NCAA grants eligibility to CHL players starting next season

LETHBRIDGE — CHL players will soon have more flexibility.

The NCAA has deemed CHL players eligible beginning in the 2025-26 season.

CHL players were previously not able to play in the NCAA because players were deemed to be professionals because of the monthly stipends they receive.

"It's going to completely change the landscape of hockey and especially pathways that players take there for college hockey teams," said Brad Schlossman, a college hockey reporter for the Grand Forks Herald.

"There are over a thousand players that previously were ineligible for college that are going to be able to come to college now."

The move is believed to provide a benefit for CHL teams to attract players.

The relaxed regulations could help attract more American and international players and convince more Canadians to play in the member leagues including the WHL.

"I think that there's been a cohort of players that have said, 'My dream is to do X,' or 'My dream is to do Y,' and now, I think you should see a confluence of players at the junior age level. And then the opportunities are broader than they've ever been before," said WHL commissioner Dan Near.

The new regulations have many asking how this affects the BCHL and other Junior A leagues in Canada.

Previously, these leagues were the highest level in Canada where players could move on to the NCAA.

But the BCHL believes the change will only increase their development opportunities.

"Certainly, now we have the ability to be nimble, be flexible, learn on the fly, adjust what we're doing to best cater to the NCAA," said Steven Cocker, commissioner of the BCHL.

"At the end of the day, that's what our goal is. That's what our goal has been for 63 years."

The change will allow players unprecedented choice in where they choose to play.

"I think on the surface, it makes a lot of sense. I think when you look at the players who are in the CHL, they're not materially different than those in the USHL, and I'm not sure it made a lot of sense to keep them ineligible anymore," Schlossman said

The change will come into effect on Aug. 1, 2025.