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No, opening the NCAA to CHL kids won’t “improve the Canadiens junior”.

 Auteur: Andrew Taylor
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No, opening the NCAA to CHL kids won’t “improve the Canadiens junior”.
Credit: Capture d'écran / Screenshot
For the past few weeks, there have been big discussions behind the scenes surrounding the CHL and the NCAA. The subject of these discussions: the American college circuit is considering relaxing its rules to allow players who have played in the CHL to join the NCAA.

Remember, at the moment, it’s forbidden to do this.

Last night, Pat Brisson was on JiC, and ina long (and very interesting) interview, he talked about this very situation, insisting that, in his eyes, it would be “a good thing” for Canadian junior hockey.

Basically, his point is this: he believes it would attract more of the world’s best players to the CHL until age 18, since the door to the NCAA after that would not be closed.

As for the 19- and 20-year-olds, Brisson explains that, in any case, the best players leave junior before they’re 20, and go on to play in the NHL. And that’s where I get a little bit of a kick out of it.

Basically, I don’t disagree with his first point. Let’s take the example of a guy like Macklin Celebrini, who opted for the NCAA rather than the CHL (even though he’s Canadiens): a new deal might have meant that he would have played in the CHL rather than the USHL.

And maybe guys from the U.S. and Europe might opt for the CHL with such a possibility. The calibre of 18-and-under players would undoubtedly be raised under the new rules.

That said, the 19- and 20-year-olds are big chunks of Canadian junior. In recent years, we’ve seen this in Montreal with Joshua Roy, who was able to perfect his development in Sherbrooke… and attract fans to the city.

It’s a safe bet that in a world where the NCAA avenue had been open to him, he would have opted for it… and it would have hurt the Phoenix.

And even if Roy’s case is a hypothetical one, don’t think there won’t be such cases under the new rules: the rules haven’t even been passed yet, and American universities already have their noses in the Canadian junior circuit, including the QMJHL.

In concrete terms, this would be a complete overhaul of the Canadiens’ junior identity. It’s true that the calibre would be better for guys aged 18 and under… but losing the best 19- and 20-year-old players would be a major blow for the teams, who rely on these players in particular to attract people to the stands.

Maybe it would be a good thing for the development of these youngsters, but to say that it would “improve the Canadiens junior” is a bit of a stretch. That said, with the rules seemingly on the verge of being accepted, we’ll probably see the consequences unfold before our very eyes over the coming months and years.


Overtime

– Hehe.

– That’s right.

– 800th NHL game for David Savard tonight.

– Nice read.

– Long absence expected for Erik Gudbranson.

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