Gophers standouts Sam Rinzel, Oliver Moore and Matthew Wood leave for the NHL

An offseason of change for the Gophers men’s hockey team shifted into high gear in a 24-hour span Friday and Saturday when its top four scorers this season, all first-round draft picks, signed with NHL teams.

On Saturday morning, the Chicago Blackhawks announced they signed sophomore defenseman Sam Rinzel and sophomore center Oliver Moore. About three hours later, the Nashville Predators announced their signing of junior forward Matthew Wood. The trio joins junior forward Jimmy Snuggerud, who signed with the St. Louis Blues on Friday afternoon.

The quartet combined to score 63 goals and dish out 92 assists this season, which ended with a 5-4 overtime loss to Massachusetts on Thursday in the Fargo Regional semifinals. That’s 40.1% of the team’s scoring and 35.2% of its assists.

Rinzel and Moore signed three-year, entry-level deals worth $2.83 million that run through the 2026-27 season. They practiced with the Blackhawks on Saturday, and interim coach Anders Sorenson said both will make their NHL debuts in Chicago’s home game against Utah on Sunday.

Wood and Snuggerud signed three-year, entry-level contracts worth $2.85 million. All four players will burn the first year of the contract during the remainder of this season and have two years remaining.

Rinzel, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, finished his sophomore season as the Gophers’ fifth-leading scorer and among the nation’s top-scoring defensemen with 32 points on 10 goals and 22 assists. The 20-year-old from Chanhassen, selected at No. 25 overall by Chicago in the 2022 NHL draft, had 12 goals and 48 assists in 79 games over two seasons with the Gophers. The 6-5, 190-pounder also played for the gold medal-winning United States team in the 2024 world junior championship.

Moore, the No. 19 overall pick by the Blackhawks in the 2023 NHL draft, was the Gophers’ fourth-leading scorer this season, collecting 12 goals and 21 assists. The 20-year-old Mounds View native finished his two-year Minnesota career with 21 goals and 45 assists in 77 games. The 5-11, 195-pounder is the only Gopher to win two gold medals in the world junior championship, doing so in 2024 and ‘25.

Wood, the No. 15 overall pick by the Predators in 2023, had 17 goals and 22 assists as a junior for the Gophers this season after transferring from Connecticut. Wood, 6-4 and 205 pounds, had 27 goals and 35 assists in 70 games over two seasons for the Huskies. The 20-year-old Nanaimo, British Columbia, native was an honorable mention All-Big Ten selection this season.

With the four losses, coach Bob Motzko has holes to fill for next season, and he could become more active in the transfer portal, which opens Sunday and runs through May 13. The Gophers brought in Wood and goalie Liam Souliere from the portal this season, and they filled key roles on the team.

Minnesota has three forward recruits who have signed with the program, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will join the team for the 2025-26. They are Jacob Kvasnicka, a Burnsville native who has 13 goals and 18 assists in 54 games with the U.S. National Team Development Program’s under-18 team; LJ Mooney, a West Mifflin, Pa., native who has eight goals and 26 assists with the USNTDPs under-18 team; and Javon Moore, a former Minnetonka High School standout who has 16 goals and 21 assists in 52 games with the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede this season.