(Photo: Marina Williams/WCSN)
Arizona State junior goaltender TJ Semptimphelter has entered the transfer portal, per Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald.
Semptimphelter appeared in 29 games in 2023-24, posting a 16-5-4 record, 2.52 goals against average and .908 save percentage. These strong numbers came after a stellar 2022-23 campaign that saw him accrue the second-most saves in college hockey with 1,024, a 2.84 goals against average and a .913 save percentage in 36 contests, a season earned him nominations for both the Mike Ritcher and Hobey Baker Awards.
The Marlton, New Jersey native concludes his ASU career tied with former Sun Devil and current Seattle Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord for the most shutouts (8) in program history. Semptimphelter ranks second in all-time saves (1,413) and is top-three for single-season saves (1,024), shutouts (5 in 2022-23, 3 in 2023-24) and starts (35).
Semptimphelter transferred to Tempe in 2022 after spending a year at Northwestern, where he served as the backup to two-time Ritcher Award winner Devon Levi, who currently plays for the Buffalo Sabres.
Despite being the Sun Devils’ bonafide starter for much of the year, he struggled in the back half of the season, specifically in starts against Augustana and Lindenwood — two teams at the bottom of the PairWise Rankings — in late January and early February respectively.
Because ASU was in the midst of its NCAA Tournament push at the time, Semptimphelter sat behind sophomore netminder Gibson Homer for seven of the last nine games of the season. Homer showed great potential during that stretch and made his case to be the starter next year, a potential reason for Semptimphelter looking for a new school.
Semptimphelter joins junior forward Jackson Niedermayer, senior defenseman Tim Lovell, and freshman goaltender Hank Levy in the portal. Former ASU senior forward Ryan O’Reilly was also in the portal, but it was announced on Mar. 31 that he committed to Providence. The transfer portal will remain open until May 14.
With the losses of Semptimphelter and Levy, Homer is currently the only goaltender on the Sun Devils’ roster. However, ASU has two freshman goaltenders — Zakari Brice and Samuel Urban — expected to join the team for next season, per Elite Prospects.
