{"id":541577,"date":"2026-04-05T05:40:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T05:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/541577\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T05:40:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T05:40:12","slug":"goaltenders-and-defencemen-pro-hockey-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/541577\/","title":{"rendered":"Goaltenders and Defencemen \u2013 Pro Hockey Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NCAA tournament is down to four teams and those who aren\u2019t participating have seen their seasons come to an end.\u00a0 With that in mind, it\u2019s time to take a look at some of the free agents that could be drawing attention from NHL teams in the coming weeks.\u00a0 After looking at the forwards<\/a> separately, the focus is on goaltenders and defensemen here.<\/p>\n

As always, note that not all of these players will sign entry-level contracts as some will ultimately elect to return to college for another season (or more) while quite a few others not on this list will be signing NHL or AHL deals in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

Goaltenders<\/p>\n

Several of the top options from this class have already signed (Josh Kotai<\/a>, Max Lundgren<\/a>, and Alex Tracy<\/a>) but a couple of others could still land NHL deals.<\/p>\n

Jan Spunar<\/a> (North Dakota) \u2013 There has been an uptick in younger free agent signings in this year\u2019s free agent class which bodes well for Spunar who is just wrapping up his freshman season.\u00a0 The 21-year-old had a quiet showing in the USHL in 2024-25 but has taken over the starting role on a team with Final Four hopes.\u00a0 His stock is definitely up but there\u2019s a case to make that staying for one more year might be the better long-term approach.\u00a0 But with goaltending in high demand across the league right now, teams might want to start working with him now.<\/p>\n

Lawton Zacher<\/a> (Northeastern) \u2013 Some goalies draw attention for their raw tools but need a lot of work to refine them.\u00a0 Zacher is largely the opposite of that as he\u2019s more technically sound and used that to post a breakout season after transferring from Brown University over the offseason.\u00a0 He still has one year of eligibility remaining but if he decides to turn pro, he won\u2019t be lacking for suitors as Elite Prospects\u2019 Ryan Lambert notes<\/a> that there are already teams vying for his services.<\/p>\n

Defensemen<\/p>\n

Boston Buckberger<\/a> (Denver) \u2013 Buckberger was on this list last year and frankly, last year\u2019s write-up would largely still apply.\u00a0 He is a quality consistent offensive blueliner, ranging between 27 and 30 points in each of his first three seasons.\u00a0 Even with a good defensive game though, his smaller stature will likely limit his interest.\u00a0 He\u2019s worthy of a professional contract and after three years of near-identical player, there might not be big upside in returning for his senior season; his stock now is probably around where it\u2019d be in 2027.<\/p>\n

Tyler Dunbar<\/a> (Union) \u2013 After two very quiet seasons at Colorado College, Dunbar entered the transfer portal last spring and the move has unlocked his game.\u00a0 He had a breakout year offensively with 32 points in 37 games while bringing a lot of physicality to the table.\u00a0 Staying one more year and doubling down on being that type of impactful piece could help his market in the long run but if there\u2019s NHL interest now, it wouldn\u2019t be surprising to see him make the jump to the pros now.<\/p>\n

Viking Gustafsson Nyberg<\/a> (UConn) \u2013 A lot of players on this list are here for their offensive game with the thought that parts of it will translate to the pros.\u00a0 Gustafsson Nyberg has all of one goal over two seasons.\u00a0 No, he\u2019s here for being more of a throwback defender, big, tough, and physical.\u00a0 Those are elements that teams will covet on a third pairing.\u00a0 That said, if he thinks one more year in college would help his development offensively, that might be the better route for him in the long run.<\/p>\n

Jake Livanavage<\/a> (North Dakota) \u2013 Another returnee from last year\u2019s list, the same elements are largely in play.\u00a0 Good offense (at least 25 points in his three NCAA seasons), strong skating, and undersized to the point where some teams will likely shy away.\u00a0 That said, Livanavage more than held his own against pros at the Spengler Cup back from December which will help his cause.\u00a0 He has one year of eligibility left but this may be the right time for him to turn professional.<\/p>\n

Evan Murr<\/a> (Minnesota State Mankato) \u2013 Another player in the steady but undersized category, Murr has picked up the pace offensively in recent weeks at the perfect time.\u00a0 He had 30 points this season, a tick higher than his first two NCAA campaigns.\u00a0 Murr is also in that category of not having much more to prove so although he has another year of eligibility remaining, it wouldn\u2019t be surprising to see him forego that.<\/p>\n

Isaiah Norlin<\/a> (Colgate) \u2013 There are some parallels to Dunbar.\u00a0 He had a very quiet first year with the University of Nebraska-Omaha last season, then went to the transfer portal, and things took off from there.\u00a0 Norlin finished in a tie for the team lead in scoring and at six-foot-six and a right shot, he has elements that teams will covet.\u00a0 He\u2019s a late-bloomer but that shouldn\u2019t deter teams from taking a flyer on him.<\/p>\n

Senior Options: There is one player who exhausted his eligibility and warrants at least a quick mention. Ben Dexheimer<\/a> (Wisconsin) fits into the category of being a little undersized but reliable piece. He may not ultimately land NHL contracts but is likely to land a pro deal in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NCAA tournament is down to four teams and those who aren\u2019t participating have seen their seasons come…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":541578,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[33057,61908,5,60569,61909,61910,61911,901,4,61912,61913],"class_list":{"0":"post-541577","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-boston-buckberger","9":"tag-evan-murr","10":"tag-hockey","11":"tag-isaiah-norlin","12":"tag-jake-livanavage","13":"tag-jan-spunar","14":"tag-lawton-zacher","15":"tag-ncaa","16":"tag-nhl","17":"tag-tyler-dunbar","18":"tag-viking-gustafsson-nyberg"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116350499140370621","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=541577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=541577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=541577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=541577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}