Let’s Play Hockey photos by Mike Thill
If you’ve watched nearly any NCAA sporting event on television in the past several years, you’ve seen the ad. You may even be able to recite the tagline: “There are 380,000 NCAA student-athletes, and just about all of them will be going pro in something other than sports.” It’s a noble campaign directed at educating the masses that most athletes in college will see their athletic careers come to an end at graduation.
In the world of NCAA hockey, the vast majority of players on the 60 Division I and 88 Division II/III men’s teams will not make the jump to the NHL, AHL, ECHL or any other of the various professional hockey leagues around the world. But for a select few, college hockey is merely a steppingstone to the bright lights of the NHL.
In fact, according to our research, 311 players who have seen at least one regular season NHL game in 2017-18 honed their skills in college before making the leap to the professional ranks. That number represents 32 percent of all NHL players from the current season. In 2017-18, 53 former collegiate hockey players have made their NHL debut.
Leading the list of former college players now in the NHL are standouts such as Pittsburgh’s Phil Kessel (Minnesota), Winnipeg’s Blake Wheeler (Minnesota), Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau (Boston College), Arizona’s Clayton Keller (Boston University), San Jose’s Joe Pavelski (Wisconsin), Buffalo’s Jack Eichel (Boston University), the New York Islanders’ Anders Lee (Notre Dame), Minnesota’s Jason Zucker (Denver) and Ryan Suter (Wisconsin), Philadelphia’s Shayne Gostisbehere (Union), Boston’s Torey Krug (Michigan State), Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck (UMass Lowell), Los Angeles’ Jonathan Quick (Massachusetts) and Dallas’ Ben Bishop (Maine)
In the 2017-18 NHL regular season, former college players ranked as the eighth overall pointgetter (Kessel), seventh overall goal scorer (Lee), top overall assist scorer (Wheeler), seventh overall plus/minus performer (Reilly Smith), second-ranked rookie scorer (Keller) and top-ranked goalie by wins (Hellebuyck).
Breaking down the list of 311 players by college sees Minnesota lead the way with 26 players, followed by Boston College and North Dakota (22), Michigan (21), Boston University (18), Denver (14), Wisconsin (13), Miami (11) and Minnesota Duluth (10).
Over 32 percent of the NHLers who played college hockey spent all four years in school, with 70 percent staying at least three years on campus. Twenty-three percent of the former college players who played in the NHL this year were undrafted free agents.
In the NHL, it sure seems some teams are more likely to sign, trade or draft for a college-bred player than others. In fact, 16 NHL teams had 10 or more college-bred players on the ice this season, led by the New Jersey Devils (17), Boston Bruins (16), Buffalo Sabres (16), Minnesota Wild (16) and Pittsburgh Penguins (16).
Naturally, the state of Minnesota is well-represented among the college-to-the-NHL players. Of the 311 players, there are a record 58 native Minnesotans, including 16 who made their NHL debut this season.
A look at the NHL rosters of last 18 seasons also shows that college hockey players are gaining a stronger foothold in the league. According to our research, 210 players who saw at least one regular season NHL game in 1999-2000 played college hockey before making it to the big leagues. In following seasons, that number has continued to grow (see graph) to last season’s high mark of 313, a 49-percent increase from 1999-2000.
The number of colleges providing players to the NHL has similarly grown over the past 18 seasons, from 39 in 1999-2000 to a high of 49 this season.
Along the same lines, the numbers of Minnesotan NHL players who also played college hockey has grown over the last 18 seasons. In 1999-2000, there were 25 college-to-the-NHL Minnesota natives. The last 11 seasons has seen 40 or more.
And the numbers will only continue to grow as over 130 players have signed pro contracts since the conclusion of their 2017-18 college seasons. During the 2017-18 college hockey season, there were nearly 200 players whose rights were owned by an NHL franchise. In addition, the NHL Central Scouting Service’s rankings for the 2018 Entry Draft list 111 current or future college players.
Phil Housley was the rare hockey player to make the quantum leap from high school to the NHL. Countless Canadians take the Major Junior route before making the jump to the pros. European players compete in the numerous leagues throughout the continent in hopes of someday earning a spot on an NHL team. But for 311 NHL players, college was the path to take.
Thanks to College Hockey, Inc. for additional data.
