Tuesday, October 11, 2022

NCAA alumni dot NHL Opening Night rosters

Nearly 250 former collegians on NHL squads

NCAA alumni dot NHL Opening Night rosters
Anaheim forward and BU alum Trevor Zegras (Photo: Getty Images)

The 2022-23 National Hockey League season begins in earnest Tuesday night with 246 former NCAA standouts listed on opening-night rosters.

Forty-two NCAA Division I programs boast at least one alumni on an NHL roster, led by Michigan’s 21. Other schools with 10 or more alums on NHL rosters include Boston College (20), Boston University (18), Minnesota (18), Wisconsin (16), North Dakota (15), Denver (12), Minnesota Duluth (12), UMass (10) and Notre Dame (10).

The Philadelphia Flyers enter the season with a league-leading 12 college hockey players on their Opening Night roster, followed by five teams with 11 each: Boston, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Washington and defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado.

The roster data includes players who are on injured reserve or long-term injured reserve to open the season, or who have been designated injured non-roster.

Additionally, half of the NHL’s 32 current general managers played college hockey, as did 12 of the league’s current head coaches.

By the end of the 2021-22 season, a record 349 former college players had appeared in the NHL, shattering the previous record of 327 (2018-19). That included 15 who debuted in 2022 following the completion of their NCAA hockey season.

Men’s college hockey successes also extend beyond the ice; the sport enjoys a 93-percent graduation rate, tied for the best among all NCAA Division I men’s sports according to the NCAA.

The NHL season gets underway with tonight’s doubleheader featuring the New York Rangers versus Tampa Bay, and Vegas against Los Angeles. Those four teams have a combined 28 former collegians on their Opening Night rosters. Both games can be seen on ESPN and Sportsnet.