It would be hard to envision a better second year for Eric Pohlkamp at the University of Denver.
The Sharks’ 2023 fifth-round pick is a Hobey Baker finalist, a Frozen Four participant for the second consecutive season, and the leading scorer among college defensemen nationally.
He’s a strong candidate to turn professional after building on a stellar first year at Denver and fully stepping out of Vancouver Canucks defenseman Zeev Buium’s shadow this season.
As he and the Pioneers prepare to face Michigan in the national semifinals on Thursday in Las Vegas, Pohlkamp is reflecting on the journey that brought him to this point.
“It’s been a lot of fun, and I’m more comfortable this year too,” Pohlkamp told the Bay Area News Group. “My first year, I was unaware of a lot of stuff, and it took me a little bit to get my feet wet. My second year, I was coming in knowing the systems that the coaching staff likes to play.
“It’s been an awesome year. Hasn’t always been sunshine and rainbows, but we’ve had a good stretch here the last half. So hopefully we can keep this thing going.”
After a standout junior career with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, the Brainerd, Minnesota, native matriculated at Bemidji State, where he was named to the Central Collegiate Hockey Association first team and all-rookie team.
He transferred to Denver the following year and has put up even better stats in two seasons in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, playing at the highest level despite being a top-line priority for the opposing team.
“You’re the guy everyone kind of targets in their pre-scout,” Pohlkamp said. “They’re gonna go a little extra hard on you each shift, finish their checks. But then you’ve also got to embrace that too, which is cool. So I’m just having a lot of fun with it and enjoying it as much as I can.”
Pohlkamp credited Buium’s guidance for helping him embrace his new role. He said “bringing it every day” has helped him grind through the lengthy season as Denver’s star defenseman.
“Learning from him my first year and how he approaches every day, he had the same thing I’ve been going through this year,” Pohlkamp said. “He handled it really well. I’m taking bits and pieces of what he used. We were roommates on the road too, and we’d always go over stuff – ‘I wish I’d done this more. I wish I’d done that.’ So just picking his brain. Obviously, he’s a fantastic player, a good guy to look up to.”
Though he’s more focused on Denver’s game Thursday night, Pohlkamp will take a break Friday to attend the Hobey Baker Award ceremony and see if he has been named the recipient of college hockey’s highest honor.
The other finalists are Michigan forward T.J. Hughes and Minnesota Duluth forward Max Plante. Sharks superstar Macklin Celebrini won the award as a freshman at Boston University in 2024.
“It’s a great honor,” Pohlkamp said. “You gotta tip your cap to your teammates, because they’re the ones giving you the puck, they’re the ones making the plays. So I’m super fortunate to get that award, and obviously, you work for it. But the goal in mind is a national championship, and that’s the first thing that comes to mind.”
When Pohlkamp’s college season wraps up, the conversation will shift to his professional career.
Last summer at the Sharks’ prospect development camp, Pohlkamp said his goal was to play one more season in college and then look to turn pro.
It figures that the Sharks would be interested in adding Pohlkamp to the organization sooner rather than later. Which level he starts at would be up in the air, but he is highly regarded by San Jose’s decision-makers.
“We’ve been around him a couple of years now,” Sharks general manager Mike Grier said in the summer. “He’s got a ton of energy and personality to him, and you can even see it on the ice. He’s taking charge of his team a little bit out there.”
Grier made those comments at halftime of the Sharks’ prospect scrimmage. Pohlkamp finished that game with a hat trick and was named the most valuable player.
Pohlkamp – again – is keeping the focus on the collegiate ice for now. But he’s excited about what’s to come, even though he wouldn’t fully commit either way.
“I haven’t really thought about it too much, to be honest, going into the playoffs here,” he said. “Obviously, we’ll cross that bridge when it happens. But right now, it’s this game with Michigan. Two really big games, hopefully, for us. So should be a lot of fun, and I’ll let the chips fall where they fall.”
Denver faces Michigan at 5:30 p.m. (PDT) on Thursday on ESPN2. Center Cole McKinney, a second-round draft pick by the Sharks last year, has 20 points in 39 games as a freshman at Michigan.
Fellow Sharks draft pick, David Klee, is a freshman at North Dakota, which faces Wisconsin in the first half of the double-header at T-Mobile Arena at 2 p.m. Klee, a seventh-round pick by the Sharks in 2023, has six points in 23 games for North Dakota this season.