Over the last two years, the NCAA Transfer Portal has taken over college hockey. Now, thanks to the NCAA Transformation Committee, it could become an even larger part of college hockey.
According to my numbers, there are currently 247 eligible players in the Division I transfer portal (I backed out players who have signed pro deals, which negates NCAA eligibility). Of those players, 156 have committed for next season, including 147 D-I commitments and 9 D-II, D-III, or USport commitments.
Including all portal entries, 59.5% of players have committed to a D-I school and 63.2% of players have committed overall. There are 91 uncommitted players (36.8% of total players) in the transfer portal on the date this newsletter was published.
The deadline for entering the portal has passed (it’s May 1). The only way a player can enter the portal after May 1 is if there is a coaching change, or if the player has his financial aid cut.
Thanks to the NCAA’s loss in the Alston case in the Supreme Court last year, the governing body is looking at how it will govern moving forward.
According to several sources, college hockey coaches were presented with potential changes forthcoming from the NCAA’s Transformation Committee last month in Naples as part of the annual AHCA Convention. The fallout from this lawsuit will likely result in sweeping changes to all of college athletics, not just college hockey.
The NCAA could attempt to install transfer windows, but if it’s sued about it, there’s legal precedence that suggests it would lose the case.
Right now, players must enter the portal by May 1 if they want to be eligible for the following season. However, there are caveats. If a player is cut, or if there is a coaching change after the May 1 deadline, then the player can still transfer freely.
The May 1 deadline is only to enter the portal. Players can technically commit to a school up until enrollment closes for the fall semester.
Coaches in Naples discussed a window that opens on March 15 and closes on May 1.
Currently, players can transfer one time without penalty (the one-time transfer rule, which came into existence last year). The transformation committee has suggested that moving forward, players may be allowed to transfer an unlimited number of times without penalty.
However, right now players can technically transfer twice without penalty, in certain cases. First, they can use the one-time transfer rule. Then, if they earn an undergrad degree, they can transfer as a graduate transfer and also not have to sit out. This rule would be a big change, but on the surface, I don’t know if it would have a huge impact.
Technically a player could look to transfer every year. But, wouldn’t that raise a red flag with coaches? Would you want to recruit a middle-line player who is trying to transfer for the fourth time in four years?
Regardless, there are big changes coming in the future for college players, and they’ll have more autonomy to move freely from team to team, it would appear.
