Yahoo Sports How Can Jr. A Hockey Leagues Benefit From The New NCAA Rule? Get Younger
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Not gonna lie: There's a lot of change coming to the hockey development world as a result of the NCAA's new eligibility rules, and we haven't even begun to wrap our heads around the overall ramifications.
But stakeholders in the industry do have some interesting theories, one of which I'll delve into today: Canadian Jr. A leagues in Ontario should think about their relationship with the OHL. Specifically, the OJHL and CCHL may want to get a lot more symbiotic with the 'O.'
Related: NCAA Votes To Allow Major Junior Hockey Players. Now What?
We've seen solid relationships between teams before. The OHL's London Knights have become masters of developing NHL draft picks by making sure young players get a lot of ice time the year after they're drafted into the OHL. They typically do this by sending those rookies to Jr. B teams, such as the London Nationals, Komoka Kings and St. Thomas Stars, all of which are conveniently located so close to the Knights that staff can keep an eye on their players' progress.
The list of Knights who cut their teeth with those Jr. B teams lately is a who's who of NHL draft picks: Easton Cowan, Logan Mailloux, Oliver Bonk and 2024 Edmonton Oilers first-rounder Sam O'Reilly among them. Once they became full-time OHLers, all of them were prepared to take on the roles prescribed to them. It's become such a good pipeline that I half-jokingly looked at those Jr. B rosters last year to see which Knights I should keep an eye on this year for the NHL draft (the answer was P.J. Fagan, Blake Arrowsmith and Alexei Medvedev).
So how can the OJHL (loosely based around Toronto) and CCHL (loosely based around Ottawa) take advantage of the new world order? Get younger.
Right now, you can only have two 16-year-olds on a Jr. A team. One proposal I heard from an agent was to get that increased to, say, five or six. The logic is as follows: The OJHL and CCHL are likely going to lose some players to the OHL now because those kids no longer need to preserve their NCAA eligibility by going Jr. A.
But younger players need minutes, and if more 17-year-olds are playing their draft years in the OHL, why not make a talent swap by acting as an incubator for 16-year-olds? If you're the Ottawa Jr. Senators, you could get some pretty high-end kids who were just drafted by the Ottawa 67's. The Oakville Blades could do the same for the Brampton Steelheads.
Is it a bit of an ego blow to essentially become the farm team for another league? Perhaps. But what's the alternative now? OHL teams typically have a lot more resources for players, not to mention bigger crowds. I recognize that Jr. A teams still want to win championships, but you can also do that with a mix of veterans and rookies.
It's going to be interesting to see how (or if) Jr. A leagues adapt. But change is coming, and everyone must be prepared for the fallout.
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