LAST HOUR! 19-year-old CHL players get to play in the AHL

Dose
Crédit: Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Times are tough for the CHL due to new regulations allowing players to exile themselves to American universities.

A few days ago, we learned that Gavin McKenna was leaving the WHL to go to Penn State. It’s all very well, but money continues to dominate.

No Canadian team can match an offer of $700,000…

But, as Q president Mario Cecchini said, “Canada would have lost him next year anyway.

Sad, but true. In June 2026, he’ll be drafted, and barring a major surprise, he’ll start right in the NHL.

Today, Frank Seravalli revealed a very interesting piece of information, but one that won’t help Canadian teams retain talent. The journalist said that, under the new collective agreement, NHL teams will be able to bring one 19-year-old player from the Canadian leagues to the NHL per season.

This change will begin as early as the 2026-2027 season and will be very beneficial for NHL teams and 19-year-old players who have capped out.

I’ll give you an example: instead of playing his fifth junior year at 19, Joshua Roy could have played with the Rocket, where he would have developed much more. A guy like Shane Wright wouldn’t have needed the special clauses to play in the AHL at 19 like he did.

If this change went into effect as early as 2025-2026, it wouldn’t have made any difference to the Habs, who don’t have any top prospects who have capped out in the CHL.

But players like Beckett Sennecke (Ducks), Cayden Lindstrom (Blue Jackets), Tij Iginla (Mammoth) and Berkley Catton (Kraken) could benefit greatly from this new rule. Simon Boisvert will be happy with the change, in any case.

A victory for the NHL, (another) defeat for the CHL, which will continue to lose its stars a year early…

Overtime

– Great read on Noah Dobson.

– It’s got the merit of being clear.

– To be continued.

– I don’t believe in Anthony Volpe.