College hockey alums in the NHL (since 1999-2000)
Minnesota native college hockey alums in the NHL (since 1999-2000)
NAME | POSITION | COLLEGE | NHL TEAM |
---|---|---|---|
Kevin Bieksa | D | Bowling Green | Anaheim |
J.T. Brown # | F | Minnesota Duluth | Anaheim |
Andrew Cogliano | F | Michigan | Anaheim |
Patrick Eaves | F | Boston College | Anaheim |
Derek Grant | F | Michigan State | Anaheim |
Nic Kerdiles | F | Wisconsin | Anaheim |
Ryan Kesler | F | Ohio State | Anaheim |
Kalle Kossila | F | St. Cloud State | Anaheim |
Josh Manson | D | Northeastern | Anaheim |
Jaycob Megna | D | Omaha | Anaheim |
Ryan Miller | G | Michigan State | Anaheim |
Brandon Montour | D | Massachusetts | Anaheim |
Kevin Roy * | F | Northeastern | Anaheim |
Troy Terry * | F | Denver | Anaheim |
Andy Welinski *# | D | Minnesota Duluth | Anaheim |
Josh Archibald # | F | Omaha | Arizona |
Adam Clendening | D | Boston University | Arizona |
Kevin Connauton | D | Western Michigan | Arizona |
Alex Goligoski # | D | Minnesota | Arizona |
Joel Hanley | D | Massachusetts | Arizona |
Clayton Keller | F | Boston University | Arizona |
Dakota Mermis * | D | Denver | Arizona |
Derek Stepan # | F | Wisconsin | Arizona |
Noel Acciari | F | Providence | Boston |
Kenny Agostino | F | Yale | Boston |
David Backes # | F | Minnesota State | Boston |
Anders Bjork * | F | Notre Dame | Boston |
Austin Czarnik | F | Miami | Boston |
Ryan Donato * | F | Harvard | Boston |
Brian Gionta | F | Boston College | Boston |
Matt Grzelcyk | D | Boston University | Boston |
Danton Heinen | F | Denver | Boston |
Torey Krug | D | Michigan State | Boston |
Sean Kuraly | F | Miami | Boston |
Charlie McAvoy | D | Boston University | Boston |
Kevan Miller | D | Vermont | Boston |
Riley Nash | F | Cornell | Boston |
Tim Schaller | F | Providence | Boston |
Tommy Wingels | F | Miami | Boston |
Kyle Criscuolo * | F | Harvard | Buffalo |
Jack Eichel | F | Boston University | Buffalo |
Hudson Fasching # | F | Minnesota | Buffalo |
Taylor Fedun | D | Princeton | Buffalo |
Chad Johnson | G | Alaska | Buffalo |
Jake McCabe | D | Wisconsin | Buffalo |
Casey Mittelstadt *# | F | Minnesota | Buffalo |
Matt Moulson | F | Cornell | Buffalo |
Casey Nelson | D | Minnesota State | Buffalo |
Danny O’Regan | F | Boston University | Buffalo |
Kyle Okposo # | F | Minnesota | Buffalo |
Zach Redmond | D | Ferris State | Buffalo |
Evan Rodrigues | F | Boston University | Buffalo |
Matt Tennyson | D | Western Michigan | Buffalo |
Adam Wilcox *# | G | Minnesota | Buffalo |
Scott Wilson | F | UMass Lowell | Buffalo |
Matt Bartkowski | D | Ohio State | Calgary |
Spencer Foo * | F | Union | Calgary |
Johnny Gaudreau | F | Boston College | Calgary |
Jon Gillies | G | Providence | Calgary |
Tanner Glass | F | Dartmouth | Calgary |
Garnet Hathaway | F | Brown | Calgary |
Mark Jankowski | F | Providence | Calgary |
Ryan Lomberg * | F | Maine | Calgary |
Nick Shore | F | Denver | Calgary |
Scott Darling | G | Maine | Carolina |
Phil Di Giuseppe | F | Michigan | Carolina |
Justin Faulk # | D | Minnesota Duluth | Carolina |
Warren Foegele * | F | New Hampshire | Carolina |
Noah Hanifin | D | Boston College | Carolina |
Brett Pesce | D | New Hampshire | Carolina |
Jaccob Slavin | D | Colorado College | Carolina |
Lee Stempniak | F | Dartmouth | Carolina |
Trevor van Riemsdyk | D | New Hampshire | Carolina |
Collin Delia * | G | Merrimack | Chicago |
Scott Foster * | G | Western Michigan | Chicago |
John Hayden | F | Yale | Chicago |
Blake Hillman *# | D | Denver | Chicago |
Vincent Hinostroza | F | Notre Dame | Chicago |
