COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The National will be well-represented in the National Hockey League (NHL) this season. With the 2025-26 NHL campaign getting underway tonight (Tuesday, Oct. 7), a total of 50 former National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) players have been selected to NHL Opening Night rosters. In all, 61 alumni from NCHC teams will start the year in the NHL, as 11 played collegiately prior to their team joining the National.
 
The 50 NCHC alumni named to NHL opening rosters are the most in the Conference’s 12-year history, topping the 48 that started last year (2024-25) in the NHL. Among the 61 former players of NCHC teams on NHL rosters as of Tuesday, 10 were listed as being on injured reserve and/or non-roster.
 
Among players who played in the National, North Dakota and St. Cloud State lead the way with 10 alumni each starting the season in the NHL. North Dakota paces the NCHC with 13 overall alumni on Opening Night Rosters, while the Huskies have 11. Denver and Minnesota Duluth have 10 alums each in the NHL to begin the year, with nine of UMD’s and eight of Denver’s having played collegiately in the NCHC.
 
Western Michigan has five former Broncos on NHL rosters, all of whom played collegiately in the National. All nine NCHC teams have at least two former standouts beginning the season in the NHL, with all but newcomer Arizona State having at least two NCHC alums now on NHL rosters.
 
Former Colorado College and All-NCHC forward Noah Laba (2022-25) made the New York Rangers roster as a rookie and is set to make his NHL debut tonight (Oct. 7) against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Former Denver defenseman and 2025 NCHC Player of the Year Zeev Buium (2023-25) debuted with the Minnesota Wild in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs and will likely make his regular-season debut on Thursday, Oct. 9 against St. Louis. Former Western Michigan goaltender Brandon Bussi (2019-22) earned a spot on the Carolina Hurricanes roster and is still looking for his NHL debut.
 
Among NHL teams, the Rangers lead the way with five NCHC alumni on their opening roster (one on injured reserve). The Winnipeg Jets also have a quintet of alums from NCHC teams, including four former UMD Bulldogs who all played in the National. The Anaheim Ducks, Carolina Hurricanes, Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers and Ottawa Senators all have a trio of NCHC alums on their roster to start the year.
 
A total of 26 NHL teams have at least one alumnus of an NCHC team on their Opening Night roster, including 22 NHL teams with a player who played collegiately in the National. The only NHL teams without any alumni of NCHC teams currently are Columbus, Dallas, Florida, Montreal, San Jose and Toronto.
 
Of the 50 NCHC alumni on Opening Night rosters, 26 are forwards, 21 are defensemen and three are goaltenders. Of the 61 overall alumni on NHL opening rosters, 32 are forwards, 25 are defensemen and four are netminders.
 
In addition to the former players, former Denver head coach Jim Montgomery (2013-18), who won the NHL’s Jack Adams Award in 2023, begins his first full season as head coach of the St. Louis Blues after taking over behind the bench midway through last season.
 
Last season, 65 NCHC alumni played at least one game in the NHL, including eight players making their debut. Entering the 2025-26 season, 114 NCHC alumni have played at least one game in the NHL in the conference’s 12-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 first, and then NHL team below that. Those that played collegiately prior to their team joining the NCHC are denoted with an asterisk (*):
 
ARIZONA STATE
*Joey Daccord, G, Seattle
*Josh Doan, F, Buffalo
 
COLORADO COLLEGE
Noah Laba, F, New York Rangers
*Jaden Schwartz, F, Seattle
Jaccob Slavin, D, Carolina
 
DENVER
Sean Behrens, D, Colorado (IR)
Bobby Brink, F, Philadelphia
Shai Buium, D, Detroit (IR)
Zeev Buium, D, Minnesota
Devin Cooley, G, Calgary
*Scott Mayfield, D, New York Islanders
Trevor Moore, F, Los Angeles
Logan O’Connor, F, Colorado (IR)
Troy Terry, F, Anaheim
*Jason Zucker, F, Buffalo
 
MIAMI
Blake Coleman, F, Calgary
Sean Kuraly, F, Boston
Kiefer Sherwood, F, Vancouver
*Reilly Smith, F, Vegas
 
MINNESOTA DULUTH
Joey Anderson, F, Chicago (IR)
Mikey Anderson, D, Los Angeles
Noah Cates, F, Philadelphia
*Justin Faulk, D, St. Louis
Alex Iafallo, F, Winnipeg
Wyatt Kaiser, D, Chicago
Cole Koepke, F, Winnipeg
Neal Pionk, D, Winnipeg
Dylan Samberg, D, Winnipeg (IR)
Carson Soucy, D, New York Rangers
 
