Money: Cornellians lost to (and gained from) the portal

[BearLover]

I would guess that the delay in Cournoyer entering the portal, and any new portal commits being announced, would be due to the Ivies' more involved procedures for transferring into and out of the schools.

 

Didn't Dartmouth get that kid from Brown almost instantly, though?

That's true - perhaps he got started earlier due to the coaching change. Or perhaps I'm just wrong. Either way, I do know transferring is more involved at the Ivies.

[stereax]

I would guess that the delay in Cournoyer entering the portal, and any new portal commits being announced, would be due to the Ivies' more involved procedures for transferring into and out of the schools.

 

Didn't Dartmouth get that kid from Brown almost instantly, though?

That's true - perhaps he got started earlier due to the coaching change. Or perhaps I'm just wrong. Either way, I do know transferring is more involved at the Ivies.

That's fair, yeah. I suspect it's a bidding war that's at the root of the "delay", but I might be wrong too, lol.

[Pghas]

Highly doubt we're competitive for Quentin Mille and at this point I'm not even sure we want to play this game...

Wow, much bigger freakout by the non-BL posters in response to this news than when Robertson ditched last year. Why is that?

What I actually enjoy most about Cornell hockey isn't the chance for an NCAA run, though that's always fun, it's the season itself. The rhythm, watching a roster grow up together. Seeing freshmen turn into real players (Charlie Major!) and lines develop real chemistry over time.

If roster churn becomes constant, it's basically free agency every offseason. That continuity is gone and with it, a big piece of what made this program endearing.

Right, but to me, the Robertson transfer was the canary in the coal mine.

Anyway, if people want to take their outrage and shift that energy towards something productive, a few things come to mind:

• write a letter to the Ivy League administrators about how allowing grad transfers would further the educational goals of the league. Lack of 5th year eligible players will kill us once that becomes the new rule. Staff directory here: https://ivyleague.com/staff-directory
• reach out to Casey and ask his thoughts on the new college climate and how he sees Cornell keeping up. Ask him what is fans can do to help. It may tie in with the next bullet point...
• look into what Penn basketball did, since this seems to be the only precedent for a successful model of paying players in the Ivy League. What are the details of their arrangements? A key point here is that it's orders of magnitude more expensive to pay players in basketball than in hockey - so to the extent Penn boosters have successfully accomplished this, it could be ported to hockey for relatively cheap. The other key point is that outside of big state schools, American universities tend to be broke af. The Ivies are the exception. If we actually instituted an NIL program we'd have more money than almost anyone outside the Big 10

My understanding is that Cornell is, or will be, partaking in the last bullet point.  Casey will certainly unturn any rock to do what needs to be done.  It's just the landscape is a bloody disaster right now, so it will not be pretty.

well for one thing, Cornell does already admit the top recruits into the Dyson undergraduate business school which is the toughest one to get into and puts them on the fast track to said great internships and long term financial success.  But when that is put up against the possibility of an NHL career, even that isn't great.  Still, the vast vast majority of NCAA players will not become impact players or even players at all in the NHL.  So you have to take the "one and done" like basketball does and also keep an eye on players whose developmental arc seems to sync up with an NCAA career.  That said, the players who could have NHL careers are going to be the ones that get you the best chance of winning.  Dartmouth has already announced that Cleaves, Stavroff and their top D and goalie are coming back next year.  Pretty sure they were all undrafted and will benefit Fromm another NCAA year, and that its not a loyalty to Dartmouth while the NHL is knocking at the door thing.

Think summer recruiting visits to my buddy's house on Cayuga would help?

[BearLover]

I would guess that the delay in Cournoyer entering the portal, and any new portal commits being announced, would be due to the Ivies' more involved procedures for transferring into and out of the schools.

 

Didn't Dartmouth get that kid from Brown almost instantly, though?

That's true - perhaps he got started earlier due to the coaching change. Or perhaps I'm just wrong. Either way, I do know transferring is more involved at the Ivies.

That's fair, yeah. I suspect it's a bidding war that's at the root of the "delay", but I might be wrong too, lol.

I don't see why him being in or out of the portal would affect a bidding war, if one exists.

[BearLover]

Highly doubt we're competitive for Quentin Mille and at this point I'm not even sure we want to play this game...

Wow, much bigger freakout by the non-BL posters in response to this news than when Robertson ditched last year. Why is that?

