Mike Cavanaugh on UConn's transfer portal departures

When the transfer portal opened to underclassmen on Mar. 31, UConn men’s hockey experienced an exodus — not in numbers, but in terms of talent: Matthew Wood, Samu Salminen and Arsenii Sergeev all departed.

Wood was the highest NHL draft pick in program history — going 15th to the Nashville Predators in 2023 — led the team in goals this past season and points in each of the last two. Salminen is a third round pick of the New Jersey Devils and had the best face-off percentage on the team at 57.4 percent. Arsenii Sergeev is also NHL property — a seventh round pick of the Calgary Flames in 2021 — and earned the starting job in goal for the playoffs as both a freshman and sophomore.

After such seismic moves, head coach Mike Cavanaugh spoke with the UConn Hockey Hub to discuss what happened and lay out where the program goes from here.

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