What junior leagues are the best?

[Eye of Ra]

1: WHL
2: OHL
3: MHL (Russia)
4: USHL
5: U20 SM-Sarja (Finland)
6: QMJHL
7: Superelit (Sweden)
8: DNL U20 (Germany)
9: U-20 Elit (Switzerland)
10: Czech U20
11: Iceysl (Austria)

Would be my bet. Could be that i overate some european leagues. Perhaps BCHL, NAHL and USDP should be on the list.

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[GermanSpitfire]

Either OHL or USHL is the best. OHL pulls from the biggest talent pool in Canada and USHL pulls players from across the USA.

 

[wings5]

1: WHL
2: OHL
3: MHL (Russia)
4: USHL
5: U20 SM-Sarja (Finland)
6: QMJHL
7: Superelit (Sweden)
8: DNL U20 (Germany)
9: U-20 Elit (Switzerland)
10: Czech U20
11: Iceysl (Austria)

Would be my bet. Could be that i overate some european leagues. Perhaps BCHL, NAHL and USDP should be on the list.

You are underrating Superelit , it is a top 5 junior league for sure. Also USNTDP plays in the USHL mainly

 

[Antiillafire]

You forgot to include the rest of your list…

97. Kenyan U20 League
98. Taiwanese U20 Elite league
99. SL20 ( Syrian U20 League)
100. Slovak U20 league

 

[Eye of Ra]

You forgot to include the rest of your list…

97. Kenyan U20 League
98. Taiwanese U20 Elite league
99. SL20 ( Syrian U20 League)
100. Slovak U20 league

I would have Slovak U20 as nr 12.

 

[molotce]

You are underrating Superelit , it is a top 5 junior league for sure. Also USNTDP plays in the USHL mainly

agreed, i would go:
OHL
WHL
USHL/QMJHL/superelit
MHL/u20 Sarja
the rest

 

[kudla]

1, OHL
2. WHL
3. QMJHL
4. USHL
5. MHL
6. SuperElit
7. U20 SM-Sarja
8. NAHL
9. BCHL
10. U-20 Elit

 

[Antiillafire]

I would have Slovak U20 as nr 12.

Let’s take a closer look.
How are we measuring strength of league? If we are talking about it’s development ability and the overall ability to churn out NHL picks let’s examine closer. Over the last 5 years drafts (2017 through 2021) the slovak u20 league has had 7 players that were developed in some capacity in the Slovak u20 league. They were either in the league for their DY or DY-1.

These players include: Adam Ruzicka, Marian Studenic, David Hrenak, Roman Durny, Samuel Knazko, Jakub Demek, Martin Chromiak.

Austria during that same 5 years has had 4. A few were Germans actually that player in EBJL.

What about Germany? They had 5. The advantage the Germans have is they developed Stutzle and Seider which is a great accomplishment.

What about the potential players for 2022 NHL draft, players developed in some or a lot of capacity in Slovakia U20: Nemec, Mesar, Kmec, Petrovsky, Sykora, Zlnka.

Let’s cast aside development, and look at league itself. I am not sure about Austrian and German U20 league this year and past few years. But Slovak u20 league has multiple players this year who have played a few or many games in the three CHL leagues. Ondrej Molnar (2023 draft) has just 13 pts in 13 games this year in Slovak u20 league, and at the HGC he looked like Connor Mcdavid against Germany (comprised of DNL players). If the German junior league was truly that much above Slovak u20 than the score would not have been 12-2. Just for particulars, Ondrej also stood out against Sweden and USA and burned the excellent Swedish top pair on the 4-2 goal.

Now am I saying the Slovak u20 league is great, No, it’s still coming along and improving and hopefully the U18 project will continue to bring another element of compete level to the league. But to put it, with certainty, below the Austrian and German junior leagues is simply wrong.
And one last thing: Czech U20 league is criminally underrated and is better than both the German and Swiss junior leagues.

 

[Eye of Ra]

1, OHL
2. WHL
3. QMJHL
4. USHL
5. MHL
6. SuperElit
7. U20 SM-Sarja
8. NAHL
9. BCHL
10. U-20 Elit

 

[The Crypto Guy]

OHL has taken the #1 spot from the WHL over the last couple years.

 

[covfefe]

All the CHL leagues are strong, though the Q lags the other two. The OHL/WHL can occasionally flip flop in terms of truly high end talent.

