Mike Koster

Photo by: Matt Krohn

Photo by: Jay LaPrete

Photo by: Brad Rempel

Photo by: Eric Miller

Photo by: Larry Radloff/The Rink Live

Photo by: Eric Miller

Position:
Defense
Ht./Wt.:
5-10 / 180
Class:
Junior
Hometown:
Chaska, Minn.
High School:
Chaska HS
Previous Team:
Tri-City (USHL)
NHL Rights:
Toronto (2019)
Major:
Entrepreneurial Management

PRONUNCIATION

• Tied for third in Gophers history for career games played (180)
• Signed first professional contract with the ECHL's Iowa Heartlanders on April 1, 2025

2024-25 | GRADUATE STUDENT
AHCA Krampade All-American Scholar
Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award
Academic All-Big Ten
• Was a captain for the Gophers for the second-straight season and one of seven players to appear in all 40 games during his fifth year at Minnesota
• Reached 20 points for the second time in his career behind four goals and 16 assists
• Scored all four of his goals when Minnesota was on the road, including a two-goal effort at Ohio State (Jan. 11) with both goals scored against the Buckeyes on the man advantage
• Put away his lone game-winning goal to clinch the Big Ten Conference regular season championship at Penn State (Mar. 1)
• Tallied four multi-point performances, all in victories, and had a season-high two points in those contests
• Twice had a season-long point streak of three games coming Jan. 25-Feb. 1 and again Feb. 15-22
• Fourteen of his 20 total points were scored in 20 outings during the 2025 calendar year
• Ranked second among Gopher defensemen, fifth overall, with eight power-play points via three goals and five assists on the man advantage, and added a shorthanded assist versus Mercyhurst (Jan. 3)
• Finished the year second on the team with 53 blocked shots, including a season-best five in a home win over Bemidji State (Nov. 14)
• Gophers owned a 12-1-3 record in games when he scored a point with the only loss coming in the NCAA Fargo Regional, and were a perfect 3-0-0 in games that he scored a goal
• Earned fifth letter

2023-24 | SENIOR
Academic All-Big Ten
• Served as the Gophers' co-captain and made 33 appearances after missing all six games in October due to injury
• Finished the year with 14 points on two goals and 12 assists
• Scored the first game-winning goal of his career with a power-play tally against Robert Morris (Jan. 13)
• Posted his second goal of the season three games later at Michigan State (Jan. 26)
• Registered two multi-point outings, coming versus Notre Dame (Nov. 18) and Colorado College (Jan. 8)
• Excelled on home ice where he put up 11 of his 14 total points
• Closed the campaign with a plus-1 rating and was a season-best plus-3 at Michigan State (Jan. 27)
• Gophers tallied a 7-3-2 record when he posted a point
• Recorded 46 total blocked shots for the year, including a season-high four at Notre Dame (Feb. 16)
• Earned fourth letter

2022-23 | JUNIOR
Big Ten Second Star of the Week (Feb. 28)
Academic All-Big Ten
• One of nine Gophers to appear in all the team's 40 games
• Ranked sixth on the team and second among defenseman for total points with a career-best 29
• Set career highs with six goals and 23 assists, more than doubling his offensive output of his first two seasons combined
• Top scoring defenseman for the Gophers during the postseason with six points in six games, including four points at the NCAA Tournament
• Three of his six goals scored came on the power play
• Tallied eight multi-point efforts for the season, including four in his final eight games
• Recorded his first four-point performance during his 100th career game against Ohio State (Feb. 24) with two goals and two assists
• Earned Big Ten Second Star of the Week honors for the first time in his career thanks to that effort versus the Buckeyes
• Gophers held a 15-2-1 record when he registered a point and were 4-1-0 when he scored a goal
• Matched a career-long point streak of four games between Jan. 27 and Feb. 11
• Finished the year with a plus-13 rating and 40 blocked shots
• Part of the Gophers runner-up finish at the 2023 NCAA Frozen Four and a Big Ten Conference regular season championship
• Earned third letter

2021-22 | SOPHOMORE
Academic All-Big Ten
• Skated in 36 games as a sophomore for the Gophers
• Tallied career highs of 14 points and 11 assists, while scoring three goals in his second campaign with the Maroon and Gold
• Helped the Gophers win the 2021-22 Big Ten Regular-Season Championship and advance to the NCAA Frozen Four for the first time since 2014
• Team was 8-4-0 when he tallied a point
• Tallied back-to-back, two-point games at Penn State with a goal and assist (Feb. 19) and with two assists against Wisconsin (Feb. 25)
• Earned second letter

2020-21 | FRESHMAN
Big Ten All-Tournament Team
ACHA All-American Scholar
• Skated in all 31 games as a freshman for the Gophers
• Recorded 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in his first season at Minnesota, tying for the team scoring lead among newcomers
• Team was 3-0-0 when he scored a goal and 8-2-0 when he tallied a point
• Made his college debut in a 4-1 win over Penn State (Nov. 19)
• Recorded his first collegiate point with an assist in a 4-1 win over Ohio State (Nov. 23)
• Scored his first college goal in a 4-0 win at Michigan (Dec. 9) to start a four-game point streak
• Assisted on both goals in Minnesota's Big Ten quarterfinal overtime game against Michigan State and scored a goal in the title game against Wisconsin
• Blocked a career-high five shots at home against Notre Dame (Jan. 15) and closed the year with 32 blocks
• Earned first letter

JUNIORS/HIGH SCHOOL
• Skated with the Tri-City Storm in the USHL for parts of three seasons
• Closed out his junior career with 18 points (three goals, 15 assists) in 37 games during the 2019-20 season
• Recorded 34 points (seven goals, 27 assists) in 73 career USHL regular-season games, while adding one assist in eight career USHL playoff games
• Helped Tri-City capture the USHL's Anderson Cup as regular-season champions in 2018-19 after concluding his prep career
• 2019 graduate of Chaska High School
• 2019 recipient of the Reed Larson Award, presented to the top senior boys’ high school hockey defenseman in Minnesota and a finalist for the 2019 Mr. Hockey Award, given to the most outstanding senior boys’ hockey player in the state of Minnesota
• A 2019 First Team All-USA Boys Hockey honoree (USA Today), a 2019 All-State selection (AP), the 2019 Metro Player of the Year and an All-Metro First Team selection (Star Tribune)
• Led the state in scoring by a defenseman with 61 points (20 goals, 41 assists) as a senior in 2018-19, while helping Chaska capture the first conference championship (Metro West) in program history
• Chaska’s all-time leading scorer with 189 points (69 goals, 120 assists) in 101 career games
• Two-year captain and four-year team MVP with the Hawks
• Three-time all-conference selection
• Four-year letter winner in hockey
• Honor roll student
• Skated with fellow Gopher Rhett Pitlick at Chaska High School

INTERNATIONAL
• Won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2017 U17 Five Nations Tournament
• Played with the U.S. U18 Team at the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup

PERSONAL
• Son of Roger and Joan Koster
• Has two siblings (Matthew, Micaela)
• Selected in the fifth round (146th overall) of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs
• Graduated from Minnesota with a Master of Education degree in Sport Management in May 2025