WHL Commissioner Defends League After High-Profile Departures
by Mike McMahon, Adam Wodon/CHN Staff
Related ArticlesMichiganMichigan StateNorth DakotaPenn State
Now that CHL teams are being eliminated and seasons are ending, a slew of high-end CHL players have announced NCAA commitments over the last week.
The opening of Major Junior players to be NCAA eligible, has changed recruiting already, in many ways. One of those ways, is that underage players who may want to come to the NCAA, will wait until after their season ends to make a decision, so as to not upset the applecart. That’s a late commitment, relatively speaking, in the college hockey world.
While, rumors of Gavin McKenna’s interest in NCAA hockey continue to fly, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft has not yet said anything. But others have.
Michigan added 18-year-old goaltender Jack Ivankovic, who is projected to go in the late first or second round of the NHL Draft in a few weeks. Ivankovic had a .903/3.05 season for the Brampton Steelheads (OHL) and was lights out (.967/0.75) for Canada’s U18 team at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
North Dakota landed two top recruits from the Victoria Royals (WHL), Cole Reschny and Keaton Verhoeff.
Reschny is a forward projected to go in the middle of the first round in the 2025 draft. He had 92 points (26 goals, 66 assists) in 62 games for the Royals this season and wore an “A” for the team. Sixteen-year-old defenseman Verhoeff (he’ll turn 17 years old in a few weeks) is one of the top prospects available for the 2026 NHL Draft (most outlets have him going No. 2 behind McKenna).
WHL commissioner Dan Near was asked about those players specifically on Saturday.
“I’d be lying if I said I’m surprised that some players are electing to move on to the NCAA,” he said. “We talk about this every single day. The rules that changed have had a cascading effect that we’re all still learning about. We know and have authorized NCAA scouts to attend our games and to be in our buildings. We know they’re watching and they’re interested in our players. We aren’t surprised by that. We are the best development environment in the world. … You’re going to have to judge this over a multi-year period.”
Penn State, fresh off a Frozen Four appearance, is close to adding Jackson Smith, according to a report from The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler. Smith is a 6-foot-3 defenseman from Tri-City in the WHL who is expected to be a top-ten NHL pick this year. Earlier, the Lions added Luke Misa, a 5th-round pick of Calgary who has aged out — but it was eye-opening because his brother, Michael, is expected to go in the top 2 of the upcoming Draft.
This is all in addition to Cayden Lindstrom, who was drafted No. 4 overall last season by Columbus. It was already reported a few months ago that he will play at Michigan State next season.
Porter Martone, a projected top-five pick in this summer’s NHL Draft, is being courted by NCAA schools and has several offers. Justin Carbonneau, a projected mid-first rounder out of the QMJHL, is reportedly in talks with Boston College about joining the Eagles.
“It’s a unique time. There is an allure to something new and something different,” Near said. “In fairness, they’re really good recruiters and they make it seem pretty awesome. They don’t talk to you about whether the scholarship is guaranteed for the time you’re there. They don’t talk to you about how many players were in the transfer portal this year. … Three-hundred players in the transfer portal means they weren’t happy where they were, and they want something different than what they signed up for. So I hope it goes very well for every player that leaves, but I think the reality is, it’s a business down there, and they have significant resources and there’s a great deal of allure to it, but let’s see how it plays out over time.”
And of course, there’s also McKenna, who is the projected top pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. He has several blue-blood programs vying for him.
How much these moves include NIL or “revenue share” money, is currently unknown. The House Settlement, which would officially bring revenue sharing payments to athletic programs, is still on the desk of the judge in that case. In the mean time, NIL (name, image and likeness) money is available at many big schools, in varying degrees.
The movement has already set off alarm in some CHL circles. It’s one thing for 19- and 20-year olds, who are soon aging out of junior hockey, to commit to NCAA schools — there have been dozens of those. It’s another thing for blue chip under-agers to make the switch.
“I’d be disappointed if it was a money thing. If you’re NHL-bound, the amount of money the average player can earn in NIL is relatively low,” Near said. “If you’re trying to make it to the NHL, your signing bonus on an entry-level contract is much more substantial than that.”
Near continued, sounding a lot like the coaches of NCAA hockey’s “mid-major” programs, who have been gutted by the transfer portal in recent years, with the added pitch of singing the praises of the CHL system.
“Would you come back (to Major Junior) at 19 and have a chance to wear a letter on your jersey, play on top six if you’re a forward, have a chance to play play power play and penalty kill? Are you gonna have those opportunities? Who are the other players coming into the school?
“The big differences obviously are the schedule. They play 30-plus games, we play 68 regular-season games. Some think that’s a positive, some don’t. We think it best equips you to be an NHL player. And we’re able to do so in combination with an educational ecosystem that guys can move on and if they’re not playing pro, not playing at the next level, they can continue on to the NCAA, they can go USports, or join trade school. And we support all those options.
“I’ll be shocked if some guys didn’t come back at Christmas because they didn’t think it was what they expected. And we’ll find other guys have great success with it. The adjustment period will start to tell in the next six months, but will probably take a couple of years to balance.”