OHL
WHL
USHL
QMJHL
Superelit
MHL
U20 SM-Sarja
BCHL

BCHL has produced >2x more current and former NHL players than the NAHL but gets no respect because 'Murica

Either OHL or USHL is the best. OHL pulls from the biggest talent pool in Canada and USHL pulls players from across the USA.

Must be why the USHL keeps pumping out as many 1st round picks as the W...wait

 

[GermanSpitfire]

All the CHL leagues are strong, though the Q lags the other two. The OHL/WHL can occasionally flip flop in terms of truly high end talent.

OHL
WHL
USHL
QMJHL
Superelit
MHL
U20 SM-Sarja
BCHL

BCHL has produced >2x more current and former NHL players than the NAHL but gets no respect because 'Murica



Must be why the USHL keeps pumping out as many 1st round picks as the W...wait

Im not looking at the quantity of first round picks - i’m looking at the quality of picks.

Since 2010 - the USHL has produced players like Matthews, Keller, Zegras, Hughes (x2), Knight, Tkachuk (x2), Eichel, Werenski, Boeser, Larkin, Jones, Trouba, Miller and Hayes.

Now I know for a fact the WHL doesn't have that kind of track record, and thats not even mentioning the past two drafts where the USHL took home the bacon.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Im not looking at the quantity of first round picks - i’m looking at the quality of picks.

Since 2010 - the USHL has produced players like Matthews, Keller, Zegras, Hughes (x2), Knight, Tkachuk (x2), Eichel, Werenski, Boeser, Larkin, Jones, Trouba, Miller and Hayes.

Now I know for a fact the WHL doesn't have that kind of track record, and thats not even mentioning the past two drafts where the USHL took home the bacon.

where would u rank DNL U20 ? i might have had it too low.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

where would u rank DNL U20 ? i might have had it too low.

Its fine where it is, I may even drop it a few spots since I am not the highest on Germany’s development system and I also don’t know much about the Swiss or czech system.
FWIW, alot more of Germany’s top young players do go and play in Austria in the ICEYSL rather than through the DEL’s development system.

 

[Favin]

1. USHL
2. OHL
3. WHL
4. QMJHL

But...no way to really get an apples-to-apples comparison.

(a) USHL and NAHL should have two different ranks. One with US NTDP, one without.
(b) Talent wasn't normally distributed last year due to pandemic, leagues not playing same amount (a few higher profile players moved to USHL that probably otherwise would not have)
(b) Different rules apply to different leagues, so leagues like USHL and BCHL often lose their best players to NCAA. If you count the NCAA players that originated in those US junior and Junior A leagues, they will appear much stronger.

 

[Maplebeasts]

OHL
WHL
USHL
QMJHL
Superelit
MHL
Sarja U-20
BCHL
AJHL

 

[Fan.At]

1: WHL
2: OHL
3: MHL (Russia)
4: USHL
5: U20 SM-Sarja (Finland)
6: QMJHL
7: Superelit (Sweden)
8: DNL U20 (Germany)
9: U-20 Elit (Switzerland)
10: Czech U20
11: Iceysl (Austria)

Would be my bet. Could be that i overate some european leagues. Perhaps BCHL, NAHL and USDP should be on the list.

Definitely overrating the IceYSL.

 

[Atas2000]

1: WHL
2: OHL
3: MHL (Russia)
4: USHL
5: U20 SM-Sarja (Finland)
6: QMJHL
7: Superelit (Sweden)
8: DNL U20 (Germany)
9: U-20 Elit (Switzerland)
10: Czech U20
11: Iceysl (Austria)

Would be my bet. Could be that i overate some european leagues. Perhaps BCHL, NAHL and USDP should be on the list.

If you think MHL is in any way behing the CHL leagues you are mistaken. Also I think the swedish league should be higher on the list.

But in general it is not as simple as it might appear at first look. The major and most important difference for the players is the opportunity to play on higher levels which is not there in the CHL leagues(and USHL I guess).

So the answer would be (slightly )different if you are asking best leagues as the level of competition or best league for player development(which is key for prospects).

In general the CHL leagues are pretty much on par with the MHL as in level of competition. The division into three leagues hurts the CHL a bit too there. The USHL is probably slightly behind.

But the european leagues have the great benefit for prospects of allowing the prospect to move up and down between juniors and first and second division men's leagues. That is something the CHL lacks. For CHL players it's the CHL or NHL(and we all know very few can make that jump right away) and that only after the draft. They can't play on higher levels at age 17 or even younger. Also CHL teams are not affiliated with NHL teams. In Europe big league teams have a two or three level system of junior team, 2nd division team, top league team and the player can be observed and evaluated by the coaches within the system and moved to the level they deem him to benefit the most from playing at. And that on a nightly basis. A player can have a game or two in the big league than spend a month in junior with more icetime and agaist his peers.

