Six Transfers Make The Desert Their Hockey Home - Arizona State University Athletics (2024)

TEMPE - Head coach Greg Powers and staff went all gas, no breaks this off-season and gained six players from the transfer portal who will join the Arizona State ice hockey team starting in 2024-25. The group includes four forwards, one defenseman, and one goaltender.

Meet the newest Sun Devils:

Cruz Lucius
Previous School: Wisconsin (Big Ten)
Junior Forward
6-0 | 179 lbs. | R
Grant, Minnesota
Drafted: 2022 NHL Entry Draft, 4th Round, #124 overall by Carolina Hurricanes
Instagram: @cruz.lucius

After averaging almost a point per game in both his freshman and sophom*ore seasons, Lucius is trading cardinal red for maroon. Appearing in 36 games for the Badgers in his sophom*ore season, he tallied a career high 34 points (13G, 21A) to lead the team in points. His 13 goals ranked second on the team with five of those on the power play. His 21 assists ranked third on the roster while his 116 shots on the season ranked second on the team. He was named to the 2023 Ice Breaker All-Tournament Team, the All-Big Ten Honorable Mention, and was named Academic All-Big Ten.

In his rookie year, he appeared in 34 games, leading the entire Badgers lineup with 34 points (11G, 23A) and posting 96 shots. He tied the UW record with four assists in a period against then-No. 20 Notre Dame. He was the recipient of the Mark Johnson Rookie of the Year award and was a Hobey Baker nominee.

Before becoming a Badger, he skated with the U.S. National Team Development Program and scored nine goals and 18 points during an injury-shortened, 23-game season in 2021-22. He played with current Sun Devils Ty Murchison and Gibson Homer during his time at the USNTDP. He also helped Team USA win silver at the 2022 IIHF Under-18 World Championship with two goals and eight points in six games.

Bennett Schimek
Previous School: Providence (Hockey East)
Junior Forward
6-0 | 187 lbs. | R
Mendota Heights, Minnesota
Twitter: @bennett_schimek | Instagram: @bennettschimek

Tallying 19 goals and 18 assists in 71 games played with the Friars, Schimek brings a strong forward force to the current Sun Devil lineup. His first two seasons in the NCAA combine for a +15 and he co-led Providence with a +8 in his sophom*ore season. He netted three power play goals and two game winning goals in the 2023-24 season.

In the USHL, he played two seasons for Sioux City from 2020-22, accumulating 24 goals and 36 assists in 87 games, including 13 goals and 23 assists in 39 games played during the 2021-22 season. He totaled 72 points (29 G, 43A) in 20 games played for Gentry Academy 16U AAA in 2019-20, including 20 points in five playoff games.

Ryan Kirwan
Previous School: Penn State (Big Ten)
Senior Forward
6-2 | 194 lbs. | L
DeWitt, New York
Twitter: @ryan44kirwan | Instagram: @ryankirwan_

A solid player on and off the ice, Kirwan joins Arizona State after three seasons with Penn State. He netted 13 goals and 13 assists in his junior season and played in all 36 games for the Nittany Lions. Throughout his time at Penn State, he notched 69 points (34G, 35A) and his 26 points and 13 goals tied for the fifth-most and sixth-most, respectively, in a single-season by a Penn State freshman. He was also named a 2022-23 Academic All-Big Ten honoree.

Before Penn State, he played with the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL in the 2020-21 season, finishing second on the team with 21 goals while adding 16 assists for 37 points in 50 games played. He spent the 2019-20 season with the Madison Capitols and led the team with 25 goals and ranked second with 41 points in 50 games. He was also named to the 2019-20 USHL All-Rookie Team.

Noah Beck

Beck, a 2020 St. Louis Blues NHL Draft pick, joins the defensive core at ASU after spending four years at Clarkson University. He played in 123 games for the Golden Knights and generated 15 goals and 41 assists throughout his time on the team. During his junior year, he was the team's highest producing point scorer with six goals and 17 assists. He was named to the ECAC All Academic Team for both the 2021-22 and 2022-23 season along with being the November ECAC Player of the Month during the 2022-23 season. Adding to his accolades, he was also awarded the Richmond Award his sophom*ore year for being the player to have shown the most improvement and team leadership.

Before Clarkson, Beck was the top offensive defenseman for the Fargo Force in the 2019-20 season. He recorded 27 points (4G, 23A) in 42 USHL games. He was also named Fargo's Rookie of the Year in 2019-20 and was voted the Ontario Hockey Association's top prospect in the 2018-19 season.

Artem Shlaine
Previous School: Northern Michigan (CCHA)
Graduate Center
6-1 | 187 lbs. | L
Moscow, Russia
Drafted: 2020 NHL Entry Draft, 5th round, #130 overall by New Jersey Devils
Twitter: @artem_shlaine | Instagram: @artem.shlaine_32

Shlaine played in 65 games during his tenure at Northern Michigan, on track for more before a season ending injury cut his senior season short. He recorded 21 goals and 34 assists during his time as a Wildcat for a total of 55 points. In his senior year, seven of his ten goals were power play goals. A strong presence in the center, Shlaine ??led the Wildcats with 315 faceoff wins and led the CCHA with a .588 FO%. He was named as the CCHA Forward of the Week and was a CCHA Scholar-Athlete Team member.

In the first two years of his collegiate career, Shlaine spent his time at the University of Connecticut. He played in all 59 games for the Huskies, earning 26 points (8G, 18A). During his freshman year, he led the Huskies and all of Hockey East in face-off win percentage at .602 percent, winning 162 face-offs, the second most on the club. He also had a seven-game point streak, the longest on the team during the season.

He attended Shattuck-St. Mary's prep school in Faribault, Minnesota where he posted 90 points (34G, 56A) in 56 games. In 2019-20, he helped lead the team to a 35-8-3 record in a season cut short by the Covid-19 pandemic. He also saw action in six games (2G, 1A) with Muskegon of the USHL in 2019-20, and helped lead the team to the 2020 McPherson Cup tournament championship.

Luke Pavicich
Previous School: UMass Lowell (Hockey East)
Senior Goaltender
6-2 | 195 lbs. | L
Clarence Center, New York
Twitter: @luke_pavicich | Instagram: @luke_pavicich

Pavicich started in 15 of his 17 appearances in the 2023-24 season at UMass Lowell. He boasted an .885 save percentage and 3.61 goals against average. He tallied 281 saves total in his junior season with a season high of 47 saves against Providence. He also played two seasons at the University of Massachusetts, appearing in 27 games and tallying a 9-11-4 record. He posted a 2.75 GAA and .920 save percentage in his sophom*ore season. He also played for the Kenai River Brown Bears (NAHL) during the 2020-21 season and was named the NAHL Midwest Division MVP and to the All-NAHL Second Team.