RIT hockey: Wilkie and Scarfone enter transfer portal; Wayne Wilson talks navigating portal

ROCHESTER, NY (WHEC) – The RIT hockey season ended last Thursday in a 6-3 loss to Boston University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

With yearly turnover, it was a given that next season squad was bound to look different. However, two cornerstone players with the option to return in the fall are choosing to depart in the hopes of elevating their stock to eventually play professionally.

Junior goalie Tommy Scarfone and sophomore forward Carter Wilke have entered the transfer portal with another year of eligibility left. Both were all-league selections.

Head coach Wayne Wilson mentioned both decisions came to a bit of a shock.

“(Wilkie’s) situation was that he thought he needed to go to a better league in order to reach his goals of playing in the National Hockey League,” said Wilson.

Wilson said he thought that could come true at RIT, and Wilkie’s NHL potential would have more to do with how well he played for the Tigers, rather than getting more looks in a better conference.

Scarfone, the 2024 Atlantic Hockey Conference Goalie of the Year, became the all-time saves leader in the D1 era of the program (2,494) and finished with a .921 save percentage.

“I don’t think the league was going to hold Tommy back. There’s other circumstances that are out of his control, because he’s done everything on his side of things of playing outstanding,” said Wilson.

The circumstances mentioned by Wilson are correlated to Scarfone’s 5-11 height. Typically, NHL goalies are much bigger, so it could work against him in the long run.

Wilkie, a 1st-Team All-Conference honoree this year, finished the season with 41 points (16 goals, 25 assists), tied for first on the team.

While Wilkie’s and Scarfone’s legacies won’t be thrown out, their time with the team signifies a new direction of RIT hockey.

“If you switch companies, the old company isn’t going to say, keep your keys and anytime you want to use the lounge or use our facilities, come on back. You’ve got to move on,” said Wilson. “It doesn’t mean that we don’t like them any more or less. It’s just something we have to do and that’s the hard reality of it all.”

RIT hockey has not announced any additions from the portal as of Apr. 3.