NCAA weighs eligibility change that would allow CHL players to compete on U.S. college teams

The NCAA Division I Council is considering making a landmark change in eligibility rules this week that would allow Canadian Hockey League players to compete at U.S. colleges, the American Hockey Coaches Association executive director said Monday.

Forrest Karr, who is also the Minnesota-Duluth athletic director, oversaw a committee that submitted recommendations on changing the eligibility rules for CHL players at the NCAA’s request. The council is meeting this week, with the matter on the agenda, and a decision is not expected until Wednesday at the earliest.

“If a decision is made to update legislation, there are also likely to be discussions about the most appropriate implementation date,” Karr wrote in a text to The Associated Press. Karr said the council will at the same time consider changing eligibility rules for skiing, which also bars athletes who competed on a professional team or were reimbursed beyond necessary expenses.

The development comes on the heels of a class-action lawsuit filed Aug. 13 in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, New York, challenging the NCAA’s ban of players from the CHL’s Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.

“We’re hopeful that the NCAA will do the right thing at the upcoming meetings and vote to end the ban on CHL players from NCAA Division I hockey,” Stephen Lagos, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit, wrote in an email to the AP. “We believe that all players, and hockey more generally, would benefit from this change.”

A change in NCAA legislation could be far-reaching with the potential of increasing competition for college-age talent between the CHL and the NCAA, North America’s two top producers of NHL draft-eligible players.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Riley Masterson of Fort Erie, Ontario, who lost his college eligibility two years ago when, at 16, he appeared in two exhibition games for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires. It lists 10 Division I hockey programs, which were selected to show they follow the NCAA’s bylaws in barring current or former CHL players.

Online court records show the NCAA has not made any response to the lawsuit since it was filed.

In a separate development last month, Braxton Whitehead said he verbally committed to Arizona State, making him the first CHL player to attempt to play hockey at the Division I U.S. college level. The 20-year-old Whitehead said he plans to play this season for the WHL Regina Pats before playing for the Sun Devils in 2025-26.

The CHL’s three leagues are categorized as professional under NCAA bylaws, barring their players from competition.

CHL players receive a stipend of no more than US$600 per month for living expenses, which is not considered as income for tax purposes. College players receive scholarships and now can earn money through endorsements and other use of their name, image and likeness (NIL).