NORTH DAKOTA
Jacob Bernard-Docker, D, Detroit
Jackson Blake, F, Carolina
Brock Boeser, F, Vancouver
*Derek Forbort, D, Vancouver
Tyson Jost, F, Nashville
Tyler Kleven, D, Ottawa (IR)
*Brock Nelson, F, Colorado
Shane Pinto, F, Ottawa
Jake Sanderson, D, Ottawa
Nick Schmaltz, F, Utah
Cole Smith, F, Nashville
Troy Stecher, D, Edmonton
*Jonathan Toews, F, Winnipeg (IR)
 
OMAHA
Jake Guentzel, F, Tampa Bay
Brandon Scanlin, D, New York Rangers (IR)
Nick Seeler, D, Philadelphia
 
ST. CLOUD STATE
Jack Ahcan, D, Colorado
Will Borgen, D, New York Rangers
Jonny Brodzinski, F, New York Rangers
Dennis Cholowski, D, New Jersey
Nic Dowd, F, Washington
Mikey Eyssimont, F, Boston
*Nick Jensen, D, Ottawa
Charlie Lindgren, G, Washington
Blake Lizotte, F, Pittsburgh
Nick Perbix, D, Nashville
Ryan Poehling, F, Anaheim
 
WESTERN MICHIGAN
Ronnie Attard, D, Colorado (IR)
Brandon Bussi, G, Carolina
Sam Colangelo, F, Anaheim
Paul Cotter, F, New Jersey
Mattias Samuelsson, D, Buffalo
 
BY NHL TEAM:
 
ANAHEIM
Sam Colangelo, F, Western Michigan
Ryan Poehling, F, St. Cloud State
Troy Terry, F, Denver
 
BOSTON
Mikey Eyssimont, F, St. Cloud State
Sean Kuraly, F, Miami
 
BUFFALO
*Josh Doan, F, Arizona State
Mattias Samuelsson, D, Western Michigan
*Jason Zucker, F, Denver
 
CALGARY
Blake Coleman, F, Miami
Devin Cooley, G, Denver
 
CAROLINA
Jackson Blake, F, North Dakota
Brandon Bussi, G, Western Michigan
Jaccob Slavin, D, Colorado College
 
CHICAGO
Joey Anderson, F, Minnesota Duluth (IR)
Wyatt Kaiser, D, Minnesota Duluth
 
COLORADO
Jack Ahcan, D, St. Cloud State
Ronnie Attard, D, Western Michigan (IR)
Sean Behrens, D, Denver (IR)
*Brock Nelson, F, North Dakota
Logan O’Connor, F, Denver (IR)
 
DETROIT
Jacob Bernard-Docker, D, North Dakota
Shai Buium, D, Denver (IR)
 
EDMONTON
Troy Stecher, D, North Dakota
 
LOS ANGELES
Mikey Anderson, D, Minnesota Duluth
Trevor Moore, F, Denver
 
MINNESOTA
Zeev Buium, D, Denver
 
NASHVILLE
Tyson Jost, F, North Dakota
Nick Perbix, D, St. Cloud State
Cole Smith, F, North Dakota
 
NEW JERSEY
Dennis Cholowski, D, St. Cloud State
Paul Cotter, F, Western Michigan
 
NEW YORK ISLANDERS
*Scott Mayfield, D, Denver
 
NEW YORK RANGERS
Will Borgen, D, St. Cloud State
Jonny Brodzinski, F, St. Cloud State
Noah Laba, F, Colorado College
Brandon Scanlin, D, Omaha (IR)
Carson Soucy, D, Minnesota Duluth
 
OTTAWA
*Nick Jensen, D, St. Cloud State
Tyler Kleven, D, North Dakota (IR)
Shane Pinto, F, North Dakota
Jake Sanderson, D, North Dakota
 
PHILADELPHIA
Bobby Brink, F, Denver
Noah Cates, F, Minnesota Duluth
Nick Seeler, D, Omaha
 
PITTSBURGH
Blake Lizotte, F, St. Cloud State
 
SEATTLE
*Joey Daccord, G, Arizona State
*Jaden Schwartz, F, Colorado College
 
ST. LOUIS
*Justin Faulk, D, Minnesota Duluth
 
TAMPA BAY
Jake Guentzel, F, Omaha
 
UTAH
Nick Schmaltz, F, North Dakota
 
VANCOUVER
Brock Boeser, F, North Dakota
*Derek Forbort, D, North Dakota
Kiefer Sherwood, F, Miami
 
VEGAS
*Reilly Smith, F, Miami
 
WASHINGTON
Nic Dowd, F, St. Cloud State
Charlie Lindgren, G, St. Cloud State
 
WINNIPEG
Alex Iafallo, F, Minnesota Duluth
Cole Koepke, F, Minnesota Duluth
Neal Pionk, D, Minnesota Duluth
Dylan Samberg, D, Minnesota Duluth (IR)
*Jonathan Toews, F, North Dakota (IR)