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MARQUETTE — The annual churning of the NCAA transfer portal — and likely churning of the stomach acid on the part of Northern Michigan University hockey personnel and fans alike — has already started.

The portal opened Sunday in Division I hockey, according to an online report by Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks (North Dakota) Herald, and already 11 Wildcats are listed as having entered it by that afternoon.

Grand Forks is the home of National Collegiate Hockey Conference member and national powerhouse University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks. Formerly the Fighting Sioux before a controversy with the NCAA prompted a nickname change, ND has won eight national hockey titles, the most recent in 2016.

Northern Michigan University’s Jakob Peterson, right, celebrates his goal with teammates Danny Ciccarello, left, and Tanner Latsch during a CCHA game played against St. Thomas at the Berry Events Center in Marquette on Feb. 22. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Schlossman’s website, which was used by this reporter in 2024 to track NMU player movement, actually lists only 10 players on his “Latest updates” list, though an 11th player is also listed on the general “Uncommitted players in portal” listing.

That’s the second-most for any of about 60 Division I schools nationwide, at least on this list. First — by far — is American International College with 23, though that’s almost certainly because the Yellow Jackets of Springfield, Massachusetts, in November announced they were moving back to Division II, where they had come from in 1998.

It seems an odd move as a Wikipedia website lists just

six schools currently playing Division II hockey, with many, many more at Division III.

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Peterson looks to transfer

Northern Michigan University’s Jesse Tucker, front, works to get control of the puck during a faceoff in a CCHA game played against Lake Superior State in Sault Ste. Marie on Feb. 8. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

That 11th player on the NMU transfer portal list is none other than Marquette native Jakob Peterson, who was listed as a 6-foot-1, 190-pound redshirt junior on last year’s NMU team and was one of just four players who returned to the Wildcats from the 2023-24 team following the head coaching change from Grant Potulny to Dave Shyiak.

Shyiak named Peterson one of Northern’s alternate captains for last season, when Peterson played in 29 of 34 games and finished 10th in scoring with six points on two goals and four assists.

Also with 37 blocked shots, Peterson was one of three Wildcats named to the CCHA Scholar-Athlete Team for having a grade-point average of at least 3.50.

The difference between the 55 names on the “Latest updates” list and the 102 on the overall list is interesting as the examination of this online story came on the exact day the portal opened. No explanation was given for those who aren’t a “latest update.”

Schlossman also says that the hockey portal will be open to transfer declarations for all hockey players through May 13, though players can make an actual commitment to a school after that date.

Northern Michigan University’s Ryan Duguay, center, keeps the puck away from Lake Superior State’s Everett Pietila, left, and William Ahlrik during their CCHA game played in Sault Ste. Marie on Feb. 8. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

He also explains that graduates who still have athletic eligibility can enter the portal at any time, while those who have had their student aid cut or are at a school with a head coaching change have 30 days from their change in status if it’s not during the regular spring window.

Last year, NMU had 14 players enter the portal during the regular spring window and before Potulny announced his resignation on June 11. Combined with players exhausting their eligibility, the extra 30 days of the open transfer window left Shyiak scrambling to find two dozen players to fill a roster of 28 after he took the Wildcats’ job on the third-to-last day of June.

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NHL draft pick in portal

The 10 Northern players on Schlossman’s “Latest update” list is headed by 2024-25 freshman Rasmus Larsson, a 6-3, 205-pound defenseman from Stockholm, Sweden.

Though he had just three goals and no assists in 28 games for NMU last season, he is also a fifth-round — 152nd overall — pick of the New York Rangers in the 2023 NHL Draft.

There is no guarantee that all or even any particular player who enters the transfer portal will leave — this only announces to other schools that a particular player is available to be recruited again.

In practice, though, the vast majority of those announcing do make a change in school.

Peterson and Larsson are two of the five Northern defensemen listed in the portal. Like Larsson, the others were also freshman last season.

Will Diamond, at 6-3 and 205 pounds, had a goal in 22 games this past season; Trevor Mitchell, at 6-3 and 195, had an assist in 14 games last year; and Wolfgang Govedaris, at 6-2 and 200, didn’t register a point in 30 games.

