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The Transfer Portal - "Beam me over there, Scotty."

DavidNardolillo said:
My hot take for the day! Your mileage may vary; I have no problem with that. Gaudreau was superb at BC, but Union doesn't win the National Championship without Gostisbehere. I'm undoubtedly biased from watching him confound RPI in person for several season and one of my alma maters in the championship game. The minutes he logged combined with his exceptional skating and puck handling skills allowed him to dictate the tempo of the games. A remarkable season.
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Gaudreau's junior season was the best individual college hockey season since Paul Kariya. 80 points in 40 games in a far more low scoring era. I loved Gostisbehere as a player and his 1G 2A +7 performance in the championship game is justly legendary, but Gaudreau's Hobey was one of the all time no-brainers.

And I'm sure you realize that the Hobey voting is completed before the tournament, otherwise there is no doubt Nathan Gerbe would have won it in 2008 instead of Kevin Porter. Of course, this BC fan (and many others) felt Gerbe should have won it to begin with, but c'est la vie. I think we were all happy with 5 goals in 2 games in the Frozen Four and a National Championship.
 
The Sicatoka said:
I can't imagine what's tougher right now:

- being an average senior looking for a landing spot to burn the Covid year
- being an average underclassman looking for a landing spot to get more time
- being an incoming freshman and wondering if you're going to be pushed back a year (for a returning senior)*

*even worse would be to be aged out of juniors
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I assume that scholarship dollars have been yanked for some in the transfer portal, so some may also be looking for more than just playing time--a chance to finish a degree without having to pay/borrow the full cost of attendance. Of course, scholarships get pulled every year but the fallout will obviously be more acute this year with the glut of players.
 
As of a few days ago there were 160 players in the portal. Of those, 65 players had 0 or 1 point in their college career. I don't think there will be a whole lot more movement.
 
DavidNardolillo said:
I assume that scholarship dollars have been yanked for some in the transfer portal, so some may also be looking for more than just playing time--a chance to finish a degree without having to pay/borrow the full cost of attendance. Of course, scholarships get pulled every year but the fallout will obviously be more acute this year with the glut of players.
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I believe the NCAA allows a team to go over the scholarship cap (18) if it's for a Covid year player. However, most teams have tight budgets in these most curious times.

Being allowed to go over 18, and having the funding to actually do it, are two very different things.
 
The Sicatoka said:
I believe the NCAA allows a team to go over the scholarship cap (18) if it's for a Covid year player. However, most teams have tight budgets in these most curious times.

Being allowed to go over 18, and having the funding to actually do it, are two very different things.
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Only for their own Covid year players. If a player transfers for their 5th year, their scholarship counts against their new school. If they stay at the school they played for this season, their 5th year scholarship doesn't count.
 
Siouxfaninseattle said:
As of a few days ago there were 160 players in the portal. Of those, 65 players had 0 or 1 point in their college career. I don't think there will be a whole lot more movement.
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Didn't UND pick up three players from Bemidji, including their #2 goalie? That's some movement.

Yes, most of the players in the portal are also-rans, but top programs such as UMD are skimming the cream off the top so far, and there certainly appears to be some tampering there. I doubt very seriously that those "kids" jumped into the pool without having known that that were pre-approved elsewhere. And there is apparently no accountability as far as that goes.

The rich just keep getting richer, and this is not good for our game.
 
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Fishman'81 said:
I doubt very seriously that those "kids" jumped into the pool without having known that that were pre-approved elsewhere. And there is apparently no accountability as far as that goes.
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There may well be tampering, but it is certainly feasible that some players are initiating the contact through intermediaries (e.g. former juniors coaches), which might be against the spirit, but not the letter, of the law. I agree that there must be some sort of informal understanding in place for the players who are in the portal "voluntarily" (i.e. those that aren't in there because they have been cut); the school they are leaving has no obligation to hold the scholarship once the portal paperwork has been filed. Lots of potential for abuse, interesting to see if the NCAA commits any resources for enforcement of these rules.
 
