NCAA will eventually overtake the CHL<\/a> as the primary feeder of talent to the NHL. Hockey East Conference Commissioner Steve Metcalf believes college hockey now has the edge.<\/p>\n\u201cCurrently the NHL is made up of about one-third of players that come directly from college. That number is going to grow to two-thirds in no time at all,\u201d Metcalf said. \u201cAnd I haven\u2019t been able to find anyone that doesn\u2019t think that\u2019s the track we\u2019re on.\u201d<\/p>\n
The numbers were already shifting before the NCAA rule change announced last fall. <\/p>\n
Two of the past five No. 1 draft picks, San Jose\u2019s Macklin Celebrini and Buffalo\u2019s Owen Power, are Canadians who chose the USHL before being drafted out of college. Before that, Rick DiPietro in 2000 and Joe Murphy in 1986, were the only two other college hockey players to go No. 1.<\/p>\n
Ontario Hockey League Commissioner Bryan Crawford questioned how many 18-year-olds can hold up in the college ranks against players 20 and older.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s generational talents. Gavin McKenna is going to be successful no matter where he goes,\u201d Crawford said. <\/p>\n
\u201cNow the next question is really that next grouping of guys, and how does that work out for them?\u201d he added. \u201cI think you need to see some test cases, so to speak, over the coming seasons to see if (college) is the best way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crawford also disputed Metcalf\u2019s two-thirds projection, suggesting it might be a matter of semantics with the CHL and NCAA ultimately sharing the credit. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think that there\u2019s actually a harmonious relationship that will inevitably develop between all the stakeholders,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Best of both worlds<\/p>\n
Ideally, prospects have the opportunity to enjoy the best of both worlds. They can spend their first two or three years competing against their peers in the CHL or USHL, before determining whether to further their development in college.<\/p>\n
The NHL benefits, too. New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald said his scouts now have more time to evaluate prospects before deciding on whether to sign them.<\/p>\n
Fitzgerald used forward Cole Brown as an example. Selected in the sixth round of the 2023 draft, the 20-year-old has committed to play at Notre Dame after spending the past four years in the OHL.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can tell you, we wouldn\u2019t have signed him. He\u2019d be a statistic,\u201d Fitzgerald said. \u201cSo now, he may have a chance in two years.\u201d<\/p>\n
The same might one day apply to Marcus Kearsey. The 19-year-old undrafted defenseman chose to spend a fourth season with QMJHL Charlottetown, while committing to play at Northeastern next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a captain, I didn\u2019t really feel like I wanted to leave (Charlottetown) after a disappointing year,\u201d Kearsey said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve built so many relationships and I\u2019m pretty comfortable there. But you\u2019ve got to move on eventually,\u201d he added. \u201cSo to have (Northeastern) to go to and know where I\u2019m going to end up next year, it\u2019s really reassuring.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno contributed.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP NHL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nhl<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cale Makar has difficulty recognizing the college hockey landscape in the wake of a seismic shift that has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":189948,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[110968,110966,69843,2662,110967,110964,6755,110969,110971,2001,13018,1614,2005,385,13145,95162,5631,3234,110970,99,110965,27816],"class_list":["post-189947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-air-force-falcons","tag-bryan-crawford","tag-cale-makar","tag-college-sports","tag-frank-serratore","tag-gavin-mckenna","tag-hockey","tag-joe-murphy","tag-marcus-kearsey","tag-massachusetts","tag-massachusetts-minutemen","tag-national-hockey-league","tag-new-york","tag-nhl","tag-nhl-hockey","tag-owen-power","tag-pa-state-wire","tag-pennsylvania","tag-ross-mahoney","tag-sports","tag-steve-metcalf","tag-tom-fitzgerald"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}