What I actually enjoy most about Cornell hockey isn't the chance for an NCAA run, though that's always fun, it's the season itself. The rhythm, watching a roster grow up together. Seeing freshmen turn into real players (Charlie Major!) and lines develop real chemistry over time.

If roster churn becomes constant, it's basically free agency every offseason. That continuity is gone and with it, a big piece of what made this program endearing.

Right, but to me, the Robertson transfer was the canary in the coal mine.

Anyway, if people want to take their outrage and shift that energy towards something productive, a few things come to mind:

• write a letter to the Ivy League administrators about how allowing grad transfers would further the educational goals of the league. Lack of 5th year eligible players will kill us once that becomes the new rule. Staff directory here: https://ivyleague.com/staff-directory
• reach out to Casey and ask his thoughts on the new college climate and how he sees Cornell keeping up. Ask him what is fans can do to help. It may tie in with the next bullet point...
• look into what Penn basketball did, since this seems to be the only precedent for a successful model of paying players in the Ivy League. What are the details of their arrangements? A key point here is that it's orders of magnitude more expensive to pay players in basketball than in hockey - so to the extent Penn boosters have successfully accomplished this, it could be ported to hockey for relatively cheap. The other key point is that outside of big state schools, American universities tend to be broke af. The Ivies are the exception. If we actually instituted an NIL program we'd have more money than almost anyone outside the Big 10

My understanding is that Cornell is, or will be, partaking in the last bullet point.  Casey will certainly unturn any rock to do what needs to be done.  It's just the landscape is a bloody disaster right now, so it will not be pretty.

well for one thing, Cornell does already admit the top recruits into the Dyson undergraduate business school which is the toughest one to get into and puts them on the fast track to said great internships and long term financial success.  But when that is put up against the possibility of an NHL career, even that isn't great.  Still, the vast vast majority of NCAA players will not become impact players or even players at all in the NHL.  So you have to take the "one and done" like basketball does and also keep an eye on players whose developmental arc seems to sync up with an NCAA career.  That said, the players who could have NHL careers are going to be the ones that get you the best chance of winning.  Dartmouth has already announced that Cleaves, Stavroff and their top D and goalie are coming back next year.  Pretty sure they were all undrafted and will benefit Fromm another NCAA year, and that its not a loyalty to Dartmouth while the NHL is knocking at the door thing.

Think summer recruiting visits to my buddy's house on Cayuga would help?

CJ Foley back too (EDIT: oh wait you said that). I do think it's a loyalty thing to Dartmouth. Several of these kids could have signed NHL deals.

[stereax]

Two other goalies in the transfer portal that might be worth taking a look at:

Teagan Kendrick, Sacred Heart (Fr) - 20 GP, .920 sv%, +7.44 GSAx
Petter Wickström Stumer, Canisius (So) - 12 GP, .921 sv%, +7.19 GSAx

[stereax]

I would guess that the delay in Cournoyer entering the portal, and any new portal commits being announced, would be due to the Ivies' more involved procedures for transferring into and out of the schools.

 

Didn't Dartmouth get that kid from Brown almost instantly, though?

That's true - perhaps he got started earlier due to the coaching change. Or perhaps I'm just wrong. Either way, I do know transferring is more involved at the Ivies.

That's fair, yeah. I suspect it's a bidding war that's at the root of the "delay", but I might be wrong too, lol.

I don't see why him being in or out of the portal would affect a bidding war, if one exists.

My suspicion is Cournoyer and agent were trying to gauge interest (and however much $ was at play) before officially entering the portal.

[Will]

Two other goalies in the transfer portal that might be worth taking a look at:

Teagan Kendrick, Sacred Heart (Fr) - 20 GP, .920 sv%, +7.44 GSAx
Petter Wickström Stumer, Canisius (So) - 12 GP, .921 sv%, +7.19 GSAx

Stumer appears to be transferring to Maine.

[adamw]

Wow, much bigger freakout by the non-BL posters in response to this news than when Robertson ditched last year. Why is that?

What I actually enjoy most about Cornell hockey isn't the chance for an NCAA run, though that's always fun, it's the season itself. The rhythm, watching a roster grow up together. Seeing freshmen turn into real players (Charlie Major!) and lines develop real chemistry over time.

