Confirmed with Link: Blackhawks Sign Spellacy to Entry Level Deal

[Hattrick Kane]

RELEASE: Blackhawks Sign AJ Spellacy to Entry-Level Deal | Chicago Blackhawks

2024 NHL Draft pick agrees to three-year contract with $975,000 salary cap hit

www.nhl.com

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[WarriorofTime]

Congrats to him. Could definitely see him carving out a bottom six career. Really good athlete.

 

[Mrfenn92]

Congrats

 

[Kevin Musto]

Pre-season GOAT

 

[kmwtrucks]

odd note on this. with the signing he cannot play in the NCAA and he is to young for AHL so its OHL or NHL. would have preferred NCAA over OHL. seems odd. would like to hear there thinking.

 

[giza]

Inexperienced as hell, but he was a late cut this year........who knows, might crack the 4 line next year.

 

[WarriorofTime]

odd note on this. with the signing he cannot play in the NCAA and he is to young for AHL so its OHL or NHL. would have preferred NCAA over OHL. seems odd. would like to hear there thinking.

Until the NHL CBA is amended, players drafted out of CHL today still need to be signed in two years. For Spellacy, that would mean his "must sign" date was June 1, 2026, or else he'd go back into the Draft for 2026. A player, as of today, cannot play in the NCAA if they have signed a professional contract (yes, this is essentially the last semi-beacon of amateurism remaining in NCAA sports in the NIL era).

Until that item is sorted out in the CBA to account for players going to the NCAA after being drafted out of a CHL league, or the NCAA permits a player that has a signed ELC with circumstances relating to no payments, etc. to play in the NCAA, I expect we'll continue to see players drafted out of the CHL sign ELCs for now.