Duncan Keith | D | Michigan State | Chicago |
Tanner Kero | F | Michigan Tech | Chicago |
Jordan Oesterle | D | Western Michigan | Chicago |
Nick Schmaltz | F | North Dakota | Chicago |
Patrick Sharp | F | Vermont | Chicago |
Dylan Sikura * | F | Northeastern | Chicago |
Jonathan Toews | F | North Dakota | Chicago |
J.T. Compher | F | Michigan | Colorado |
A.J. Greer | F | Boston University | Colorado |
Rocco Grimaldi | F | North Dakota | Colorado |
Andrew Hammond | G | Bowling Green | Colorado |
Erik Johnson # | D | Minnesota | Colorado |
Tyson Jost | F | North Dakota | Colorado |
Alexander Kerfoot * | F | Harvard | Colorado |
Matt Nieto | F | Boston University | Colorado |
Dominic Toninato * | F | Minnesota Duluth | Colorado |
David Warsofsky | D | Boston University | Colorado |
Colin Wilson | F | Boston University | Colorado |
Cam Atkinson | F | Boston College | Columbus |
Ian Cole | D | Notre Dame | Columbus |
Zac Dalpe | F | Ohio State | Columbus |
Nathan Gerbe | F | Boston College | Columbus |
Jack Johnson | D | Michigan | Columbus |
Mark Letestu | F | Western Michigan | Columbus |
Eric Robinson * | F | Princeton | Columbus |
Jordan Schroeder # | F | Minnesota | Columbus |
Thomas Vanek | F | Minnesota | Columbus |
Zach Werenski | D | Michigan | Columbus |
Ben Bishop | G | Maine | Dallas |
Stephen Johns | D | Notre Dame | Dallas |
Mike McKenna | G | St. Lawrence | Dallas |
Curtis McKenzie | F | Miami | Dallas |
Greg Pateryn | D | Michigan | Dallas |
Tyler Pitlick # | F | Minnesota State | Dallas |
Devin Shore | F | Maine | Dallas |
Justin Abdelkader | F | Michigan State | Detroit |
David Booth | F | Michigan State | Detroit |
Jared Coreau | G | Northern Michigan | Detroit |
Danny DeKeyser | D | Western Michigan | Detroit |
Luke Glendening | F | Michigan | Detroit |
Jimmy Howard | G | Maine | Detroit |
Nick Jensen # | D | St. Cloud State | Detroit |
Dylan Larkin | F | Michigan | Detroit |
Gustav Nyquist | F | Maine | Detroit |
Luke Witkowski | D | Western Michigan | Detroit |
Matt Benning | D | Northeastern | Edmonton |
Drake Caggiula | F | North Dakota | Edmonton |
Mike Cammalleri | F | Michigan | Edmonton |
Eric Gryba | D | Boston University | Edmonton |
Jujhar Khaira | F | Michigan Tech | Edmonton |
Brad Malone | F | North Dakota | Edmonton |
Al Montoya | G | Michigan | Edmonton |
Cam Talbot | G | Alabama Huntsville | Edmonton |
Chase Balisy * | F | Western Michigan | Florida |
Nick Bjugstad # | F | Minnesota | Florida |
Henrik Borgstrom * | F | Denver | Florida |
Connor Brickley | F | Vermont | Florida |
Michael Matheson | D | Boston College | Florida |
Ian McCoshen | D | Boston College | Florida |
Frank Vatrano | F | Massachusetts | Florida |
Daniel Brickley * | D | Minnesota State | Los Angeles |
Jonny Brodzinski # | F | St. Cloud State | Los Angeles |
Christian Folin | D | UMass Lowell | Los Angeles |
Derek Forbort # | D | North Dakota | Los Angeles |
Kevin Gravel | D | St. Cloud State | Los Angeles |
Alex Iafallo * | F | Minnesota Duluth | Los Angeles |
Paul LaDue | D | North Dakota | Los Angeles |
Alec Martinez | D | Miami | Los Angeles |
Torrey Mitchell | F | Vermont | Los Angeles |
Jonathan Quick | G | Massachusetts | Los Angeles |
Louie Belpedio * | D | Miami | Minnesota |
Charlie Coyle | F | Boston University | Minnesota |
Matt Cullen # | F | St. Cloud State | Minnesota |
Jordan Greenway * | F | Boston University | Minnesota |
Justin Kloos *# | F | Minnesota | Minnesota |
Luke Kunin * | F | Wisconsin | Minnesota |
Gustav Olofsson | D | Colorado College | Minnesota |
