The National Collegiate Athletics Association in the United States on Thursday flung open the gate to a class of men’s hockey recruits previously prohibited from joining their ranks due to alleged professionalism — the act of appearing in even a single exhibition game for a major junior team.
The NCAA’s Division I council voted to permit involvement with professional teams and leagues — allowing players to sign contracts, accept payments, participate in tryouts, practices and competitions — before initial full-time collegiate enrolment, provided nothing more than actual and necessary expenses for participation were received or guaranteed.
It means that anyone who has played in a game in the Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League or Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League — the entities that make up the Canadian Hockey League — is suddenly no longer barred from suiting up with a Division I team in the NCAA.
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Josh Whitman, chair of the council, said earlier this year that the new legislation represents a “pragmatic step” in aligning skiing and men’s hockey with other sports in terms of allowable pre-enrolment activities.
However, those restrictive pre-enrolment rules, contained in Bylaw 12 dealing with the issue of amateurism, are being challenged in the U.S. court system, and it isn’t hard to connect the dots in this case.
Rylan Masterson of Fort Erie, Ont., filed suit in mid-August, claiming the NCAA bylaw amounts to a boycott. He played in two pre-season games with the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League in Sept. 2023 and was therefore deemed ineligible to play in the NCAA forever more.
CHL teams are regarded as professional by the NCAA because some of their rosters include players who have signed contracts with National Hockey League teams. The pertinent piece in this case is NCAA bylaw 12.2.3.2, which states “an individual shall not be eligible for intercollegiate athletics in a sport if the individual ever competed on a professional team.”
The proposed class action suit, which names Masterson and former Tri City Americans goalie Nicholas Avakyan as plaintiffs, purports to make the case that the NCAA “prevents competition between the CHL and NCAA for top-end players and thus artificially suppresses compensation for players and artificially creates less competitive leagues. Not only that, the boycott also puts 16-year-olds in the impossible position of deciding, at that young age, whether they will ever want to play Div. I hockey. It is per se illegal under the antitrust laws, including because it constitutes a group boycott.”
The change in NCAA legislation takes effect Aug. 1, 2025, but there will probably be an immediate migration of players to the CHL’s 60 teams.
“If the players are allowed to play next season, the players can now start looking at movement. ‘Hey, I can play in the CHL this year,’ and then move to the NCAA next year,” said Canadian Junior Hockey League president Andy Harkness.
The CJHL is the umbrella organization for Tier 2 teams in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, the Maritimes and one team in Michigan. It has long been a thriving feeder system to the NCAA because it is not deemed a professional league. Harkness is a big fan of the pre-enrolment decision.
“The CJHL thinks this is a great move. I think it gives clarity to the development model,” he said. “At the end of the day, the CJHL is going to provide the highest level of play for the kids that can play at that level and it’s going to provide a development opportunity to move kids up to the CHL.
“I could see the younger players moving up to the CHL and some of the older players might come back to our leagues. I mean, this is all stuff everybody’s trying to figure out. So I think more kids are going to stay in Canada versus going down to prep schools or going somewhere else. I think it’s going to have more young kids in the system.
“This isn’t my part of the business, but you know, there’s some stuff the CHL has to work out over 19-year-olds, and where do those kids go? Is there going to be a groundswell of kids moving from the CHL to the NCAA? I don’t know the answer.
“But I think at the end of the day, if there’s more kids staying in the Canadian system, then I think that’s good for everybody.”
That is indeed the stated goal of the Hockey Canada development model, which plots the course from bantam AAA and AA to midget AAA and up through the junior and college ranks to the professional level.
There may well be a flood of older players joining NCAA programs after their major junior careers wrap up at age 18, 19 or 20. But what about kids who are still on the way up the development path? Some observers believe there are hard recruiting times ahead for 35 U SPORTS teams and the16-team United States Hockey League, which is seen as the default American destination for high-school aged players who wanted to maintain their NCAA eligibility.
Macklin Celebrini, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL entry draft by San Jose, was one such player. He spent a season with the Chicago Steel of the USHL before moving to Boston University. With a pathway opening between the CHL and NCAA, elite players like Celebrini might opt to play for the top major junior loop in North America before they are age eligible for college.
There are many more questions than answers at this point and even the major stakeholders aren’t exactly sure how this decision will alter the hockey landscape in North America.
What is the most likely immediate effect on major junior leagues like the WHL?
“I think that our role is developing players in hockey and in life, and the notion that players would have more choice, greater flexibility in their hockey development, in their personal development, and then the education, I think it has to slant toward a positive,” WHL commissioner Dan Near said.
