (Northeastern)
Michigan Tech: F Giovanni Morneau (Lindenwood)
Minnesota: F Austin Burnevik (St. Cloud State); F Christian Humphreys (Michigan); D Finn Loftus (St. Cloud State); D Tanner Hendricks (St. Cloud State); D Evan Murr (Minnesota State); G Melvin Strahl (Michigan State)
Minnesota Duluth: F Barrett Hall (St. Cloud State); F Peyton Platter (Alaska)
Minnesota State: D Sam Court (Arizona State); G Lassi Lehti (Alaska); F Joel Lehtinen (Stonehill); D Will Skahan (Boston College)
New Hampshire: F Ryan Johnson (Alaska-Anchorage); G Michael Simpson (Providence); F Rasmus Svartstrom (St. Lawrence); F Nick Van Tassell (Massachusetts): D Malte Vass (Boston University)
Niagara: F Brayden Boehm (Michigan Tech)
Northeastern: D Joel Kjellberg (Arizona State); D Alex Pineau (Brown), F Miguel Marques (Maine)
North Dakota: D Brasen Boser (Arizona State)
Notre Dame: D Leo Gruba (Minnesota); F David Klee (North Dakota); D Michael Quinn (Miami)
Ohio State: F Erik Påhlsson (Minnesota)
Omaha: D Jayden Jubenvill (North Dakota)
Penn State: D Caeden Herrington (Vermont)
Providence: D Cade Christenson (Penn State)
Quinnipiac: G Rorke Applebee (Lake Superior)
RIT: D Matthew Mania (Michigan); F Matthew Wilde (Massachusetts)
RPI: F Brendan Ross (Providence)
Sacred Heart: F Diego Buttazzoni (UMass-Lowell); F Mirko Buttazzoni (UMass-Lowell); F Devin
Phillips (Holy Cross)
St. Cloud State: D Finn McLaughlin (Minnesota)
St. Thomas: F Kevin Anderson (Princeton); St. Thomas: D Justin Kipkie (Arizona State); F Walter Wallace (Cornell)
Vermont: F Cameron Garvey (Robert Morris)
Western Michigan: D Michael Neumeier (Colgate)
Wisconsin: D Dylan Compton (Northeastern)

Puck Drop: Wednesday, April 15, 2026

• Denver held its national championship celebration. "The coolest thing I saw from last weekend in Vegas was the determination to stay on top," athletic director Josh Berlo said. Meanwhile, team captain Kent Anderson announced that he's signed an Amateur Tryout contract with his hometown Calgary Flames.

"The standard is the standard, and the standard is Denver."—Boston Buckberger quotes the call by @Buccigross when @DU_Hockey defeated Western Michigan in the @NCAAIceHockey Loveland Regionals to conclude his speech during the National Championship Celebration at Magness Arena pic.twitter.com/33enBiTuQH
— Jonathan Horowitz (@jjhorowitz) April 15, 2026

• The NCAA's DI Cabinet adopted several changes to pre-enrollment eligibility rules, including those requiring prospects to withdraw from opt-in professional league drafts (like the NBA Draft), bringing pre-college enrollment draft rules in line with post-college enrollment draft rules. They would allow prospects to sign with agents prior to enrolling in college, and allow prospects to accept prize money in their respective sports without impacting eligibility. The decision will be final when the Cabinet's meeting concludes Wednesday.

• ESPN announced that the the national championship attracted an average of 901K viewers, making it the most-watched title game since 2009. The Frozen Four games drew an average of 476K. It was the most-watched Frozen Four since 2002.

• With two goals Monday night, former Boston University standout Macklin Celebrini set a new program record for points by a Terrier in an NHL season with 112 (John Cullen record 110

• Former North Dakota defenseman Jake Livanavage made his NHL debut with the Pittsburgh Penguins. ... Former Northeastern defenseman Hunter McDonald took his rookie lap with the Philadelphia Flyers ... On Monday, former Connecticut center Ryan Tverberg made his debut with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

• Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon on former Massachusetts defenseman Cale Makar: “He’s the best defenseman in the world.”

• The Minnesota women's program has taken a couple of major hits since Brad Frost's departure as head coach. Ian Kennedy of The Hockey News reported that Megan Mossey, "who is probably the top 2009 born defender on the planet," has de-committed. That's in the wake of USA U-18 national team member Sydney Stoughton de-committing and will now instead head to Penn State.

• Former Michigan State standout Porter Martone has 10 points in his first nine NHL gams with the Philadelphia Flyers. He tied Sean Couturier for the longest point streak by a Flyers teenager (six games) since 1993-94.

"I can tell everyone loves being a Flyer, that's a tight room in there." - Porter Martone, who had 10 points in his first 9 NHL games out of college.#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/O0LQSxQ14T
— x - Flyers Clips (@Flyers_Clips) April 15, 2026

Countdown to the 2026-27 Season

Unoffically it's 170 days. The expected start date is Oct. 2.

Hockey Quote of the Day

"The bonus in that Montreal trade was an intangible. [Rod] Langway became our leader on and off the ice. I don't know if he was a leader in Montreal, playing in the shadow of Larry Robinson and Guy Lafleur and the rest, but when he got here he saw the opportunity to put Rod Langway on the map. It was a critical year for us. Either we made the playoffs or, in all probability, the team would have gone sayonara."
David Poile, Washington Capitals GM

We'll Leave You With This ...

This was done by Dustin Wolf, who is originally from California.

This is what it's all about 🥹

Wolfie spotted this young member of the C of Red and made sure one of his sticks made its way over ❤️ pic.twitter.com/mOf2FjFmZf
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) April 15, 2026

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