Winning the Mike Richter Award has set up a lot of goalies for NHL success, and for a lot of the winners, their teams also saw success during that year. And with multiple candidates last year leaving to turn pro, who are the names expected to be in the race?
The Mike Richter Award highlights the best goalie in college hockey, and it has a long track record of producing successful NHL goaltenders. The award has only ever seen one repeat winner, Devon Levi at Northeastern University in 2022 and 2023.
With last year’s winner Trey Augustine turning pro, there is no way we’re seeing a repeat winner in the 2026-27 season. So who are the names in the running for the 2027 Mike Richter Award?
Jack Ivankovic - University of Michigan
Ivankovic’s freshman season went as well as you could have hoped. He was arguably Michigan’s best player last season from start to finish, and he even saw International success with the Canadian World Junior team.
Last season, he posted a 2.15 goals-against average and a .921 save-percentage in 35 games, where he finished with a 25-8-1 record. With Michigan loading up with multiple new defenseman, highlighted by Landon DuPont, along with Michael Hage coming back to the Wolverines, Ivankovic is set up for success and potentially the Mike Richter Award.
Johnny Hicks - University of Denver
Hicks led the entire country in both SP with a .957 and a GAA of 1.19, and he did that in 21 games where he went 16-0-1, and the rest was history from there. Hicks went on to help lead Denver to yet another National Championship under head coach David Carle.
Hicks will be the full starter this season, and although he stands at five-foot-ten, he’s going to be under the NHL microscope all season as he’s a Montreal Canadiens prospect, so teams around the league might look for him when Montreal wants to buy at the deadline.
Jan Spunar - University of North Dakota
Spunar finished fourth in GAA last season with a 1.91 and 21st in SP with a .919. He finished the season with a 20-5-1 record.
Similar to Hicks, Spunar went undrafted and has yet another chance to prove NHL GM’s wrong with another strong season for a team that has National Championship aspirations. Spunar also has a new and improved D-core with 2026 first-round pick Carson Carels and 2026 third-round pick Ethan McKenzie set to join the team.
Josh Fleming - Penn State University
Penn State ranked 41st in GAA last season with a 3.16, but Fleming had a 2.61 himself with a .924 SP in 20 games, where he had a 10-7-2 record.
Although Gavin McKenna is gone, the Nittany Lions are still bringing back star defenseman Jackson Smith, along with multiple other players who will be a year older, and I expect the team to be a lot better in their own zone.
Lassi Lehti - Minnesota State University
Lehti was with the University of Alaska-Fairbanks for the last four years, where in his final two seasons he had a .924 and a .919 SP, and both of those seasons he was under a 2.50 GAA.
Lehti is joining a program that has already seen national success and a big season from the team, which likely means a big season for him. He also won MVP of the inaugural United Collegiate Hockey Cup and was named to its all-tournament team.
