CHL execs not panicking as players head to NCAA in changing junior hockey landscape

Winnipeg Free Press

2 days ago

RIMOUSKI – London Knights GM Mark Hunter says it's concerning. Canadian Hockey League president Dan Mackenzie isn't panicking.
Western Hockey League commissioner Dan Near, meanwhile, will be surprised if some players don't change their minds by Christmas.
One thing is certain: winds of change are sweeping through Canadian junior hockey with some top CHL prospects flying south to the NCAA.
Where it all lands is anyone's guess.
'It's a real new landscape here right now of what's going to happen to junior hockey,' Hunter said. 'The next two years are going to be some wild, wild west.'
The WHL, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League have long produced the most — and many of the best — NHL players.
But the talent pipeline could shift after the NCAA lifted a long-standing ban in November, allowing CHL players to compete at U.S. colleges starting next season.
A wave of CHL talent — particularly players nearing the end of their junior careers — committed to American schools in the months that followed.
In recent weeks, younger players Canadian junior teams had planned to build around have joined the trend.
The WHL's Victoria Royals took a huge hit Friday when highly touted 2025 prospect Cole Reschny and 16-year-old Keaton Verhoeff committed to the University of North Dakota.
Brampton Steelheads goalie Jack Ivankovic, 18, is reportedly following suit to the University of Michigan, joining projected first-round NHL pick Malcolm Spence, who's leaving the OHL's Erie Otters.
Gavin McKenna could be next. Rumours have linked the prize of the 2026 NHL draft to the NCAA after he led the Medicine Hat Tigers to the Memorial Cup final on Sunday.
'It is concerning,' Hunter said. 'We can't sit there and say it's not.'
While the country's top junior teams congregated for the Memorial Cup, CHL executives met in Rimouski to discuss what some fans see as the beginning of an exodus.
The league is monitoring closely, but plans to let the dust settle before making any reactive moves.
'We don't know who's going and how that's all going to work,' MacKenzie said. 'We also don't know if they're going to stay, if they're going to go into the portal, if they're going to come back, like who knows?
'A lot still has to play out, but by no means are we panicking or not confident that we can't develop great players.'
MacKenzie noted that the CHL has more NHL draft picks than any other league. He and Near also highlighted that a record 170 CHL players landed on NHL Central Scouting's pre-draft rankings.
'We are the best development environment in the world,' Near said. 'Am I surprised that NCAA schools are interested in our players? I'm not.'
So why are players leaving? The increasing departures have some puzzled.
'The reasons they're giving us are basically, it's not you, it's me,' QMJHL commissioner Mario Cecchini said in French. 'You didn't do anything wrong. The support is perfect. My coach is great. My billet family is amazing.
'Why this move gets made escapes me.'
Near believes players might view the NCAA as a shiny new toy. He also credits recruiters from U.S. schools as persuasive salesmen.
The WHL commissioner, however, suggested the grass may not be greener. More than 300 players, he said, entered the NCAA transfer portal, a sign that many aren't satisfied with their situations.
'Means they weren't happy with where they were,' he said. 'When they're recruiting, they don't talk to you about whether the scholarship is guaranteed for the time that you're there.
'I'd be shocked if some guys didn't come back at Christmas because they didn't think it was what they expected.'
The NCAA is still a proven path to the NHL. Teams have drafted 63 first-round picks from the NCAA in the last 10 years, including Macklin Celebrini, last year's No. 1 overall selection.
MONEY TALKS
One reason players could be eyeing the NCAA? Money.
In June 2021, the NCAA implemented a policy allowing players to profit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL).
Near argued that NIL money would pale in comparison to future NHL earnings. He also raised questions about how much players could make under their foreign student visas. For example, Canadian basketball player Aaliyah Edwards couldn't actively participate in endorsements in the U.S. when she played for UConn.
CHL teams, meanwhile, provide only a modest monthly stipend. Players are allowed to pursue sponsorship deals, but cannot be paid under the league's amateur student-athlete model. MacKenzie doesn't see that changing anytime soon.
CHL VS. NCAA
MacKenzie said the CHL and its schedule of 60-plus regular-season games — followed possibly by four playoff rounds and the Memorial Cup — is an ideal development path to the NHL. In contrast, NCAA teams play between 30 and 40 games in a given season.
Cecchini highlighted that the average age of players in the NCAA also skews higher.
'Don't underestimate this, it's a man's league,' he said.
There's also a bigger emphasis on school. While the QMJHL mandates players to study, the OHL and WHL have looser requirements.
'Some players may want to focus more on the hockey than on the school side,' MacKenzie said. 'Every player is different in terms of what their objectives are.'
NEW RECRUITING METHODS
The changing landscape, Hunter said, will force teams to ask more questions during their recruitment.
'Do you want to play in the CHL?' he said. 'You've got to be more specific about what their thoughts are. I totally agree with that. We have to be more thorough with what we're doing now.'
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The rule change could also swing the other way, with more Americans joining the CHL, now that players won't burn their bridge to the NCAA.
This year's OHL draft saw a rise in American selections, and Cecchini predicted the same would happen in the QMJHL. Ottawa Senators draft pick Blake Montgomery, who's headed to Wisconsin next season, also moved from the USHL to the OHL's London Knights this season.
Medicine Hat general manager Willie Desjardins sees teams increasing recruiting efforts south of the border.
'We'll look. I think there'll be more players coming up,' he said. 'We're going to do what we can to hold players from going to NCAA, we want them to stay with us, and USHL is going to do what they can to keep their players, so it won't change, but there will be a different flow of players.'
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 2, 2025.