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4 forwards may bolt

Four Northern forwards are on the list, three of them freshman last season.

The one who wasn’t a freshman is sophomore Brandon Poshak, a 5-7, 170-pound player from Green Bay, Wisconsin, who was also a returnee from the 2023-24 Wildcats.

This past season, he had one goal and one assist in 25 games after not registering a point as a freshman.

The freshman forwards listed in the portal are Ryan Duguay, 6-2 and 190, who was second for NMU with six goals and tied for sixth with eight points in 24 games; Billy Renfrew, 5-11 and 183, who had one goal, two assists and 37 blocked shots in 31 games; and Colby Browne, 5-10 and 180, who had an assist in 19 games.

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Goaltenders on the move

And much like last year, all of the Wildcats’ goalies from this past season are looking elsewhere this offseason.

The two freshman goalies who backed up senior Ryan Ouellette — who was a transfer from Niagara last offseason — are listed in the portal.

Ethan Barwick, technically a redshirt freshman at 6-3 and 202 pounds, saw action in six games, starting two, and had an 0-2 record with a 4.33 goals-against average and .869 saves percentage.

Julian Molinaro, 5-11 and 185, played in one game for about 33 minutes and compiled a 1.81 goals-against average and .957 saves percentage.

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Seniors on to Indy

Being a senior, Ouellette (6-foot, 201 pounds) exhausted his college eligibility after his one outstanding year at NMU. He is listed on the Chicago Blackhawks’ ECHL affiliate Indy Fuel as signing a professional contract with them on March 14, making his pro debut that day and also his first start on March 16.

In four games, he is 1-2 with a 2.14 goals-against average and .907 saves percentage in just under 200 minutes in net.

The Fuel also listed another signing of a 2024-25 NMU senior, Jesse Tucker (5-11, 187), on March 7. He played one year at Northern after stints at Michigan State and Clarkson, tying Duguay for sixth in NMU scoring this past season with eight points on three goals and five assists while playing all 34 games.

For Indy, Tucker has already played in 12 games and has two goals for two points along with four penalty minutes.

The Wildcats’ other senior last season, forward Jakub Lewandowski (6-3, 197) of Poland, isn’t listed as signing anywhere on the Elite Prospects site, www.eliteprospects.com.

In addition, the Polish Puck website at polishpuck.com mused in a March 21 post about Poland’s native forwards, “What will Lewandowski and (Calvin University’s Krzysztof) Petryla … do after their college hockey days?”

Last season, Lewandowski, a transfer last offseason from CCHA member Bemidji State, had three assists in 17 games.

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Other CCHA schools

No players anywhere were listed as having completed a transfer to another school yet — Sunday was only the first day the portal was open — but Michigan Tech was tied for seventh with the most players entering the portal, following AIC’s 23, NMU’s 11, Merrimack’s eight, Miami’s seven and RPI’s and Arizona State’s six.

The Huskies have five, matching the number from Omaha. From Tech are three sophomores and two freshmen, the top scorer freshman forward Logan Morrell, who had 11 goals and 21 points in 2024-25, and top scoring defenseman, sophomore Matthew Campbell, who had six goals and 12 points.

Lake Superior State is the only other CCHA school listed with multiple transfers at this early date, with two — junior goalie Easton Hesse, who had a 2-2-1 record with 3.08 goals against and .923 saves percentage in five games, and junior forward Cole Craft, who wasn’t even listed on the the Lakers’ 2024-25 roster but had two goals and four points in the 2023-24 season.

Minnesota State-Mankato, Ferris State and St. Thomas were each listed with one player entering the portal, all forwards. The most prolific scorers of that group are pair of 26-point producers — junior Adam Eisele of Mankato, who had 13 goals last season, and sophomore Cole Burtch of Ferris, who had seven goals.

Story contents based on a Grand Forks (North Dakota) Herald website story about the NCAA Division I hockey transfer portal and an examination of NMU hockey team’s records. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.