If roster churn becomes constant, it's basically free agency every offseason. That continuity is gone and with it, a big piece of what made this program endearing.

Right, but to me, the Robertson transfer was the canary in the coal mine.

Anyway, if people want to take their outrage and shift that energy towards something productive, a few things come to mind:

• write a letter to the Ivy League administrators about how allowing grad transfers would further the educational goals of the league. Lack of 5th year eligible players will kill us once that becomes the new rule. Staff directory here: https://ivyleague.com/staff-directory
• reach out to Casey and ask his thoughts on the new college climate and how he sees Cornell keeping up. Ask him what is fans can do to help. It may tie in with the next bullet point...
• look into what Penn basketball did, since this seems to be the only precedent for a successful model of paying players in the Ivy League. What are the details of their arrangements? A key point here is that it's orders of magnitude more expensive to pay players in basketball than in hockey - so to the extent Penn boosters have successfully accomplished this, it could be ported to hockey for relatively cheap. The other key point is that outside of big state schools, American universities tend to be broke af. The Ivies are the exception. If we actually instituted an NIL program we'd have more money than almost anyone outside the Big 10

My understanding is that Cornell is, or will be, partaking in the last bullet point.  Casey will certainly unturn any rock to do what needs to be done.  It's just the landscape is a bloody disaster right now, so it will not be pretty.

I'm not expecting you to reveal your sources, but to my knowledge, the times Casey and Schafer have spoken about this, it's mostly been passing references in internal meetings with program boosters. In practice, it seems hard to pull off - you'd need (1) rich boosters (2) with the authority and desire to hire Cornell hockey players and (3) the ability to guarantee them a high salary for a summer internship. That's why I'm curious how Penn basketball is doing it, if they even are.

Let's put it this way. I don't know of it happening yet. I do know they're trying. I'm confident they can find rich boosters with the desire to hire Cornell hockey players as interns. Whether the hockey dept. gets interference from the school or Ivy League HQ is another story. But I'm pretty sure Penn is already actually doing this in practice.

[Bluelightning]

    Maybe Cournoyer had no intention of entering...but possibly he was contacted (is "tampering" still a naughty word?)in the last few days with an offer he couldn't refuse?
    Probably won't be popular on here, but we entered this season nervous about goalie situation after Ian Shane left. Cournoyer was good for a freshman no doubt. But Keopple (who is considered mediocre?) played just as well. Personally I didn't care who started by the end of the season, I felt confident. I don't study stats so maybe Cournoyer was statistically better. Is Cournoyer replaceable? Shore up the defense and don't let teams shoot! It's worked for how many years?
    I enjoy rooting for the players and the team winning while in Cornell. Makes it hard if roster turns over year after year. The "core" players actually are the glue and main component. Casey is known as great recruiter and I have faith in him.
    I couldn't make an account on here for years or I would have been all over the Ben Robertson situation. I was a huge fan and really thought his ceiling was high.

[BearLover]

This is the most recent piece I can find on the Penn NIL collective:
https://www.thedp.com/article/2025/11/penn-mens-basketball-alumni-driven-internships-nil-collective-alanna-wren-ivy-league

[scoop85]

Coincidence or not, here's Cornell's launch of an NIL initiative:

https://cornellbigred.com/news/2026/4/15/baseball-athletics-launches-big-red-exchange-to-connect-student-athletes-and-businesses-for-nil-opportunities.aspx

[stereax]

Coincidence or not, here's Cornell's launch of an NIL initiative:

https://cornellbigred.com/news/2026/4/15/baseball-athletics-launches-big-red-exchange-to-connect-student-athletes-and-businesses-for-nil-opportunities.aspx

🥳

[Beeeej]

Coincidence or not, here's Cornell's launch of an NIL initiative:

https://cornellbigred.com/news/2026/4/15/baseball-athletics-launches-big-red-exchange-to-connect-student-athletes-and-businesses-for-nil-opportunities.aspx

"Big Red Exchange also integrates secure payment processing, enabling businesses to compensate student-athletes directly within the platform. The system automatically generates IRS 1099 forms within each student-athlete's Influencer app, simplifying compliance and tax reporting."

Genius.

Hm, maybe the defensive corps can build me a deck.

[Beeeej]

Per the exchange, Keopple is already offering autographs for $20.

But why is Cournoyer in there?