This is one of the major factors why I see for Europeans developing at home until 21 at least(unless they are NHL ready phenoms at 18) is the best option. That applies to Russia, Sweden and Finnland likewise. Whether the dropoff in quality of junior and top leagues justify the same for say Czechs or Germans is an another topic again.

Purely on level of competition:

1. OHL, WHL, MHL
2. QMJHL, USHL
3. Superelit
4. U20 SM-Sarja

 

[Atas2000]

OHL
WHL
USHL
QMJHL
Superelit
MHL
Sarja U-20
BCHL
AJHL

Is North Americans underrating the MHL a big reason why they(including NHL's pros) suck so much at evaluating Russians?

 

[Atas2000]

Either OHL or USHL is the best. OHL pulls from the biggest talent pool in Canada and USHL pulls players from across the USA.

And the MHL pulls form all of Russia

 

[MartinBe]

FYI, superelite changed name last year to J20 Nationell.

 

[GettingYourMoms]

As a Czech i must say that even Equatorial Guinea has better junior league than we have. To many teams and not enough competition, i think that easy fix would be cutting half of those teams out, quess somebody does not want to lose job, corruption in czech sport is absolutely insane.

 

[95snipes]

All the CHL leagues are strong, though the Q lags the other two. The OHL/WHL can occasionally flip flop in terms of truly high end talent.

OHL
WHL
USHL
QMJHL
Superelit
MHL
U20 SM-Sarja
BCHL

BCHL has produced >2x more current and former NHL players than the NAHL but gets no respect because 'Murica



Must be why the USHL keeps pumping out as many 1st round picks as the W...wait

Yup if question is which leagues have the most talent, then the BCHL is miles ahead of the NAHL. If question is which leagues win head to head, then gap is closer since NAHL is a grind league full of age outs. BC has far superior talent since best American players are playing in the USHL. I don't have the numbers, but I'd guess a much higher % of BC players go D1 than NAHL.

I disagree with your comment on the USHL though. Just last year, 3 of the top 5 picks, 4 of the top 10, 6 of the top 15, 7 of the top 20, 8 of the top 30, and 10 of the top 40 (I won't count Scott Morrow and Zachary Bolduc) played in the USHL. Right in line with, if not ahead of, CHL leagues.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Let’s take a closer look.
How are we measuring strength of league? If we are talking about it’s development ability and the overall ability to churn out NHL picks let’s examine closer. Over the last 5 years drafts (2017 through 2021) the slovak u20 league has had 7 players that were developed in some capacity in the Slovak u20 league. They were either in the league for their DY or DY-1.

These players include: Adam Ruzicka, Marian Studenic, David Hrenak, Roman Durny, Samuel Knazko, Jakub Demek, Martin Chromiak.

Austria during that same 5 years has had 4. A few were Germans actually that player in EBJL.

What about Germany? They had 5. The advantage the Germans have is they developed Stutzle and Seider which is a great accomplishment.

What about the potential players for 2022 NHL draft, players developed in some or a lot of capacity in Slovakia U20: Nemec, Mesar, Kmec, Petrovsky, Sykora, Zlnka.

Let’s cast aside development, and look at league itself. I am not sure about Austrian and German U20 league this year and past few years. But Slovak u20 league has multiple players this year who have played a few or many games in the three CHL leagues. Ondrej Molnar (2023 draft) has just 13 pts in 13 games this year in Slovak u20 league, and at the HGC he looked like Connor Mcdavid against Germany (comprised of DNL players). If the German junior league was truly that much above Slovak u20 than the score would not have been 12-2. Just for particulars, Ondrej also stood out against Sweden and USA and burned the excellent Swedish top pair on the 4-2 goal.

Now am I saying the Slovak u20 league is great, No, it’s still coming along and improving and hopefully the U18 project will continue to bring another element of compete level to the league. But to put it, with certainty, below the Austrian and German junior leagues is simply wrong.
And one last thing: Czech U20 league is criminally underrated and is better than both the German and Swiss junior leagues.

would you say slovak u20 is better than Superelit?

 

[kudla]

would you say slovak u20 is better than Superelit?

Yeah, isn't it obvious?