COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – With the 2022-23 National Hockey League (NHL) season getting underway on North American soil Tuesday night, a record 46 former National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) players have been named to NHL opening-night rosters. Along with those 46, another 17 alumni of NCHC teams, who didn’t play in the NCHC, earned a spot on opening-night rosters. In all, a total of 63 alumni from NCHC teams will begin the 2022-23 season in the NHL.
 
The 46 NCHC alumni to start in the NHL are the most in the Conference’s nine-year history, topping the 41 in 2020-21, which included taxi squads. Last year, 37 former NCHC players made NHL opening-night rosters. Among the 46 former NCHC players on rosters as of Tuesday, six were listed as injured reserve/non-roster.
 
Among NCHC alumni, Minnesota Duluth led the way with 10 former players on NHL opening rosters, but North Dakota’s 15 overall alumni on NHL rosters are the most among NCHC teams. UMD has 12 overall alumni in the NHL on opening night, along with Denver, tying for second-most in the NCHC. UND and DU each have nine NCHC alumni starting the season in the NHL.
 
Miami is fourth among NCHC teams with seven former players on rosters, including four NCHC alums. St. Cloud State has six alumni starting in the NHL (five NCHC alums), while Western Michigan has five and Colorado College two. All eight teams have at least one former NCHC standout on an NHL opening-night roster, with all five of WMU’s having played in the NCHC.
 
The NHL officially opened the 2022-23 season last Friday, Oct. 7 when the Nashville Predators took on the San Jose Sharks in Prague, Czech Republic. The Predators won both games, with former Miami forward Kiefer Sherwood (2015-18) scoring the first goal of the NHL season for Nashville only 1:01 into the contest.
 
Five of the NCHC alumni on opening-night rosters played in the Conference last season, including former Western Michigan defenseman Ronnie Attard and former Minnesota Duluth forward Noah Cates, both now with Philadelphia. Attard (April 2) and Cates (March 29) both made their NHL debuts last season once their college hockey season ended. Defenseman Jake Sanderson, who played his second year at North Dakota last season, is set to make his NHL debut with the Ottawa Senators on Thursday, Oct. 13 against the Buffalo Sabres. Forwards Bobby Brink (Philadelphia) and Carter Savoie (Edmonton), who both won the National Championship with Denver last year, start the season on injured reserve/non-roster.
 
Along with Sanderson set to make his NHL debut on Thursday, former Minnesota Duluth forward Cole Koepke (2018-21) made his NHL debut Tuesday night when the Tampa Bay Lightning took on the New York Rangers.
 
Among NHL teams, the Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins all have four NCHC alumni on their opening rosters. The Ottawa Senators, Seattle Kraken and Winnipeg Jets have three NCHC alums each to start the season. Among all alumni of NCHC teams, the Penguins lead the way with five, while the Kings, Flyers, Kraken and Washington Capitals have four each. Twenty-four (24) NHL teams have at least one NCHC alumnus on their opening-night roster. Only the Dallas Stars, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs have no representation from any NCHC team.
 
Of the 46 NCHC alumni on opening-night rosters, 29 are forwards, 16 are defensemen and one (Charlie Lindgren with Washington) is a goaltender. Of the 63 overall alumni on opening rosters, 38 are forwards, 23 are defensemen and two are netminders.

In addition to the players, two former NCHC head coaches are now head coaches in the NHL. Former North Dakota head coach Dave Hakstol begins his second season with the Seattle Kraken, while former Denver head coach Jim Montgomery starts his first season at the helm of the Boston Bruins. Former Denver assistant coach Derek Lalonde is now in his first year in charge of the Detroit Red Wings, as well.

Last year, 66 NCHC alumni played at least one game in the NHL, including 13 players making their debut. Entering the 2022-23 season, the NCHC has produced 86 alumni that have played at least one game in the NHL in the conference’s nine-year history.
 
Below is a list of all NCHC teams’ alumni on an opening-night NHL roster (including those on injured reverse/non-roster) broken down by alma mater (NCHC alumni/total alumni in parentheses). Those that played in the NCHC are listed in italics:

COLORADO COLLEGE (1/2)
Jaden Schwartz, F, Seattle
Jaccob Slavin, D, Carolina
 
DENVER (9/12)
Bobby Brink, F, Philadelphia - IR
Dylan Gambrell, F, Ottawa
Danton Heinen, F, Pittsburgh
Scott Mayfield, D, New York Islanders
Ian Mitchell, D, Chicago - IR
Trevor Moore, F, Los Angeles
Logan O’Connor, F, Colorado
Emilio Pettersen, F, Calgary - IR
Carter Savoie, F, Edmonton - IR
Paul Stastny, F, Carolina
Troy Terry, F, Anaheim
Jason Zucker, F, Pittsburgh
 
MIAMI (4/7)
Blake Coleman, F, Calgary
Sean Kuraly, F, Columbus
Alec Martinez, D, Vegas
Jack Roslovic, F, Columbus
Kiefer Sherwood, F, Nashville
Reilly Smith, F, Vegas
Chris Wideman, D, Montreal
 
MINNESOTA DULUTH (10/12)
Mikey Anderson, D, Los Angeles
Noah Cates, F, Philadelphia
Justin Faulk, D, St. Louis
Alex Iafallo, F, Los Angeles
Cole Koepke, F, Tampa Bay
Karson Kuhlman, F, Seattle
Scott Perunovich, D, St. Louis – IR
Neal Pionk, D, Winnipeg
Dylan Samberg, D, Winnipeg
Carson Soucy, D, Seattle
Alex Stalock, G, Chicago
Dominic Toninato, F, Winnipeg
 
NORTH DAKOTA (9/15)
Brock Boeser, F, Vancouver
Derek Forbort, D, Boston
Tyson Jost, F, Minnesota
Matt Kiersted, D, Florida - IR
Brad Malone, F, Edmonton
Brock Nelson, F, New York Islanders
T.J. Oshie, F, Washington
Zach Parise, F, New York Islanders
Shane Pinto, F, Ottawa
Tucker Poolman, D, Vancouver
Jake Sanderson, D, Ottawa
Nick Schmaltz, F, Arizona
Cole Smith, F, Nashville
Troy Stecher, D, Arizona
Jonathan Toews, F, Chicago
 
OMAHA (3/4)
Josh Archibald, F, Pittsburgh
Jake Guentzel, F, Pittsburgh
Jaycob Megna, D, San Jose
Andrej Sustr, D, Minnesota
 
ST. CLOUD STATE (5/6)
Will Borgen, D, Seattle
Nic Dowd, F, Washington
Nick Jensen, D, Washington
Charlie Lindgren, G, Washington
Blake Lizotte, F, Los Angeles
Ryan Poehling, F, Pittsburgh
 
WESTERN MICHIGAN (5/5)
Wade Allison, F, Philadelphia
Ronnie Attard, D, Philadelphia
Paul Cotter, F, Vegas
Jordan Oesterle, D, Detroit
Mattias Samuelsson, D, Buffalo