Jan. 14—GRAND FORKS — The transfer portal window for men’s hockey college is changing.
It will be shorter and it won’t open until the season is over. Here is what to know:
The portal will now open on the Monday after the NCAA championship game.
This is 15 days later than last year, when it opened during the final day of NCAA regionals. Prior to that, it opened after the NCAA tournament bracket was revealed.
The timing was problematic on a number of fronts.
NCAA coaches were attempting to recruit portal players — sometimes hosting visits — while simultaneously coaching the biggest games of the year.
Players on NCAA Frozen Four teams also were entering the portal — to maximize options — while still competing for the school they were about to leave.
NCAA college football is currently experiencing this problem with players entering the portal during the playoffs.
Last year, the window was open for 45 days. It lasted from March 30 to May 13.
Now, it will be 15 days. This year, it will go from April 13-28.
The shorter window won’t change a lot.
The last few years, there has been a flood of entrants on opening week, a few more on Week 2, then it slows to a trickle for the remaining weeks.
The new dates tighten it up, but few players were entering after the first 15 days, anyway.
If a program has a head coaching change outside of the portal window, it will reopen five days after the new coach is announced. That window will last 15 days.
If a new coach is not announced within 30 days, the window will open on Day 31 (assuming this falls after the NCAA national championship game).
The general portal opening date — after the NCAA title game — and the 30-day window to find a new coach could dramatically change how NCAA programs proceed with coaching changes in this era.
Previously, players could enter once a coaching change occurred.
In 2024, Northern Michigan coach Grant Potulny left for an American Hockey League job. By the time the Wildcats hired Dave Shyiak to replace him, the roster was decimated. A total of 19 Northern Michigan players hit the portal that offseason. Only four players returned.
Northern Michigan had little chance to patch a roster together and proceeded to have the worst season in program history, 5-27-2. The Wildcats are 1-23 this season.
Since then, 12 coaching changes have been announced. Half of them announced the successor at the same time as the departure to try to prevent a mass exodus.
UND expedited its search after firing Brad Berry last March, hiring Dane Jackson less than a week later.
If a program makes a coaching change after missing the NCAA tournament, the new window would give the school at least three weeks to find a new head coach before players could begin entering the transfer portal.
There’s less reason to announce coaching successors a year in advance.
