Financially the USHL in the northeast would get buried. There would be very little interest from a fan perspective. They would play third fiddle to professional and college hockey. At the end of the day it is a business and they won't go to the northeast because they know it would never work financially.
The NCDC has become watered down but the only reason it works is because they have youth programs from 8U all the way up to junior hockey. The junior teams operate at a huge loss by themselves.
I think a junior league of a similar level to USHL in the Northeast region could work very well.
The hockey market is much bigger than where USHL is based.
Obviously, the player pool has become enormously denser and it's time to readjust the system. The current formula with the additional USDP program dates from the 90s. The quantity and quality of foreign players has also increased, therefore less room for national players.
Another possibility is to adopt the European model by opening junior sections among professional senior franchises.In short, there are plenty of possibilities to change the situation.
Sooner or later there will be a rearrangement anyway, US Hockey is not going to stay with the current formula forever and in my opinion they will consider the idea of expanding the junior leagues.
The level is too low outside the USHL for U18 players. The proof is that no leading Canadian or European prospect aspires to play in these leagues. Beyond the annual American top 30, it's very complicated to play at a high level. It used to not be a problem because the USHL was at a much lower level and the US pool was much shallower but with the increase in depth it is becoming a problem. And American NHL players who have not passed through the USHL remain extremely rare.There have been a lot of losses among non-USHL players, franchises are selecting fewer American players than 10 years ago even though the level has probably increased.
But that's just my opinion.