ST. CLOUD — Whenever there is a change in a coaching staff for men’s college hockey team, there are going to be roster and staff changes. With the transfer portal, that has become exaggerated in NCAA Division I.
Nick Oliver was named the
new St. Cloud State head coach
on April 12, replacing Brett Larson.
already had seven seniors to replace with the graduation of forwards Grant Ahcan, Adam Ingram and Ryan Rosborough and defensemen Mason Reiners, Max Smolinski, Cooper Wylie and Josh Zinger.
Center Tyson Gross also signed a pro contract with the Calgary Flames after his junior season.
After Larson left, defensemen Finn Loftus and Tanner Henricks and forward Austin Burnevik transferred to play for the University of Minnesota and forward Barrett Hall transferred to Minnesota Duluth. Center Verner Miettinen signed a pro contract to play hockey in Finland.
Forwards Daimon Gardner, Jack Rogers and Ocean Wallace and goaltender James Gray all entered the transfer portal.
That left Oliver with a returning roster of nine players: goaltenders Patriks Berzins and Yan Shostak, defensemen Thor Byfuglien and Joe Belisle and forwards Jack Reimann, Gavyn Thoreson, Noah Urness and Aiden Welch.
“That’s what I’ve been sorting through the last couple weeks since Eric ended up taking the Anchorage job,” Oliver said on Monday, May 18, about replacing him. “I’m still working through that process right now. I’m having good conversations with people and there’s been a lot of interest in the position, which has been kind of fun. I’m still working through that.
“It’s important for us to get the right fit and the right person.”
Defenseman Nolan Stevenson had 31 assists and 39 points in 51 regular season games for the Penticton Vees in the British Columbia Hockey League in 2024-25. He is in his third season with the Vees.
COURTESY OF PEAKEPHOTOGRAPHY
The Huskies are looking to replace 17 players. Oliver confirmed four players who will be freshmen this fall.
Carson Pilgrim is a 20-year-old forward from Warroad.
He played the last two seasons with the USHL’s Tri-City Storm and had 25 goals and 66 points in 107 games.
Zack Shantz is a 20-year-old forward from Edmonton, Alberta, and is playing for the WHL’s Everett Silvertips. On May 16, Shantz helped the Silvertips win the Ed Chynoweth Cup by having 14 points and was a plus-10 in 18 playoff games. The Silvertips are headed to the Memorial Cup, which will be played May 22-31 in Kelowna, British Columbia.
Broch Souch is a 19-year-old forward from Edmonton, Alberta, and played last season for the WHL’s Prince George Cougars. Souch tied for 25th in points (73), was 28th in assists (45), tied for 33rd in goals (28), was sixth in power-play points (33) and tied for eight in short-handed goals (3).
In 15 playoff games with the Vees, the 6-foot-2, 176-pound Stevenson had four goals, five assists and was minus-7. In his last two seasons with the Vees, Stevenson had 19 goals and 85 points in 166 regular season games and four goals and 16 points in 29 playoff games.
“I like the guys we have,” Oliver said. “I think they’re going to fit how we want to play. They’re going to fit from a hockey sense standpoint and a skill set standpoint.
“From a person standpoint, I think they check a lot of boxes of what has been successful in this program. I like where we’re at.”
The Huskies have picked up five players in the transfer portal.
William Ahlrik
Contributed by Lake Superior State University Athletics
Will Ahlrik is a 22-year-old center who played the last two seasons for Lake Superior State. Ahlrik led the Lakers in assists (16), power-play goals (5) and points (27). He also won 54.6% (374-311) of his faceoffs.
Finn McLaughlin is a 20-year-old defenseman who played last season for the University of Minnesota. McLaughlin had one assist and was minus-13 in 32 games for the Gophers last season.
Jacob Napier
Contributed by Colgate University Athletics
Jacob Napier is a 23-year-old defenseman who played one season at Western Michigan and the last two seasons for Colgate University.
Napier led the Raiders in plus/minus (plus-8) and was third in blocked shots (44). He also had three goals and eight assists in 35 games.
Jamison Sluys
Contributed by Western Michigan University Athletics
Jamison Sluys is a 20-year-old forward who played last season for Western Michigan. Sluys had two goals, one assist, was minus-3 and had five blocked shots in 20 games for the Broncos.
Jake Southgate is a 23-year-old center who played the last three seasons for Lindenwood University. Last season, he was fourth on the team in assists (16) and fifth in points (24) in 30 games. In 88 career games for the Lions, Southgate had 20 goals, 32 assists, four power-play goals, two short-handed goals, 34 penalty minutes and was minus-4.
Jake Southgate
Contributed by Lindenwood University Athletics
“It’s an awesome opportunity for all of us,” Oliver said. “It’s going to be fresh. It’s going to be new. With freshness and change, you can plan some room for growth and opportunity. That’s what I’m excited about.
“I don’t get caught up in how many guys are back and how many guys we need. It’s finding great fits for the program that are going to keep moving this thing forward. It’s been a fun month. We’ve got a lot of kids who want to be a part of this for the right reasons.”
Oliver said that he is working through getting all the details finished on a number of players.
“We’re still working through it to fill our last few spots here,” he said. “We’ve got a bunch of different options for that and we’re looking in a bunch of different places for that. We went through and had the initial surge of the two weeks of the transfer portal. I thought we were able to find five players out of the portal that are all going to be able to come in here and make an impact for us.
“Now it’s kind of reassessing with looking at junior hockey and players still in the transfer portal. We’re still looking through that list of players. We’re going to be patient and diligent and find the right fits.”
Mick Hatten is a reporter and editor for stcloudlive.com. He began working for Forum Communications in November 2018 for The Rink Live and has covered St. Cloud State University hockey since 2010. Besides covering Huskies hockey, he is also covering other sports at SCSU and high school sports. A graduate of St. Cloud State, he has more than 30 years of experience as a journalist and has been a youth hockey coach since 2014. mick@stcloudlive.com
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