At some point during the past few seasons, general manager got added to the job description of every Division I college hockey coach whether they wanted it or not.

With liberalized transfer rules and the roster vortex known as “the portal” it’s as if every player is headed for unrestricted free agency … every year. Add in that players who were on rosters during the “Covid years” were granted a fifth year of eligibility and you have the recipe for plenty of transactions.

Denver hasn’t dipped into the portal as much as many teams have, but it has stuck its toes in.

Given that the Pioneers are bringing in two talented players from it for next season, I thought it might be enlightening to look at the inbound and outbound transfers for the program since the previous national championship season in 2017.

2022

IN

Tristan Broz – Part of a mass exodus from Minnesota into the transfer portal. The forward was taken in the second round, just three spots before DU defenseman Sean Behrens, in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. Broz had 11 points in 36 games for the Gophers and displayed a goal-scoring knack in juniors. He has three seasons of eligibility remaining.

Casey Dornbach – Harvard’s captain will come in as a grad transfer after amassing 90 points in 98 games (the Crimson did not play in 2020-21). Excellent set-up man (63 career assists).

OUT

Reid Irwin – A bit of a surprise on one level because the defenseman played decently when he played, but that was only about half the time.

Jack Works – The forward got caught in a numbers game and played just 10 games this past season. He’s heading to Michigan Tech.

2021

IN

Cameron Wright – Incredible. The forward was a big-time scorer (101 points in four seasons) at Bowling Green, and he was even better during his grad year at DU. His 34 points were a career high, as were his 23 goals, and many of the latter came at huge moments.

OUT

Hank Crone – Highly skilled, the forward never seemed to completely find his footing at DU after transferring in from Boston U with a USHL stop in between. He had 25 points in 44 games here. He graduated, went to Northern Michigan and blew up for 44 points in 32 games, or more than he had in his three previous D-I seasons combined.

Kohen Olischefski – A very good Pioneer for four seasons, the former captain capitalized on the NCAA’s fifth season and went to Providence, where he had 18 points in 38 games. That tracked with what he provided at DU. He played a few AHL games after the Friars’ season ended.

Steven Jandric – The forward had six points in his only season at DU and capitalized on that fifth season to return to form at Merrimack, where he scored 28 points. He played in the ECHL and AHL after that.

Jake Durflinger – Another fifth season player, “Durf” had 9 points at Merrimack, one off the forward’s career high during his junior year at DU.

Griffin Mendel – I have to think Denver would have liked the big defenseman back, but it probably came down to a numbers game. He landed on his feet at Quinnipiac, which reached the Elite Eight. His 15 points were only five fewer than he had in four seasons combined at DU.

Slava Demin – All you can say is bad timing. He left Denver for defending national champion UMass. He went from playing almost every night to half the time. His point totals have gone from 14 to 9 to 8 to 3. Now the Vegas draft pick is transferring to Merrimack.

Bo Hanson – He was a half-time player in his one season at DU but he did score a huge playoff goal vs. Omaha. He also took advantage of a fifth season and went to Northern Michigan, where he scored 13 points and played every night.

2020

IN

Jandric – He transferred in after scoring 80 points in three seasons at Alaska Fairbanks.

Hanson – The big defenseman played three seasons (scoring 47 points) at St. Lawrence and some of his youth hockey in Monument before that.

Corbin Kaczperski – Devin Cooley’s summer signing with Nashville left DU down one goalie, and Kaczperski, who had had a strong career at Yale, happened to be on the market. He was OK for the Pioneers as Magnus Chrona’s backup – sporting 2.60, .868 and 3-2-1 numbers. He was on six pro teams in three leagues this past season.

OUT

Tyler Ward – The forward played 74 games during his first two seasons at DU and had 10 goals and 19 points in the second one. This was one that stung a bit because after just seven points in his first season at New Hampshire, he had 27 this past campaign. However, DU recovered quite nicely this season.

Jay Feiwell – The forward played sparingly in his one season in Denver (three games). He transferred to D-III powerhouse Adrian and won a national championship this spring.

Michael Corson – The third goalie, he played one game in each of his first two seasons at Denver then transferred to Niagara. He played more as a junior (eight games) than he did this past season (two).

2019

OUT

Sean Comrie – The defenseman played 18 games as a freshman, gave up his U.S. college eligibility by going to play for Kelown in the major junior WHL, and now is playing Canadian University hockey.

Ryan Orgel – The D played sparingly for two seasons then transferred to D-III power UW-Stevens Point. He played part-time in the ECHL this past season.

2018
IN

Les Lancaster – The defenseman was a grad transfer from Atlantic Hockey power Mercyhurst. He didn’t put up the points for DU that he had for the Lakers, but he was very solid in scoring 11 points, including a couple of clutch goals. He’s played three leagues, including the AHL briefly, since. He had a monster 64-point season in the ECHL in 2020-21 and 35 points in Finland this past season.

OUT

Dayton Rasmussen – Another writer’s dream to talk to. A large, athletic goalie who played sparingly in 2017-18, he went back to the USHL and then hung ‘em up.

2017

OUT

Packy Munson – The goaltender never played a game for the Pioneers but his sense of humor was legendary. He came from Vermont and had to sit out the 2016-17 season at Denver. He transferred again to Michigan Tech and had decent numbers (2.64 and .906 with a 10-8-3 record). He has played professionally in England, France and the ECHL. He’s going to be the GM of an NA3HL junior team this season.

Kevin Conley – If it seems like the forward played college hockey forever it’s probably because his career stretched from 2016-22. He had seven points during DU’s 2017 title season, then went back to the USHL for a season. He landed at Omaha and played 133 games and was a two-time captain from 2018-22. He’s now in the ECHL.

Justin Cole – Cole was briefly part of the 2017 team as well before returning to the USHL that season. He spent from 2017-22 at AIC and was a big part of that program’s run of four consecutive Atlantic Hockey titles.

©First Line Editorial 2022