I don't know that it's as bad as schools reaching out to kids directly who aren't in portal. It's probably as simple as all these kids seem to have advisers. So schools can get the word out to advisers they have openings and away we go...
 
J.D. said:
I don't know that it's as bad as schools reaching out to kids directly who aren't in portal. It's probably as simple as all these kids seem to have advisers. So schools can get the word out to advisers they have openings and away we go...
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Of course, "advisors" is the way to have agents without breaking that rule.
 
Fishman'81 said:
Didn't UND pick up three players from Bemidji, including their #2 goalie? That's some movement.

Yes, most of the players in the portal are also-rans, but top programs such as UMD are skimming the cream off the top so far, and there certainly appears to be some tampering there. I doubt very seriously that those "kids" jumped into the pool without having known that that were pre-approved elsewhere. And there is apparently no accountability as far as that goes.

The rich just keep getting richer, and this is not good for our game.
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UND picked up one player from Bemidji - Zach Driscoll. I think he was their #1 goalie.
 
Siouxfaninseattle said:
UND picked up one player from Bemidji - Zach Driscoll. I think he was their #1 goalie.
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I heard that both their goalies were of #1 quality, but no matter... UND will be deeper, and Bemidji will likely be bankrupt in net for the short term.

I'm all for people making their own decisions. Just saying that the gulf between the elite programs and the mid-pack programs appears to be widening, and the Bemijis of the world could well be irrelevant for the coming several years, if not beyond that.
 
Fishman'81 said:
I heard that both their goalies were of #1 quality, but no matter... UND will be deeper, and Bemidji will likely be bankrupt in net for the short term.

I'm all for people making their own decisions. Just saying that the gulf between the elite programs and the mid-pack programs appears to be widening, and the Bemijis of the world could well be irrelevant for the coming several years, if not beyond that.
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Bemidji won an NCAA tournament game over one of the "rich" schools last year. They'll be all right. And Driscoll started at St. Cloud before ending up at Bemidji, and no one then worried about the balance of power in college hockey.
This 5th year of eligibility has, for a lot of reasons, led to some weird situations this year. But I don't think you can read any trends from it.
 
purpleinnebraska said:
Bemidji won an NCAA tournament game over one of the "rich" schools last year. They'll be all right. And Driscoll started at St. Cloud before ending up at Bemidji, and no one then worried about the balance of power in college hockey.
This 5th year of eligibility has, for a lot of reasons, led to some weird situations this year. But I don't think you can read any trends from it.
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Maybe just for the next 4 seasons. The Covid rule gives everyone an extra year, as you know, but the scholarships are still cemented at 18 annually, as far I've heard.

Looks like a mad scramble going forward.
 
Fishman'81 said:
Maybe just for the next 4 seasons. The Covid rule gives everyone an extra year, as you know, but the scholarships are still cemented at 18 annually, as far I've heard.

Looks like a mad scramble going forward.
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I think 32 AHL and 32 ECHL teams next season will resolve a lot of this as well. Several players, such as Parker Ford and Johnny Walker, have more or less said that they're staying because their pro offers were not great. That's mostly a supply and demand issue that will change drastically when everyone's playing next year.
 
purpleinnebraska said:
I think 32 AHL and 32 ECHL teams next season will resolve a lot of this as well. Several players, such as Parker Ford and Johnny Walker, have more or less said that they're staying because their pro offers were not great. That's mostly a supply and demand issue that will change drastically when everyone's playing next year.
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Agreed, there's a gigantic difference between the ECHL and the AHL. The former is usually a dead-end endeavor, while the latter is quite possibly a stepping stone.

Apples and oranges, and I seriously doubt any marginal college player with NHL aspirations is going to bail on his team right now for the sake of an ECHL job.

I'm expecting a log-jam for years to come.
 
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