After a couple of seasons at University Of Maine Black Bears, junior defenseman Levi Kleiboer(16) decides to head to school closer to home at Mount Royal University Cougars for 2021/2022.
As a freshman, he saw playoffs get canceled, then endured a sophomore year where teams almost didn’t know whether they were going to be playing games or not.
He skated mostly a full schedule in his first campaign, but was limited to only 7 Hockey East games in 2020/2021, which is possibly why he decided to leave.
The 5’11” 176 lbs. blue liner played three sessions for Battlefords North Stars of the SJHL, confirming to his college after a successful 2nd stint, where he got 29 assists.
He would move down to play a year of American juniors, but quickly didn’t find the fit right at Sioux City Musketeers before switching to a much better one with Minot Minotauros.
3rd year Robert Morris University Colonials‘ center Grant Hebert(3) heard what they were saying after hoisting career high 8 goals and 15 assists for 23 points with a +6 rating in 24 Atlantic Hockey games, entered the transfer portal and will come out with his senior year at University Of Maine Black Bears.
The terrain in Hockey East will no doubt be tougher, but we feel the big 6’3″ 175 lbs. forward will step it up.
He caught the attention of his first school with a massive breakout season for Cumberland Grads, throttling 27 goals and 64 assists in 60 CCHL games as the team’s assistant captain.
This set him up for the one year they likely wanted him to put in to a US junior hockey program and he was drafted by and played for Fargo Force, dominating on offense with 15 goals and another helper party of 39 assists with a +19 rating, then another 10 points (3-7) in 14 playoff games to win the 2018 USHL Clark Cup Championship.
We think the 22-year old from St. Andrews West, ON will have a good run with his new college club.
Undrafted left wing Christopher Berger(10) leaves after graduating 4 years at Brown University Bears, and somehow still has two years of eligibility remaining as he’s set to join Michigan Stage University Spartans for 2021/2022.
His former college team did not play in 2020/2021 due to COVID restrictions and he ended the previous campaign on a season ending injury after just 9 ECAC games, scoring two goals and two assists, which gives him his pair of additional campaigns.
The 5’9″ 175 lbs. forward did a pair of successful junior seasons, first with Buffalo Jr. Sabres (34-56-90) in 98 OJHL games, then moving more into America for a frame with Des Moines Buccaneers, where he got 10 goals and 20 assists.
He was having breakout scoring in college as a sophomore, similar to when he was able to produce 8 goals and 11 assists in 29 USHL games,
The 23-year old, Amherst, NY native may find it a bit tough, but he could adjust quickly to Big Ten play and start scoring.
Air Force Academy Falcons loses a good one through the transfer portal, as undrafted, right wing Thomas Daskas(34) takes off for Miami University (Ohio) Redhawks.
The solid 6’2″ 201 lbs. power forward had only 14 Atlantic Hockey games in a screwed up 2020/2021, but struck for 3 goals and 4 assists.
He spent three seasons in junior hockey, starting up north in the CCHL for Kemptville 73’s before coming back to a pair of NAHL campaigns, of which hooking up with Lone Star Brahmas for a 2nd frame made it work for 19 goals and 29 assists with a +28 rating to score his college commitment.
The 21-year old will bring good things to his new school and should be able to play himself into a place, where he becomes a sought after unrestricted free agent upon completing.
Cornell University Big Red goaltender Matthew Galajda(35) leaves after a year of inactivity on ice for the transfer portal and agrees to join University Of Notre Dame Fighting Irish in their quest for a national championship.
The college hockey standout net minder posted a 60-15-9 record with a 1.64 GAA and .930 SV%, including 19 shutouts during his three-year stint.
He won a pair of high school, CISAA Championships in 2014 & 2015 at St. Andrews College before heading off to 2 seasons in the BCHL for Victoria Grizzlies.
The 6′ 192 lbs., 23-year old goalie will definitely be high on the list of unrestricted free agents to sign with an NHL team for 2022.
Undrafted right wing Eric Linell(5) leaves University Of Connecticut Huskies after a couple of seasons through the transfer portal to become a junior with Bentley University Falcons.
He spent most of his youth hockey with P.A.L. Junior Islanders and even played half a season with their junior Premiere squad before getting picked up by Cedar Rapids Roughriders, where he skated 35 USHL games.
The small 5’8″ 165 lbs. forward would next leave for the BCHL, and as it turned out was the best move he could possibly make as he connected for 28 goals and 18 assists for Coquitlam Express, where he committed to his first college.
He would split his next season with a couple of different teams but was still a strong, very close to point-per-game stats.
The 22-year old from Great Neck, NY should find Atlantic Hockey a little easier to find open spaces to score.
Undrafted 4th year defenseman Garrett Cecere(29) circles back to re-sign with Reading Royals after a year away in which they had to decide not to play hockey in 2020/2021 due to COVID restrictions, but was scheduled to re-join them, ended up taking residence for a decent enough 25 ECHL game season with Tulsa Oilers with no goals but a new high 8 assists.
He once posted 20 assists in 24 games for Sioux City Stampede during his 2nd year of juniors.
The small 5’8″ 165 lbs. d-man first attended Colorado College prior to his first year with Janesville Jets, potting a healthy 24 assists in 52 NAHL games.
He would leave college early in his 2nd season to hook back up with his USHL team from SD.
The 26-year old Wes Demoines, IA native was also super solid for helpers in Shattuck St. Mary’s 14U and 16U AAA.
We’re thinking the eventual Northeastern University Huskies blue liner should see his best pro numbers in a campaign that’s hopefully just 100% straight ahead.
Undrafted defenseman Anthony Baxter(19) completes 4 seasons with UMass-Lowell Riverhawks, enters the transfer portal in another year of eligibility and comes out as a graduate student at RPI Engineers.
Not exactly the biggest point-getter, he’s at least consistent with his +21 overall rating in 116 Hockey East games.
The 6′ 185 lbs. blue liner may not find much more room in ECAC style of play to score but should keep a sound defensive zone.
We could see the Oakville, ON native, former OJHL Burlington Cougars‘ standout sign a pro deal after completing another year.
Undrafted defenseman Logan Britt(24) switches up two years at Quinnipiac University Bobcats to a new adventure with Sacred Heart University Pioneers.
Not really an amazing scorer, he did put up 22 assists in his 2nd frame of juniors with Aberdeen Wings in 52 NAHL games, then had a career high 5 goals and 16 helpers in a split USHL session.
The fairly big 6’2″ 190 lbs. d-man hasn’t had nearly the success in college hockey, but did notch an impressive +13 rating with 5 points (2-3) in 27 ECAC games for 2020/2021’s oddball run.
He moves onto NCAA Division 1 Atlantic Hockey, but it still won’t be any picnic for him to grab points.
We’re thinking the 22-year old will find new scoring life.
RPI Engineers‘ graduate student, portal transfer from 4 years at Dartmouth College, left wing Shane Sellar(26) missed a pair of seasons, last year after arriving at upper state NY due to COVID restrictions, but is doing ok in his return with 4 goals and 2 assists in 21 NCAA Division 1 games.
The big 6’3″ 201 lbs. forward may not get a lot of points, but he’s very decently accountable on ice.
After finishing up three years at Canterbury School with outstanding numbers, he spent only one season split between the USHL and NAHL before heading to school.
He’s still only 24-years old and it will be very interesting to watch what happens with the Carlisle, PA native after the current session plays out.
In his rookie season with Reading Royals, he basically went a little crazy with 18 goals and 21 assists in 70 ECHL games.
For his efforts, he gets to continue playing pro hockey in his home state for 2023/2024.
