Mike Koster

May 2022 – Koster played a key role for one of the top teams in the NCAA this past season, finishing third in scoring among University of Minnesota defenders with three goals and 11 assists over 36 games. The Gophers went all the way to the national semifinals and the strong play of their blue line was a big reason why. Koster will return to Minnesota for the 2022-23 season in hopes of continuing to build a case for a contract with the Leafs before his rights expire in the summer of 2024. Nick Richard

May 2021 – The hot start cooled, off, but Koster’s final count of 3 goals and 12 points in 31 games still represented a decent rookie campaign in the NCAA. He continued to average roughly 2 SOG/game, but his cold streak of 1 point in 13 outings was tough to see for an offense-first blueliner. A nice peripheral surprise – he finished third on the team in blocked shots. Koster will be a slow-cooker in the NCAA, his fantasy vital signs are good but don’t draft yet outside of extremely deep leagues. Hayden Soboleski

January 2021 – Koster is having a strong rookie NCAA campaign with the University of Minnesota, leading the team’s defense corps with 2 goals and 8 points through 13 games played. The rookie is managing over a shot-per-game from the blueline, and hasn’t taken a single penalty yet (bad in some fantasy leagues, but very positive for a young d-man playing against much bigger opponents). At 5-09 he will always be an undersized player, but this quick development from the USHL to start scoring at the highest pace he has since high school is a strong vital sign for the 2019 5th-round-pick. He is a slow-cooker propsect, but one with fantasy value should he continue developing. Hayden Soboleski