NCAA to allow CHL players to play hockey?

[Sideline]

I think the Junior A issue now will be recruiting/retention. I am tied in with a club and know almost every kid on the roster has a goal of getting to NCAA at some level. Agents and Advisors will now push for those players to get to the CHL level as thats the route to getting an NCAA scholarship now. Will it only affect 3-4 players off each Junior A team....likely you are right there. But the kids that dont have a shot at the CHL ranks, and knowing full well they will have a much smaller or almost no chance at an NCAA scholarship playing in Junior A leagues will just decide to get on with their lives and go to university/college instead.

Junior A is not cheap for players at all anymore, decades ago players got paid to play and provided with everything they needed throughout the year. Now with Player Development Fees, league fees and some teams charging billet/transportation fees most players are paying $3000-$10,000 a year to play and that doesn't include any additional expenses such as vehicles, spending money, trips home etc. So as a parent, I won't be spending thousands of dollars for a kid whos not CHL bound to play a few years and end up in college/university a few years behind their friends. That money can go towards their education....not hockey for fun.

Also you have to think along the lines of scouts/coaches from the NCAA, where are they going to look to find players. If you can now scout/recruit from the best league in North America, which also includes going to bigger cities, nicer places and have less travel/better accommodations, are you going to travel to Nipiwin Sask for a less talented league in hopes of finding a gem, or are you going to go to do a BC swing and hit Kelowna, Vancouver, Lethbridge and Calgary? I know NCAA coaches who's gone on recruiting trips, they very much already avoid going to prairies as much as they can because the product isn't as good as well as who wants to spend a week in a car going from small town to small town.

I foresee several Junior A clubs closing up shop once all this hits, many of the community owned teams struggle to make ends meet already, and if the on ice product diminishes....it will be harder.

Also....top end talent in the CHL will still go the pro route, but how many of the CHL top end talent walk right on to a NHL/AHL team at 20 years old. Not as many as we want to believe, if your 5th round draft pick isn't quite ready for the pros yet, most NHL clubs will say....hey we can get you on Michigan for a couple years. Then we can re-assess after some more development.

It might have an impact on the ECHL for a similar reason. If you are a 20 year old jock would you rather go play in the ECHL or being big man on campus with a bunch of people your own age?

 

[Bonk]

It's funny how once upon a time, the junior hockey system within Canada was essentially farm teams for the development of teenagers by NHL teams, and with this, there's a circular return to sponsorships and major junior farm teams, except focused on putting kids towards D1 hockey.

Truthfully, that idea seems predicated on exponential growth of D1 hockey, especially in the south and west, that is completely out of line with what is actually happening in educational institution offices across the US, and that's cutting non-revenue or revenue losing sports in order to feed the beast of CFB and CBB to a lesser extent, and trying to justify conference TV revenue with hare-brained realignment ideas.

Very interesting assessment.

 

[DaveG]

I think the Junior A issue now will be recruiting/retention. I am tied in with a club and know almost every kid on the roster has a goal of getting to NCAA at some level. Agents and Advisors will now push for those players to get to the CHL level as thats the route to getting an NCAA scholarship now. Will it only affect 3-4 players off each Junior A team....likely you are right there. But the kids that dont have a shot at the CHL ranks, and knowing full well they will have a much smaller or almost no chance at an NCAA scholarship playing in Junior A leagues will just decide to get on with their lives and go to university/college instead.

Junior A is not cheap for players at all anymore, decades ago players got paid to play and provided with everything they needed throughout the year. Now with Player Development Fees, league fees and some teams charging billet/transportation fees most players are paying $3000-$10,000 a year to play and that doesn't include any additional expenses such as vehicles, spending money, trips home etc. So as a parent, I won't be spending thousands of dollars for a kid whos not CHL bound to play a few years and end up in college/university a few years behind their friends. That money can go towards their education....not hockey for fun.

Also you have to think along the lines of scouts/coaches from the NCAA, where are they going to look to find players. If you can now scout/recruit from the best league in North America, which also includes going to bigger cities, nicer places and have less travel/better accommodations, are you going to travel to Nipiwin Sask for a less talented league in hopes of finding a gem, or are you going to go to do a BC swing and hit Kelowna, Vancouver, Lethbridge and Calgary? I know NCAA coaches who's gone on recruiting trips, they very much already avoid going to prairies as much as they can because the product isn't as good as well as who wants to spend a week in a car going from small town to small town.

I foresee several Junior A clubs closing up shop once all this hits, many of the community owned teams struggle to make ends meet already, and if the on ice product diminishes....it will be harder.

Also....top end talent in the CHL will still go the pro route, but how many of the CHL top end talent walk right on to a NHL/AHL team at 20 years old. Not as many as we want to believe, if your 5th round draft pick isn't quite ready for the pros yet, most NHL clubs will say....hey we can get you on Michigan for a couple years. Then we can re-assess after some more development.

I don't think the AHL will be affected quite that dramatically but the ECHL absolutely will. Most of the players that are signed that need that extra year or two of seasoning after the CHL years are ending up in the ECHL as is instead of sticking at the AHL level.

Mind you it will also be interesting to see if any changes in drafted players rights are made based on this, an NHL team that only gets a CHL players rights for 2 years isn't going to be all that helpful in getting a player onto say Michigan or Northeastern if they no longer have their rights presuming the NCAA still won't be allowing players that are under professional contract.

 

[WarriorofTime]

I don't think the AHL will be affected quite that dramatically but the ECHL absolutely will. Most of the players that are signed that need that extra year or two of seasoning after the CHL years are ending up in the ECHL as is instead of sticking at the AHL level.

Mind you it will also be interesting to see if any changes in drafted players rights are made based on this, an NHL team that only gets a CHL players rights for 2 years isn't going to be all that helpful in getting a player onto say Michigan or Northeastern if they no longer have their rights presuming the NCAA still won't be allowing players that are under professional contract.

The ECHL already has a fairly old Weighted Average, around 26 (compared to 25 for AHL and 28 for NHL).

 

[LadyStanley]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1852494738135425245

 

[GKJ]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1852494738135425245

I don’t know this player, but this seems to be a harbinger for the USHL.

 

[MeHateHe]

I don’t know this player, but this seems to be a harbinger for the USHL.

Interesting tidbit is that IIRC, BCHL players, because of the league’s “independent status” aren’t eligible to play major junior this season. It might be the only thing keeping players leaving BCHL clubs this season.