University of Maine freshman forward Killian Kiecker-Olson has entered the NCAA Division I transfer portal.
He is the fifth Black Bear to enter the portal, along with forward Matt Fawcett and defensemen Robert Kincaid, Sam Duerr and Dawson Bruneski.
The Black Bears will return their top four scorers off last year’s team and five other forwards who played in at least 28 games. UMaine went 15-16-5 overall and 9-11-4 in conference play and earned the sixth seed for the Hockey East playoffs after being picked to finish last in the coaches’ preseason poll.
Kiecker-Olson played in 24 of UMaine’s 36 games this past season and had a goal and four assists.
He had a goal and two assists in his first six games but managed just two assists over his last 18 games and didn’t dress for nine of UMaine’s final 10 contests.
The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Andover, Minnesota, native played for the Des Moines Buccaneers in the United States Hockey League two seasons ago and had 16 goals and 13 assists in 68 games.
“He is a really good kid and teammate and he’s a really good player,” said UMaine head coach Ben Barr. “But with our situation and the guys coming in, it’s probably better for him to go somewhere else where he will get a better opportunity. I wish him all the best.”
UMaine has added two players from the portal in Bentley University forwards Nicky Niemo and Harrison Scott.
In addition, the incoming forwards include brothers Bradly and Josh Nadeau, who played for Penticton and led the British Columbia Junior Hockey League in scoring this season with 113 and 110 points, respectively.
Bradly Nadeau had 45 goals and 68 assists in 54 regular season games and Josh Nadeau had 44 & 66 in 54 games.