With the college hockey season coming to a close after the Denver Pioneers’ had the third period of their lives on Saturday evening in the NCAA Championship, defeating the Minnesota State Mavericks, 5-1, now comes the offseason full of roster moves, primarily in the form of the NCAA’s transfer portal.

The transfer portal is something that a lot of players have used in the past few years since the pandemic. In the portal, players have the opportunity to transfer if they do not see a fit in their current program. All athletes were given an extra year of eligibility due to the Coronavirus pandemic, and due to that, two of the Islanders’ college prospects have decided to transfer from their current schools in defenseman Christian Krygier and forward Jake Pivonka, who has since transferred to the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

If you would like to learn more, you can click here for the official statement on the one-time immediate eligibility rule, and here to find out about the COVID year rule.

Christian Krygier

Christian Krygier played four years at Michigan State University with his twin brother, Cole, who is a Florida Panthers prospect, after getting granted their release from their signed letters of intent to play at the University of Wisconsin. After the Spartans’ season concluded on Saturday, March 5, there started to be major changes in the program. One major change was the graduation of six seniors and one fifth-year player. The Krygier twins were two of the three seniors graduating off the defense core. Rather than searching for professional contracts, both of them entered the transfer portal. Christian entered on March 29, and Cole followed on the 30th. (UPDATE: On April 13, it was announced that Cole Krygier would be returning to Michigan State for his fifth season. Christian is currently still in the portal.)

While at Michigan State, Krygier, the Islanders’ seventh-round selection in 2018, scored three goals and 13 assists in 130 games. He was also a frequent visitor to the penalty box with 207 penalty minutes. Krygier has yet to find a new school in the transfer portal and has one year of NCAA eligibility left.

Jake Pivonka

The Islanders had another member of the 2018 NHL Draft class transfer out of their previous program earlier this month. Jake Pivonka, drafted in the fourth round of the 2018 Draft, decided to transfer out of Notre Dame. Unlike Michigan State, Notre Dame is not undergoing significant changes, but players still have the ability to transfer if they believe it is the right choice. For Pivonka, he made a large impact with the Fighting Irish over his four years, scoring nine goals and 38 points in 129 games. The Notre Dame recruiting class and transfer class at forward are strong, so he might have thought that the best fit for him was to enter the portal.

It did not take long for Pivonka to find a new school in the transfer portal. He entered the portal on April 6, and on April 7, he committed to play at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Pivonka will be joining another Islanders prospect on the Mavericks, as Islanders fourth-round selection in 2021, Cameron Berg, just wrapped up his sophomore campaign with Omaha, scoring eight goals and 23 points in 37 games. Pivonka has one more year of NCAA eligibility.

Former Team USA World Junior member & Notre Dame Captain transferring to the Mavericks

Please welcome Jacob Pivonka!#EveryoneForOmaha | #OmahaHKY pic.twitter.com/6geB9iL2lf

— Omaha Hockey (@OmahaHKY) April 7, 2022

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