Fraser Valley (with files from Canadian Hockey League/College Hockey Inc) – The NCAA Division I council voted Thursday November 7 to make Canadian Hockey League (major junior) players eligible for NCAA Division I hockey and those players may start to participate on NCAA Division I hockey teams effective August 1, 2025.
Players may participate in the CHL (Ontario Hockey League, Western Hockey League, and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) without jeopardizing their NCAA Division I hockey eligibility provided they were not compensated above actual and necessary expenses for their participation.
The new eligibility for CHL players does not apply to NCAA Division III; CHL players are still ineligible for NCAA Division III hockey.
FVN has reached out to the PJHL Chilliwack Jets for comment,
From Chirstopher Seguin, Canadian Hockey League: The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) along with its Member Leagues, the Western Hockey League (WHL), Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), are aware of the rule change announced earlier today by the NCAA which alters the eligibility of CHL players allowing them to play NCAA Division 1 Hockey starting next season.
While we will take time to fully review this rule change, we believe this is a positive development that will provide our players with more opportunities to continue their hockey and academic careers following their time in the CHL. It will also give young players and their families more options in choosing their development path, which includes opening up the CHL – the best development hockey league in the world for players aged 16-20 – to more players worldwide.
For 55 consecutive years, the CHL has been the number one supplier of talent to the NHL. At the beginning of the 2024-25 NHL campaign, there were 390 CHL graduates on NHL rosters, marking once again the most of any development league in the world. Additionally, at last summer’s 2024 NHL Draft, the CHL led the way as 88 CHL players were drafted including 14 in the first round.
We remain strongly committed to carrying on that tradition of success on the ice while embracing the enhanced academic options that this rule change will present off the ice.
From the BCHL Social Media :
From Taylor Rocca – Statement from WHL Commissioner on NCAA men’s hockey eligibility changes:
Western Hockey League Commissioner Dan Near today issued the following statement regarding changes to the eligibility rules for NCAA men’s hockey:
Today’s announcement that CHL players will now be eligible to compete in NCAA D1 Hockey beginning in the 2025-26 season represents a historic and consequential outcome that will be celebrated by all of those invested in the on- and off-ice development of young players.
This decision creates opportunity for the brightest elite hockey players in Western Canada and the Western U.S. to now choose the WHL as the preferred destination for their development from the age of 16-20, without fear of compromising their NCAA eligibility.
As always – the player is at the heart of what we do across the WHL through our 22 Member Clubs. Most of our graduates note their time in “The Dub” were the best years of their lives. We are thrilled that upon graduation from the WHL, players will have additional options as they pursue the next step in their personal and hockey journey. We look forward to the opportunity to welcome a new wave of talent and we take great pride in our responsibility to support all WHL players in the pursuit of their goals – be that on the ice, in the classroom, and as contributing members of the community.
Players completing their eligibility with the WHL will continue to receive access to our leading post-secondary scholarship, funded by our 22 Member Clubs. In the 2023-24 season, the education bills for over 300 WHL Alumni were paid directly by the League and Clubs totalling in excess of $3 million in funding. The WHL is proud to continue this practice.
The best in the West can now look forward to chasing their dreams alongside one another in the world’s finest development league for junior hockey players – the Western Hockey League.