“In the Western Hockey League’s perspective, this is something that eases a tension that’s pretty significant. There’s been this segment of players that have foregone a chance to play in the best available development league, at 16, 17, 18, 19, even 20, in order to retain this elusive NCAA eligibility. And you’re making this decision at 15, you’re making this decision at 16.
“The NCAA vote eliminates that kind of tension or that predicament that players and parents have been facing. And the way we see it is, every high-end prospect now will want to or expect to have an opportunity to play in our league. So I think that most importantly it’s favourable for players, but I think it’s favourable for major junior hockey too.”
Is it likely that the rule change means more players will leave the WHL sooner than they did in the past?
“Now the idea of graduating from our league, we’re thrilled that they’re going to have this option. They can go pro, they can go to Europe, they can go to the minor leagues, you can go to U SPORTS, now you can go to the NCAA,” continued Near.
“And it’s important to note that not every 20-year-old is ready for pro. This extends the hockey development journey. And as you know, but I don’t know if everybody knows, we provide a university scholarship for every year the kids play in our league. So, by way of example, there will be I think over 300 alumni this year who are sending their education bills to the Western Hockey League, and we’re writing a cheque for over $3 million for that.
“So players who honour their commitments to the Western Hockey League will continue to be eligible to use any of those post-secondary funds at any school they want. And it can be NCAA as well, so there’s a best of both worlds.
“But you asked about those who leave early and I think that players are going to have choice. We’re going to continue to be the avenue that develops the most NHL-ready players. And we don’t know exactly what’s going to happen, but what I will say if I was a dad and I was thinking about my son making a choice whether to see through his major, junior career or to leave early, I would make sure that I had my footing.
“And if you’re paying attention to things like the transfer portal, and you’re going to surrender years in the Western Hockey League, is your scholarship going to be guaranteed down there? Is your ice time guaranteed? Is someone going to swoop in after year one and take your spot on the power play? How about successfully changing schools midway through your education and keeping the trajectory of the degree?”
It has been suggested that the pending $2.78-billion court settlement on the issue of direct payments from NCAA schools to student-athletes past, present and future will have some appeal for Canadian hockey players, who might otherwise not have been that interested in playing down south. But Near wonders aloud how viable a revenue source it is for them.
“Are you going to really be able to earn the NIL money? This idea that F1 students really aren’t allowed to have these separate income streams, but everybody thinks there’s all of this cash coming to come and play. And the other part of it is, brands pay for followers. How many of these players have these brands that companies and are going to contribute NIL to?
“I think that there’s a lot of risk in that (NCAA) approach compared to a really established ecosystem with major junior, where you’re continuing to accrue the scholarship, where we’re investing in the coaches, in the facilities, in the environment. We’re playing a 68-game schedule that is as close as possible to what they’re going to experience in the National Hockey League. And so I’m not ruling it out, but I’m saying there’s a lot of things to ask yourself if you’re thinking about maybe the grass is greener somewhere else.”
What about U SPORTS teams? Will they lose out on CHL players who now have the NCAA option?
“Obviously, I think there are some out there that feel that there’s going to be some immediate effect on some leagues, and we’re just uncertain about what that will look like,” said Matthew Davies, chief sport officer for U SPORTS. “And we’re confident that all of our men’s hockey programs across the country provide a really unique, fantastic Canadian men’s hockey post-secondary experience, and that it’s of value to potential interested players.”
There are 35 men’s hockey programs in U SPORTS: nine in Canada West, 19 in Ontario University Athletics and seven in Atlantic University Sport. It’s no secret that a large majority of players on those rosters have played previously in the CHL. Davies wouldn’t put a number on it when asked by Postmedia, allowing only that it is “a very high number of our student-athletes.”
It looks like the NCAA decision might be a death sentence for the competitiveness of the three U SPORTS conferences, if top CHLers no longer look first to a Canadian university. However, there are academic requirements that must be met for a player to join a Division I program in the NCAA, and not all CHL players are willing and/or able to meet those prerequisites, given the gruelling schedules in the three leagues.
What’s more, consider the plight of a player whose grasp on a NCAA roster spot was tenuous even before the gate opens up to CHLers. That player might be looking for a collegiate home up north.
“I think all of the respective hockey experiences that are offered across Canada are sort of monitoring the fact that there might be movement in a whole bunch of different directions,” said Davies. “And certainly, I think there are going to be hockey players even from the States who are going to see the U SPORTS experience as a really attractive one. And so we may actually attract hockey players that we haven’t seen before.
