How does the overage rule work in the CHL?

[thestonedkoala]

If a team has 10 players that turn 20 before December 31st, how do they determine which ones they keep and which ones they don't? Is it up to the NHL Club or to the CHL club? What happens if they can't make an agreement on who to keep? The NHL team doesn't want the player, the CHL doesn't want to burn one of their slots on the player? What happens then?

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[landy92mack29]

A team can only dress 3 OAs so there's no way they'd go into a year with as many as 10...most is usually 4,max 5 if they get a surprise NHL signed prospect returned. If a player is a NHL pick they're likely going to be kept but if not they'll find somewhere to trade them. The weaker OAs finish their year playing junior A as they'll be a top player in those leagues and they also have more OA spots(varies league to league how many spots)

 

[SympathyForTheDevils]

The CHL club would try to keep the 3 overagers they feel would be most valuable to them (or possibly not, if they're rebuilding). For the rest, they would have to find takers among the other clubs, which can be difficult, since of course they too have limited spots. As mentioned above, those that can't find takers will have to transition to junior A, or CIS, or out of hockey altogether. Having 10 in the same year is a bit exaggerated, but teams making a run will sometimes load up on older players, which can put them in that kind of situation heading into the offseason. Still, teams rarely enter the next season with more than 4 overagers.

As for the NHL clubs, beyond whatever influence they wield behind the scenes, they have no real say in this. If they're not transitioning their prospect to the pros, they'll probably push for him to play in a prominent role on a competitive team. And if the prospect can't find a spot in the league as an overager, well he likely doesn't have much of a future in the pros regardless.