Thursday, October 4, 2018
Record Number of Alums Fill NHL Rosters
209 former college players begin season in NHL.
A record number of NCAA alumni open the 2018-19 season on NHL rosters, as 209 former college players were among those listed on the NHL’s official release of opening-night rosters Wednesday.
That marks an increase from 202 on opening night of last season and does not include 26 additional alumni who will open the season on injured reserve.
The NCAA alumni in the NHL represent 44 schools, with representatives on all 31 NHL teams.
NCAA schools with the most alumni on active rosters (not including those on IR):
17 – Michigan
16 – Minnesota, North Dakota
15 – Boston University
13 – Boston College
12 – Wisconsin
NHL teams with the most NCAA representatives (again, not including those on IR, and as of Wednesday’s official release):
13 – Pittsburgh Penguins
12 – Minnesota Wild
11 – Boston Bruins, New Jersey Devils
10 – Anaheim Ducks, Buffalo Sabres
Fans can find a list of all NCAA alumni in any NHL game with College Hockey Inc.’s NHL Matchup Tool. That also includes college connections among every NHL team’s front office, minor leaguers and draft picks.
Six players who played NCAA hockey in 2017-18 are on active opening-night rosters: Ryan Donato (Harvard/Boston), Jordan Greenway (Boston University/Minnesota), Casey Mittelstadt (Minnesota/Buffalo), Kiefer Sherwood (Miami/Anaheim), Troy Terry (Denver/Anaheim) and Brady Tkachuk (Boston University/Ottawa).