Zach Parise # | F | North Dakota | Minnesota |
Nate Prosser # | D | Colorado College | Minnesota |
Kyle Rau # | F | Minnesota | Minnesota |
Nick Seeler *# | D | Minnesota | Minnesota |
Carson Soucy * | D | Minnesota Duluth | Minnesota |
Alex Stalock # | G | Minnesota Duluth | Minnesota |
Ryan Suter | D | Wisconsin | Minnesota |
Daniel Winnik | F | New Hampshire | Minnesota |
Jason Zucker | F | Denver | Minnesota |
Daniel Carr | F | Union | Montreal |
Charlie Lindgren # | G | St. Cloud State | Montreal |
Max Pacioretty | F | Michigan | Montreal |
Jeff Petry | D | Michigan State | Montreal |
Mike Reilly # | D | Minnesota | Montreal |
Anthony Bitetto | D | Northeastern | Nashville |
Nick Bonino | F | Boston University | Nashville |
Matt Irwin | D | Massachusetts | Nashville |
Craig Smith | F | Wisconsin | Nashville |
Kyle Turris | F | Wisconsin | Nashville |
Brian Boyle | F | Boston College | New Jersey |
Will Butcher * | D | Denver | New Jersey |
Blake Coleman | F | Miami | New Jersey |
Brian Gibbons | F | Boston College | New Jersey |
Andy Greene | D | Miami | New Jersey |
Jimmy Hayes | F | Boston College | New Jersey |
Keith Kincaid | G | Union | New Jersey |
Nick Lappin | F | Brown | New Jersey |
Ben Lovejoy | D | Dartmouth | New Jersey |
Kyle Palmieri | F | Notre Dame | New Jersey |
Blake Pietila | F | Michigan Tech | New Jersey |
Kevin Rooney | F | Providence | New Jersey |
Steve Santini | D | Boston College | New Jersey |
Cory Schneider | G | Boston College | New Jersey |
Drew Stafford | F | North Dakota | New Jersey |
Miles Wood | F | Boston College | New Jersey |
Travis Zajac | F | North Dakota | New Jersey |
Tanner Fritz * | F | Ohio State | N.Y. Islanders |
Nick Leddy # | D | Minnesota | N.Y. Islanders |
Anders Lee # | F | Notre Dame | N.Y. Islanders |
Scott Mayfield | D | Denver | N.Y. Islanders |
Brock Nelson # | F | North Dakota | N.Y. Islanders |
Chris Wagner | F | Colgate | N.Y. Islanders |
Paul Carey | F | Boston College | N.Y. Rangers |
Steven Fogarty *# | F | Notre Dame | N.Y. Rangers |
John Gilmour * | D | Providence | N.Y. Rangers |
Kevin Hayes | F | Boston College | N.Y. Rangers |
Steve Kampfer | D | Michigan | N.Y. Rangers |
Chris Kreider | F | Boston College | N.Y. Rangers |
Vinni Lettieri *# | F | Minnesota | N.Y. Rangers |
Boo Nieves * | F | Michigan | N.Y. Rangers |
Rob O’Gara | D | Yale | N.Y. Rangers |
Neal Pionk *# | D | Minnesota Duluth | N.Y. Rangers |
Kevin Shattenkirk | D | Boston University | N.Y. Rangers |
Brady Skjei # | D | Minnesota | N.Y. Rangers |
Brendan Smith | D | Wisconsin | N.Y. Rangers |
Jimmy Vesey | F | Harvard | N.Y. Rangers |
Mike Borowiecki | D | Clarkson | Ottawa |
Erik Burgdoefer | D | RPI | Ottawa |
Mike Condon | G | Princeton | Ottawa |
Ryan Dzingel | F | Ohio State | Ottawa |
Max McCormick | F | Ohio State | Ottawa |
Jim O’Brien # | F | Minnesota | Ottawa |
Ben Sexton * | F | Clarkson | Ottawa |
Colin White | F | Boston College | Ottawa |
Chris Wideman | D | Miami | Ottawa |
Christian Wolanin * | D | North Dakota | Ottawa |
Mark Alt # | D | Minnesota | Philadelphia |
Brian Elliott | G | Wisconsin | Philadelphia |
Shayne Gostisbehere | D | Union | Philadelphia |
Alex Lyon *# | G | Yale | Philadelphia |
Will O’Neill * | D | Maine | Philadelphia |
Matt Read | F | Bemidji State | Philadelphia |
Zach Aston-Reese * | F | Northeastern | Pittsburgh |
Casey DeSmith * | G | New Hampshire | Pittsburgh |
Brian Dumoulin | D | Boston College | Pittsburgh |
Jake Guentzel # | F | Omaha | Pittsburgh |
Carl Hagelin | F | Michigan | Pittsburgh |
Matt Hunwick | D | Michigan | Pittsburgh |
