Americans playing hockey in Canadian major junior leagues is at a 20-year low

Nov. 7—GRAND FORKS — The summer of 2011 wasn't great for college hockey.

Several top prospects, who came through USA Hockey's National Team Development Program, bailed on college commitments to go play in the Canadian Hockey League.

Once players go to one of the CHL's three leagues — the Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League or Quebec Major Junior Hockey League — they are ineligible for NCAA hockey.

First-round NHL draft pick J.T. Miller gave up his UND commitment and signed in the OHL. First-round pick Connor Murphy (Miami), second-round pick John Gibson (Michigan) and fourth-round pick Reid Boucher (Michigan State) followed.

In the next 12 months, two more NTDP recruits bailed on UND. Miles Koules went to the WHL and Stefan Matteau went to the QMJHL. UND wasn't alone. Miami, for example, lost first-round pick Ryan Hartman, first-round pick Tyler Biggs and second-round pick Patrick Sieloff to the CHL.

But the tide has sharply turned in the never-ending tug-of-war between CHL and NCAA programs.

This year, there were 69 Americans on opening-day CHL rosters — the lowest mark in 21 years.

It is a 55 percent drop from the 2015-16 season, when a record 154 Americans were on opening-day CHL rosters.

The drop is even greater in Minnesota and Massachusetts — two of college hockey's highest-recruited states. In 2015-16, there were 20 players from those states on opening-day CHL rosters. This year, there's one.

The impact has been noticeable at UND.

In the five years from 2011-15, UND lost eight players/recruits to the CHL. Six of them were Americans (two first-round NHL picks, two second-rounders, a third-rounder, a fourth-rounder and two undrafted players).

In the eight years since, the Fighting Hawks haven't lost a single one.

There are likely a multitude of factors leading to this.

College Hockey Inc., was created in 2009 to educate players and parents about college hockey and what athletes need to do to retain eligibility.

"At the time, the awareness and appreciation for college hockey, and specifically how good it is for hockey development for a young player, wasn't as well known or understood as it should have been," College Hockey Inc., executive director Mike Snee said. "There were many influential people in hockey 15 years ago — NHL GMs, scouts, coaches, media — that had outdated perceptions of college hockey and those outdated perceptions were influencing some of those young players to avoid college hockey.

"Today, the perception of college hockey seems to have caught up with the reality of how good college hockey is. And that corrected perception is reflected in how many highly skilled hockey players are currently playing college hockey."

The trend has started among the elite NHL prospects.

In the four-year span between 2010-13 when College Hockey Inc., was getting up and running, 16 of 24 Americans taken in the first round of the NHL Draft played in Canadian major juniors (67 percent).

In the last six years, 34 of 36 Americans taken in the first round ended up playing college hockey. The only two who didn't were Quentin Musty, who played in the OHL, and Jack Hughes, who went straight from the NTDP to the NHL.

Many of those high-end college players have, in turn, panned out to be NHL stars.

Cale Makar of UMass and Matty Beniers of Michigan have won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's rookie of the year. Adam Fox of Harvard won the Norris Trophy as the league's best defenseman. Connor Hellebuyck won the Vezina Trophy as the top goalie.

Michigan's Quinn Hughes is currently the top defenseman scorer in the league and UND's Jake Sanderson is one of the NHL's rising stars.

"I think when you encapsulate it, it's the total development package," UND coach Brad Berry said. "I just think from the strength training to playing two games on a weekend to playing against guys who are a lot older than probably major junior and practicing with guys who are older. . . it's a total development package on a day-to-day basis to get you ready to play in the NHL."

College also offers a longer development path — if needed.

Players age out of major juniors at 21, and NHL teams need to make decisions on whether to sign them when they're not fully developed.

There also can be odd situations for high-end prospects in the CHL.

Last season, Seattle Kraken No. 3 overall pick Shane Wright had outgrown junior hockey — which features players aged 16 to 21 — but was not ready for the NHL.

Due to the CHL's agreement with the NHL, he could not be a full-time American Hockey League player. So, he was stuck between dominating a league he's outgrown or being scratched in a league he's not ready for.

There are other factors that have probably helped NCAA programs.

College athletic departments launched into facilities battles a few years ago.

It started in football but has trickled down to hockey, where top programs like UND have almost all recently renovated their locker rooms and weight rooms into state-of-the-art facilities. Even emerging programs, like Sacred Heart, have opened glamorous new homes.

Boston University coach Jay Pandolfo said playing just two games a week allows players to utilize those facilities for physical development.

"You're only playing 40-something games; you have a lot of time to develop off the ice as well," Pandolfo said. "I think that's important for these guys. It's a little different. In junior hockey, you're on the bus a lot. You're not home a lot. It's tough to get those extra workouts in. In college hockey, you have that time to develop off the ice as well."

Recent NCAA rules changes probably have helped recruiting, too.

The NCAA opened the door for schools to award Alston payments — nearly $6,000 per year — as academic-based stipends. UND started offering Alston awards this season.

Athletes also can benefit financially from their name, imagine and likeness (NIL).

In the past, their financial benefit was scholarships. Those are still in place, but schools can offer a lot more on top of that.

"I just think it's a really good development model for these players," Pandolfo said. "You notice now how many college hockey players are now playing in the National Hockey League. A lot of guys are stepping right from college hockey to the National Hockey League. You see a bunch of them this year.

"These kids come in as true freshmen, most of the high-end guys, and they're playing against guys that are five, six years older on a nightly basis. That helps prepare them for the National Hockey League."

2011 — J.T. Miller (American)

2012 — Brendan Lemieux (American), Stefan Matteau (American), Miles Koules (American)

2013 — Ryan Gropp (Canadian)

2014 — Ryan Mantha (American), Adam Tambellini (Canadian, after one semester at UND)

2015 — Max Gerlach (American)

2016 — none

2017 — none

2018 — none

2019 — none

2020 — none

2021 — none

2022 — none