Ben Kraws is on an NHL playoff roster in large part thanks to the NCAA transfer portal

A look at how the Stars third-string goalie got here and why it connects to the current state of college hockey.

Unless something really dramatic happens, Ben Kraws name isn’t going to come up much during the first-round series between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche.

The first-year pro is acting as the Stars third-goalie and EBUG for the playoffs after an ECHL rookie season with the Idaho Steelheads, and if something where to happen to either of the Stars goalies, Jake Oettinger and Casey DeSmith, Kraws would be jumped on the depth chart immediately by current Texas Stars goalies Magnus Hellberg or Remi Poirer.

So beyond reading Tweets that he’s on the ice for optional practices, like he was today, I’d guess this might be the only story you’ll read about the 24-year-old goalie.

But that’s OK, because I find Kraws journey fascinating in what it represents, not as a third-string playoff goalie, but as someone who is in this spot, playing pro hockey, because the NCAA transfer portal.

Kraws played five years of college hockey, two at Miami University, two at Arizona State, and a final season at St. Lawrence University before signing a pro deal with Dallas last spring as a college free agent.

Kraws was a middling back-up at Miami, he played 19 games over two seasons with a .871 and .875 save percentage in back-to-back seasons before entering the portal and transferring to Arizona State.

Kraws started one season at Arizona State, posting a .907 save percentage in 26 games, before losing his starting job the next season to T.J. Semptimphelter, another transfer, prompting him to make one more transfer to St. Lawrence, where he started 37 games with a .919 save percentage and drew some pro attention.

As Kraws explained to me on Sunday morning, as a goalie, especially one with pro aspirations, transferring is a necessary evil. There’s only one net and with NCAA teams playing 40 games, at most, those minutes are so valuable for a potential pro future.

And once you enter the transfer portal, Kraws said, you have to play the market and try to read what other goalies are trying to make a move.

“A good example for me is knowing who a team has and who they are bringing in,” Kraws said. “When I transferred to St. Lawrence, their goalie had been there for five years, so there was an opportunity open, and they made it clear to me that I had a chance to win the job, it was a battle, but it was clear it would be open for me to take.”

Kraws story reminds me of now former Michigan State backup Luca Di Pasquo, who I profiled at this site back in February.

Luca Di Pasquo is Always Ready — Even if His Last Save of the Season has Already Been Made

Di Pasquo was the back-up this season behind Detroit Red Wings prospect Trey Augustine, but was impeccable when he got the net when Augustine was unavailable because of World Juniors.

In seven games Di Pasquo had a perfect 7-0 mark with a 1.70 goals against average, .933 save percentage, and two shutouts. But once Augustine returned with his second gold medal from World Junior, Di Pasquo became nothing more than a glorified practice goalie.

Di Pasquo would have been the starter for Michigan State next season, the Spartans were ready for that, but then Augustine decided to return for his junior season. Di Pasquo’s chance at starting was gone, and he’d likely get even fewer games since Augustine is no longer eligible for World Junior.

So Di Pasquo transferred to Minnesota, where he’ll have a chance to start for a Big 10 contender, and potentially earn future professional opportunity.

When Western Michigan won the NCAA title this season, it came on the back of riding two goalies that were originally at or committed to other programs. Cameron Rowe left Wisconsin after two seasons to start at Western Michigan for two seasons, and in his fifth season split that net with Los Angeles Kings prospect Hampton Slukynsky, who had originally been a Northern Michigan commit.

Rowe is a good example of how the transfer portal can giveth and taketh away.

When Western Michigan needed a goalie before the 2022-23 season, Rowe stepped in as a transfer and started all 38 games. The following season he played every single second of the season for Western Michigan.

But when Western Michigan won an NCAA title, Rowe was on the bench, having conceded the net in the NCAA tournament to Slukynsky.

Rowe signed an ATO with the Rockford IceHogs for the remainder of this season, but you can’t help but wonder if he’d have been offered something more if he’d been the one in net for the NCAA tournament victory.

Kraws brought up how as a goalie we often talk about “you control the things you can,” and the reality of the current NCAA climate is that many goalies have to use the transfer portal to be able to control their situation.

“There’s some risk, like when I left Miami you don’t know if you are going to get picked up (by another school),” Kraws said. “But you get the feeling and find a fit, and the reality is, as you said, there’s only one net for one goalie with most college teams.”

It’s also one of the reasons we see so many college goalies that weren’t drafted jump to sign a pro deal as underclassmen, which I dove into earlier this month when Callum Tung signed a pro deal after one season at UConn.

On college goalies, contracts, and the potential virtue of patience

As one NHL goalie scout laid it out to me, college goalies are now the closest thing we have to college quarterbacks in the transfer portal era. There are a finite number of openings and limited time to get those opportunities.

It’s why, as Kraws knows, entering the portal can be the best path forward, even if it means potentially arriving and having to fight for someone else’s job.