Josh Jooris | F | Union | Pittsburgh |
Phil Kessel | F | Minnesota | Pittsburgh |
Jamie Oleksiak | D | Northeastern | Pittsburgh |
Carter Rowney | F | North Dakota | Pittsburgh |
Chad Ruhwedel | D | UMass Lowell | Pittsburgh |
Bryan Rust | F | Notre Dame | Pittsburgh |
Justin Schultz | D | Wisconsin | Pittsburgh |
Riley Sheahan | F | Notre Dame | Pittsburgh |
Conor Sheary | F | Massachusetts | Pittsburgh |
Zach Trotman | D | Lake Superior State | Pittsburgh |
Justin Braun # | D | Massachusetts | San Jose |
Aaron Dell | G | North Dakota | San Jose |
Dylan Gambrell * | F | Denver | San Jose |
Paul Martin # | D | Minnesota | San Jose |
Joe Pavelski | F | Wisconsin | San Jose |
Joakim Ryan * | D | Cornell | San Jose |
Beau Bennett | F | Denver | St. Louis |
Chris Butler | D | Denver | St. Louis |
Carter Hutton | G | UMass Lowell | St. Louis |
Wade Megan | F | Boston University | St. Louis |
Colton Parayko | D | Alaska | St. Louis |
Mitch Reinke *# | D | Michigan Tech | St. Louis |
Jordan Schmaltz | D | North Dakota | St. Louis |
Jaden Schwartz | F | Colorado College | St. Louis |
Tage Thompson * | F | Connecticut | St. Louis |
Cory Conacher | F | Canisius | Tampa Bay |
Alex Killorn | F | Harvard | Tampa Bay |
Chris Kunitz | F | Ferris State | Tampa Bay |
Ryan McDonagh # | D | Wisconsin | Tampa Bay |
Matthew Peca | F | Quinnipiac | Tampa Bay |
Andrej Sustr | D | Omaha | Tampa Bay |
Tyler Bozak | F | Denver | Toronto |
Jake Gardiner # | D | Wisconsin | Toronto |
Ron Hainsey | D | UMass Lowell | Toronto |
Justin Holl *# | D | Minnesota | Toronto |
Zach Hyman | F | Michigan | Toronto |
Curtis McElhinney | G | Colorado College | Toronto |
Dominic Moore | F | Harvard | Toronto |
James van Riemsdyk | F | New Hampshire | Toronto |
Alex Biega | D | Harvard | Vancouver |
Brock Boeser # | F | North Dakota | Vancouver |
Thatcher Demko * | G | Boston College | Vancouver |
Nic Dowd | F | St. Cloud State | Vancouver |
Adam Gaudette * | F | Northeastern | Vancouver |
Ben Hutton | D | Maine | Vancouver |
Jayson Megna | F | Omaha | Vancouver |
Tyler Motte | F | Michigan | Vancouver |
Troy Stecher | D | North Dakota | Vancouver |
Chris Tanev | D | RIT | Vancouver |
Ryan Carpenter | F | Bowling Green | Vegas |
Jason Garrison | D | Minnesota Duluth | Vegas |
Erik Haula | F | Minnesota | Vegas |
Brad Hunt | D | Bemidji State | Vegas |
Jon Merrill | D | Michigan | Vegas |
Brandon Pirri | F | RPI | Vegas |
Nate Schmidt # | D | Minnesota | Vegas |
Reilly Smith | F | Miami | Vegas |
Alex Tuch | F | Boston College | Vegas |
Zach Whitecloud * | D | Bemidji State | Vegas |
Jay Beagle | F | Alaska Anchorage | Washington |
Travis Boyd *# | F | Minnesota | Washington |
Alex Chiasson | F | Boston University | Washington |
Taylor Chorney # | D | North Dakota | Washington |
Shane Gersich *# | F | North Dakota | Washington |
Aaron Ness # | D | Minnesota | Washington |
Matt Niskanen # | D | Minnesota Duluth | Washington |
Brooks Orpik | D | Boston College | Washington |
T.J. Oshie # | F | North Dakota | Washington |
Kyle Connor | F | Michigan | Winnipeg |
Andrew Copp | F | Michigan | Winnipeg |
Connor Hellebuyck | G | UMass Lowell | Winnipeg |
Matt Hendricks # | F | St. Cloud State | Winnipeg |
Tucker Poolman *# | D | North Dakota | Winnipeg |
Jack Roslovic | F | Miami | Winnipeg |
Paul Stastny | F | Denver | Winnipeg |
Brandon Tanev | F | Providence | Winnipeg |
Jacob Trouba | D | Michigan | Winnipeg |
Blake Wheeler # | F | Minnesota | Winnipeg |
* player made NHL debut in 2017-18 | |||
# Minnesota native |
Tag(s): State Of Hockey News College Kevin Kurtt