“I think our focus right now is continuing to consult with the CHL about the U-SPORTS/CHL partnership and how to grow that partnership and enhance the men’s hockey experience that U SPORTS can offer.”
The USHL is the top American feeder system for players with eyes on the NCAA. Will elite North American players pass up the USHL for the CHL?
“You know, players have a choice,” said USHL president and commissioner Glenn Hefferan. “Look across the country, all throughout the United States. Players have options to play at home, and they don’t. They opt to play elsewhere even at our youth level. We have 14-year-olds leaving home to go play on teams because they perceive it to be better.
“Every player will have a choice, and there is this universe of 3,000 high-end players, and there will be some movement, and that’s just normal churn as a new set of rules come into focus.”
Hefferan is confident the USHL has established itself as a high quality league that launches players on paths toward the NCAA and the NHL.
“The USHL is a really good place to develop. You don’t get the draft numbers, and you don’t get 50% of your players comprising NCAA Division I college hockey because of a set of rules. You have to still be good at it. There are other leagues that could have had the opportunity to be better than the USHL, and they’re not. It’s not a knock, it’s just a fact.
“We’ll have our work cut out for us like everybody else, and we’ll adapt to the new rules, and our fans will continue to support our teams, and USA Hockey will continue to support our activities, and obviously, I think the NHL will as well.
I think our draft numbers and our college placement numbers are really strong. Our NHL draft numbers are higher than any other league individually for 16 teams. … I think the NHL, and obviously I don’t want to speak for them, but I think they certainly want us to be strong and vibrant.
Asked if the USHL would have to make changes to theoretically compete with the CHL for elite level talent now, Hefferan said the USHL might have a competitive advantage over the CHL.
“You know, we don’t have contractual agreements with our players, and that serves as an advantage for us. We’ll celebrate a player drafted directly out of the USHL as much as we’ll celebrate a player drafted in college. I’m not so sure that’s a model that’s appealing for the CHL. I think they want their players to be drafted out of their league. I think that’s probably a bigger question for them to answer. How will they adapt?
I think for players that don’t mind being under a contractual agreement bound by a CBA that restricts their movement, they should sign up for that. If they want to have the right to self-determine at the end of each season what’s their best path? Do I go to college? Do I go pro? The USHL is the best option.”
Is there a chance that turnover of NCAA rosters increases because of the vast new player pool?
“If a guy scores 30 at Western Michigan University, he’s probably not playing at Western Michigan University next year,” said Near of the WHL. “He’s probably going to Michigan.
“And in that case, what do you think happens to the recruiting class or the existing team at Michigan? There’s only so many spots. And so if that’s what you’re alluding to, I think you’re on to something, that there’s considerable risk in that ecosystem right now. And it’s essentially unrestricted free agency every year in an environment that’s supposed to be educationally driven. I’m there to pursue a degree and play hockey while I’m there. We’ll see how this shakes out.
“The pendulum is going to swing back and forth a little bit on this as people try and get their footing. But what I mentioned before is be careful and ensure that you’re making a decision that is risk-managed and gives you the right level of certainty around your development as a hockey player, your development as a student, your development as a young man.”
The NCAA this summer boosted the limit for full-ride hockey scholarships to 26 per Division I team, in both men’s and women’s hockey, up from 18. Does that play a role in attracting CHLers?
“I know they’ve cleared it to be that, but you have budgetary constraints,” said Hefferan. “They’re at 18 now, and if you add even two, it’s actually adding four, because you have to add it to the women’s side as well. So, these are expensive financial decisions. You know, not every Division I college hockey program generates the same revenue, so I just don’t see that number moving. I’ve heard a couple of schools are trying to figure out how they can add two.
“And remember, you have a number of schools that don’t give athletic scholarships,” he said, referring to Ivy League schools with hockey teams: Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth, Cornell, Yale and Brown.
Hefferan said he believes this shakeup should prompt hockey’s major North American stakeholders — both national federations, all junior leagues and both college systems — to have a conversation about the future of the development models in both countries.
“We should all be sitting in a room figuring it out. We’re not really the problem. The problem is upstream. What’s happening at the youth level and player development and the amount of money being spent on travel and ‘let’s be away for 16 tournaments;’ there’s a lack of sanity right now in the youth game for both Hockey Canada and for us. I think there’s some bigger issues that we can help straighten out and work co-operatively and build a really vibrant North American ecosystem for hockey, where everybody is rowing in the same direction or let’s say skating in the same direction.
This is not about ‘my league is better than yours.’ That’s just foolish child’s play. Let’s focus on the bigger issue of making our sport number one in North America.”