April 2, 2021
Into the Great Wild Portal
College Hockey Facing Unprecedented Player Movement
by Mike McMahon/Staff Writer
As of Thursday morning, there were more than 255 players in the NCAA transfer portal. That's almost 15 percent of all college hockey players.
How on earth did we get here? In a short period of time, the transfer portal has turned into college hockey's version of free agency.
In large part, the explosion in portal entries this season has to do with COVID, and the NCAA allowing players to play a fifth season. Combine that extra year of eligibility with traditional graduate transfers and a potential one-time transfer waiver, that would allow players to change schools without having to sit out a year — which some expect to pass as early as this spring — and it's a perfect storm.
"There is going to be a vicious domino effect at every level that feeds into college hockey," Arizona State head coach
Greg Powers said. "I don't think people understand the tidal wave that's going to happen. I expect, based on information that I'm privy to and can catch up on, that they are, at the very worst, going to allow a waiver for a one-time transfer for this year. And I don't know if that's going to go into permanent legislation or not, but this year, we expect there to be a waiver, which means anyone on any team can transfer anywhere they want." ...
Read more at: Into the Great Wild Portal
