Denver hockey hopes transfer portal additions will help NCAA title defense

David Carle won something besides a gold medal at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championships — a future recruiting battle that could help shape the National Collegiate Hockey Conference this season.

Erik Pohlkamp had a strong freshman season at Bemidji State with 11 goals and 23 points in 32 games. He’s an NHL draft pick. He tied for the NCAA lead in goals by a freshman defenseman and was seventh in points.

Pohlkamp is now likely to be a key member of the defense corps at the University of Denver this season as the Pioneers seek to defend their national championship. When he entered the transfer portal, his experience playing for Carle with the United States at the WJC was top of mind.

“To be honest, if I didn’t have ‘D.C.’ as a coach at world juniors, I don’t think I would have ever ended up here. Absolutely not,” Pohlkamp said Tuesday, one day after the defending champs opened training camp for the 2024-25 season. “I think it would have been North Dakota, or definitely closer to home.”

The Pioneers bring back several key players from a title-winning team, including Hobey Baker candidate Zeev Buium on defense, Frozen Four MVP Matt Davis in goal and leading scorer Jack Devine up front. But several key figures will be in camp with professional teams this weekend and need to be replaced.

Carle’s crew had a large freshman class last season and no new additions from the transfer portal. This year, the Pios have added Pohlkamp and Finnish big forward Samu Salminen from Connecticut to help fill in some gaps.

“I would say we’re probably on the lower end of teams around the country that have taken transfers in, and so we’re probably a bit more selective and more apt to bring in freshmen,” Carle said. “Whether it’s freshmen or transfers, you try and make sure you’re bringing in the right people. And so these two guys that are joining us this year, there’s a little bit of a history with them. They’re not unknown to us.”

Carle’s connection to Pohlkamp came at the 2024 WJC, while Salminen’s ties to the program go back a few years. He was committed to play for DU after being a third-round pick by the New Jersey Devils in 2021 but then didn’t get into the school.

Salminen ended up at UConn for two seasons. He had seven goals and 17 points in 35 games last year, before entering the portal shortly after the season ended. Those per-game totals were down a bit after his promising freshman year with the Huskies.

“It was just the most natural decision to make,” Salminen said of choosing the Pios again. “Awesome program, great coaches, I heard only good things about this place. And, of course, I have the opportunity to develop as a player and win a national championship.”

Carle noted that he wasn’t the only player on that UConn roster whose numbers dipped. Salminen has also had other logistical issues to work through the past few years. It was a struggle in some European countries to find places to play during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that affected both his draft year and plus-one season.

Beyond not gaining admission to DU at a late stage in the process, visa issues delayed the start of his first year with UConn.

“He’s been through a lot,” Carle said. “We’re hoping with our prior relationship, that trust that was built back then, we can try and help get the most out of him, and work to get him to the player that we all know he can be.”

Both players are taking a step up in expectations this season. Every NCAA program begins each year with a title as the goal, but only one has a display case with 10 national championship trophies in it.