Tempe, Arizona might be college hockey’s most “non-traditional” market, yet the Arizona State Sun Devils are building a pretty good program in the Grand Canyon state. Three players have made the jump from ASU to the NHL. That includes Arizona hockey legend Shane Doan’s son Josh Doan. The program had its first player taken in the draft’s first round this past year when Cullen Potter was taken 32nd overall by the Calgary Flames.
An ASU alumni currently in the NHL will have his number retired this season when Joey Daccord’s number 35 is retired in their season opener on October 3rd. The Sun Devils home opener was already highly anticipated since Gavin McKenna will be visiting with Penn State to take on ASU. In addition to being the first ASU player to have his number retired, Daccord was the first ASU player to be drafted, sign with, and play with an NHL team.
Daccord was originally drafted by the Ottawa Senators with the 199th overall pick in the 2015 draft. He played three seasons with the then new Sun Devils hockey program from 2016-2019. In his final season, he was a Hobey Baker Award finalist and led the Sun devils to their first NCAA tournament appearance. After being left unprotected by the Senators, Daccord was taken by the Seattle Kraken in their expansion draft and has been with the team ever since.
With the even younger Kraken Daccord just might be the best goalie in franchise history. With the exception of Victor Ostman, who posted a shutout in his only game playing for the Kraken, Daccord is the franchise leader in save percentage (.907) save percentage and goals against average (2.71). He’s second in team history behind Philip Grubauer in games started and wins as Daccord has a 48-46-17 record with the team. That includes a shutout in the 2024 Winter Classic against the Vegas Golden Knights, which was the first in the event’s almost two decade year history.
Daccord signed a five year, $5 million average annual value contract at the beginning of last season to keep him in Seattle until the 2029-2030 NHL season. He enters camp as Seattle’s presumptive number one goaltender. The past two seasons have seen him start 46 and 55 games, respectively.
Back at ASU, his foundation the Joey Daccord Community Impact Fund created “Dac’s House”, a suite allowing children undergoing medical treatment and their families to have exciting experiences at ASU home games. Gifts to the foundation are used at the discretion of the program’s head coach and donor consultation. The foundation is a part of the university’s larger ASU Foundation.
Daccord’s NHL resume provides even more legitimacy to a still young, but growing, ASU program. It shows and reaffirms that playing college hockey in this nontraditional market can still lead to NHL opportunities and success. The list of Sun Devils making the NHL is sure to grow in upcoming years in a path than Daccord was the first to blaze himself.