The SJHL has lost five top players to the BCHL since the new NCAA eligibility rule was announced in November 2024 (File Photo/BattlefordsNOW Staff).

By Austin Mattes

Positive and Negative

How the new NCAA eligibility rule is affecting the SJHL

Feb 11, 2025 | 11:11 AM

It’s been about three months since the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) announced that players in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) were now eligible to play Division I hockey.

Since then, the new rule has shaken up the hockey world and the affects of it, whether good or bad, have been very noticeable and impactful on junior hockey leagues across Canada, especially the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL).

On one hand, the new rule has lots of benefits, giving players the ability to move up and down in the CHL and Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) to try and get better exposure and advance their career without the risk of potentially losing the chance to play at a Division I level. SJHL Commissioner, Kyle McIntyre said that this new rule puts the players first.

“This is good for players because now you’re not going to force players to make decisions when they’re young and not informed and they’re not pressured to make certain choices that are going to impact their future, it puts the players first,” said McIntyre.

Kian Bell, who played for Battlefords North Stars from 2022 to 2024 is a perfect example of how this rule would’ve been beneficial if it was implemented while he was playing. Bell played a total of 72 games in the CHL before finishing his junior career with North Stars and during his time in Battlefords, put up 196 points in 92 games and was named the SJHL MVP in back-to-back seasons. Despite clearly being skilled enough for a NCAA DI scholarship or commitment, he wasn’t eligible due to the NCAA rules at the time.

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On the other hand, this new rule has created a wild west in junior hockey with players leaving their teams in the middle of the season with hopes of getting a better opportunity somewhere else, and for a handful of players it works out, but for some Saskatchewan kids, it doesn’t always turn out that way said McIntyre.

“I caution families, kids and agents about jumping and thinking the grass is greener because sometimes the grass is not greener and if you look at some of the recent track records of some of the Saskatchewan kids who have gone, it really hasn’t turned out for them very well,” he said.

One league that has been most victim to players leaving is the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL), who withdrew from the CJHL in 2021 and Hockey Canada in 2023. They have seen 40+ players leave to go and play in the CHL, but with that many players leaving, those roster spots need to be filled and since the BCHL is an independent league, they can acquire any players they want from teams across the CJHL, like the SJHL, without anything in return.

For the SJHL, they have seen five top players as of now get picked up by the BCHL following the rule changes and that number keeps on climbing. Carter Anderson (Flin Flon Bombers), Caden Drury (Melville Millionaires), Conor Ryan (Nipawin Hawks), Keenan Ingram and Dustin Renas (Yorkton Terriers) all left recently and were top players in the SJHL at the time of their departure. McIntyre said that these moves are sometimes caused by the pressure on player advisors.

“The agencies feel pressured or compelled when scholarships aren’t offered, they need to do something for the kids, so sometimes and not always, but sometimes there is a knee jerk reaction thinking they have to move to another league because our league is not a high enough profile,” he said.

Now, players going to the BCHL from the SJHL is nothing new, however, the difference now is that players aren’t leaving during the off season like they were before. For Anderson and Drury, they left their teams in the middle of the season and in the case of Ingram, Renas and Ryan, they all left their teams with less than 15 games remaining in the season.

Even though the moves are in the best interest of the player, this puts coaches and organizations in a tough position in terms of lineups, number of players and decision making when it come to acquiring players. Coming up for the 2025/26 season, McIntyre said that he is in talks with other CJHL Commissioners to try and develop a solution to stop players from being picked up from other independent leagues.

“We’re in conversation, the three Commissioners of the AJHL, the MJHL and SJHL, about that (players leaving) and we’re talking about strategies. We’re exploring a number of things, including a player agreement or a player contract. But of course, what people must recognize, is that a contract is a two-way street, there’s binding obligations on the player, but there’s also binding obligations on the team and organization as well,” said McIntyre.

At the end of the day, the fulls affects of the new rule wont be known until years down the line and even though the SJHL has always been about developing players and trying to get them to the next level, the interests of the teams and organizations in the league must be protected by getting a solution in place that also doesn’t affect the opportunity of the players.

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Austin.mattes@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @AustinMattes