GRAND FORKS — Former Warroad High School stars Grant and Hampton Slakinski are brothers who are blazing new trails in college hockey.
Grant, a freshman forward from Northern Michigan University, has entered the transfer portal.
Hampton, a goaltender who was set to enroll as a freshman at Northern Michigan University, opted out of joining the Wildcats.
The move comes after Northern Michigan University's coaching staff left for new jobs.
Head coach Grant Potulny, a Grand Forks native, is leaving for a yet-to-be-announced opportunity in the American Hockey League. Assistant Nick Peruzzi has accepted an assistant position at the University of Connecticut. Assistant Byron Poole is heading to Dartmouth College as an assistant.
Grant Slakinski, a former captain for Sioux City of the United States Hockey League, had six goals and nine points as a freshman for the Wildcats.
Meanwhile, Hampton led the Fargo Force to the Anderson Cup and Clark Cup this season and won the USHL Goaltender of the Year award. Hampton was a fourth-round pick of the Los Angeles Kings.
They may be difficult to recruit.
It's also pretty late in the offseason and many teams have already allocated scholarship funds.
Therefore, your options may be limited to schools where you have remaining scholarships or where you can use your name, image and likeness (NIL) population to cover the costs of school.
The Sluchinskis' departure continues a mass exodus in northern Michigan.
The Wildcats lost 18 players to the NCAA transfer portal — 14 before Potulny's departure and four after. Northern Michigan also lost two top recruits after Potulny's departure — Slakinski and forward Adam Pietila, who committed to Wisconsin.
NMU, Clarkson coaching search intensifies
Northern Michigan is working to hire Potulny's replacement.
Two names have come to the forefront: St. Cloud State assistant coach Dave Chaiach and Winnipeg Jets scout Brian Renfrew.
Chayak was a member of the Northern Michigan University team that won the NCAA national championship in 1991 and served as an assistant with the Wildcats before taking the head coaching job at Alaska Anchorage.
Renfrew played at Western Michigan University and was previously an assistant at Northern Michigan University. Renfrew has also coached hockey at other universities, including Alaska, Michigan State and Omaha. Renfrew won an NCAA national championship with the Spartans. His nephew, Billy, is attending Northern Michigan University.
Clarkson is also looking to hire after head coach Casey Jones left for Cornell University, where he will serve as an assistant coach under Mike Schafer this season before taking over as head coach in 2025-26.
Union head coach Josh Hauge and Clarkson assistant Chris Brooks are thought to be the front-runners to replace Clarkson.
Hauge, a former assistant with the Fargo Police Department, served as Clarkson's assistant for seven years before moving to Union two years ago.
Brooks was a longtime college hockey assistant at Western Michigan University and Michigan Technological University and also served as head coach at Division III University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
UND and Grayden Slipek part ways
Forward Grayden Slipek will no longer be at UND.
The Fighting Hawks and Chicago Steel forward have parted ways.
Slipek initially committed to UND in October 2021 while playing for Surrey in the British Columbia Hockey League. He has played the past two seasons with USHL Chicago but has yet to show his offensive side. Slipek scored two goals in 53 games last season.
Slipek's older brother, Jacob, just finished his sophomore season at Omaha University.
More UND players added to team store
Currently, seven UND hockey players are selling personal merchandise at Sue's NIL store.
They are Jackson Kunz, Dylan James, Cameron Berg, Jake Schmaltz, Dane Montgomery, Jake Livanavage and Caleb Johnson.
More will be added as documents are submitted.
Schlossman has covered college hockey for the Grand Forks Herald since 2005. He has been honored by Associated Press sports editors as the Herald's top reporter in the publication's division four times and as North Dakota sports writer of the year once. He lives in Grand Forks. He can be reached at bschlossman@gfherald.com.
