DENVER – Forward
Rieger Lorenz of University of Denver hockey team has signed a two-year, entry-level contract beginning in 2026-27 with the Minnesota Wild, the NHL club announced on Wednesday. Lorenz will report to the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League for the remainder of the 2025-26 season on an amateur tryout (ATO) and made his professional debut this evening against Grand Rapids.
Lorenz, 22, recorded career highs during the Pioneers' 2026 national championship season by tallying 17 goals and 18 assists for 35 points while playing in all 43 games. He finished second on the team in both goals and points behind
Eric Pohlkamp (18g/2a) while also registering 103 shots on goal, 38 penalty minutes and a +25 plus-minus rating.
The Calgary, Alberta, native entered the 2025-26 season as the NCAA leader in games played among active players and appeared in his 150th collegiate contest on Jan. 16 at North Dakota. He finished with 169 career games played, the second-most in program history and the most ever by a four-year Denver player, as only
Connor Caponi appeared in more (169 games, 2020-2025).
Selected by the Wild in the second round at No. 56 overall of the 2022 NHL Draft, Lorenz had several outstanding moments throughout 2025-26 season, starting by being named an alternate captain during training camp. He scored his second goal of the season on a penalty shot on Oct. 31 against Alaska Anchorage, which was the first by a Pioneer in almost 23 years (Jon Foster, Nov. 30, 2022). He also maintained a career-long 12-game point streak from Jan. 31 to March 27 (5g/2a)—the longest by a DU player during the season and the fifth-longest since 2005. He also scored a goal in five straight outings from Jan. 31-Feb. 14 (5g/2a), the longest such streak of his career and the longest by a Pioneer since
Miko Matikka in November 2023.
He concluded his four-year college career with 94 points on 41 goals and 53 assists while producing a +60 plus-minus rating and 86 penalty minutes. He is a two-time NCAA Champion and scored in both National Championship Games, tallying the insurance marker in the second period in 2024 against Boston College and the tying goal in the third period on Saturday versus Wisconsin. He earned NCAA Frozen Four All-Tournament Team honors both years and was also named to this year's NCHC Frozen Faceoff All-Tournament Team after totaling five points (2g/3a) in four games, including a goal and an assist in the championship against Minnesota Duluth on March 21.
He scored three of his four career game-winning goals this past season, including his first overtime-winner on Jan. 31 in a 1-0 win versus UMD. In the classroom, he was recognized on the NCHC Academic Honor Roll and as an NCHC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete for the fourth season in a row.
Lorenz helped the Pioneers reach their second of three-straight Frozen Fours in 2024-25 as he totaled six goals and tied a then-career best with 14 assists while playing in all 44 games. He set a career high with four points on Feb. 1, 2025 versus Omaha, which included registering his third multi-goal game of his career and adding two assists. That performance helped him to earn his first career NCHC Forward of the Week award.
After recording nine points (2g/7a) in 38 games as a freshman in 2022-23, Lorenz had a strong sophomore campaign with 16 goals and 14 assists for 30 points in 2023-24. He was recognized with DU hockey's Murray Armstrong Most Improved Player Award, as he also posted a +21 plus-minus rating and played in all 44 games in a season that ended with the Pioneers' NCAA-record 10th national championship.
Prior to joining Denver in 2022, Lorenz played two seasons with the Okotoks Oilers of the Alberta Junior Hockey League from 2020-2022. During this time, he earned the AJHL's Rookie of the Year honor while also being named the Canadian Junior Hockey League's Top Rookie in 2021-22. He was also named to the AJHL's All-Rookie and All-Star Teams (South) and played for Team Canada at the 2022 IIHF U18 World Championship where he recorded four assists in four games.
