Not true, you're going to see more and more high end guys taking spots from 19 years olds on top teams in the NCHC and Big Ten. Sending those 19 year olds to other, worse schools.
Your point? CHLers entering the NCAA will elevate play for the whole NCAA and give the crappy programs in the CCHA, Atlantic, ECAC, etc the ability to be far more competitive every year.
I was talking demographics… better 21 year olds compared to worse 21 year olds. Not to mention we could also see an offsetting effect of high end CHL teenagers joining the ranks. As I’ve said a few times, any high end kid that would have wanted to go ncaa path in old ways wouldn’t be deterred because another path before ncaa opened up. And likely more who were on the border before it but would have went CHL path will join them.
Give it five years to shake out and whatever the next iteration of NIL is and the top conferences are just going to be dominating again, thankfully since I support one of those teams.
If your program actually decides to recruit more high end Canadians/out of state guys*
No college can be parochial in recruiting practices in this day and age....even a Minnesota.
Any 21 year old that blows up at bowling green or whatever will just be stolen in the portal.
Not necessarily. Plenty of guys feel loyalty to the coaches/program that actually wanted them first
Of course, and that's exactly what I said. Not many D+1 guys would play in the AHL. D+2 19YO's, still not a ton of them but there would be more. This season there is one '06er plus 10 from '05 playing in the AHL, so 11 in total who would still be non-overage if they played in the CHL. It would be a viable option for the high-end CHLers.
Nah. We’ve seen how this plays out in other sports. They’ll want to chase the opportunity. Better program, better competition, more exposure, etc. college sports has a clear hierarchy.
I just feel that hockey is different to some extent. We'll see if guys like Jake Sloan have massive success at Bowling Green and then leave after a year or two.
Guy like Collin Graf is a good example of what I’m talking about. Doesn’t get the same level of exposure and opportunity if he doesn’t transfer to Quinnipiac. Eric Pohlkamp to Denver another that jumps to mind. At some point, it’s just business decision.
I agree that hockey isn't going to be affected in the same manner as football or basketball. Some players will transfer but the incentive is much lower. Some of the football NIL deals, my God, these kids could just about retire after they finish their college career.
I'm not 100% sure on this... but I think the way that it works at present, in hockey at least, is that you have full eligibility (five years to play four seasons) if you start school by the calendar year in which you turn 21, and thereafter you lose one year of eligibility.
You need to look at basketball as a parallel. There is insane shuffling all over and there are over 360 D1 teams so there’s plenty of layers to it. Money is a factor for some guys but there’s not as much nil in basketball as football and the majority of D1 teams don’t pay anything or only negligible NIL. It’s mostly about aligning the right players with the right programs.
No.
Younger players aren’t going to be chased off. Worse older players will be. This is because they still want to recruit high end talent that will want to come in at younger ages and that do not struggle to make an impact. Only busts stink in college hockey as teenagers.
Idk why people are so upset about 21 year old freshmen in the D1 hockey circuit when literally any 18-21 year old rookie that steps into the NHL or any pro league is going to be facing even older grown ass, stronger and faster men that have years of experience on them anyway.
