Last week, we covered reporting that indicated that the NHL was set to meet with the CHL to discuss potential changes to the league’s transfer agreement with the CHL, one that currently prevents NHL teams from, in most circumstances, loaning 19-year-old CHL players to their AHL affiliate. At the time, it appeared unclear what the exact nature of the rule change would be.
Yesterday, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman provided some clarity in that area, reporting on the Saturday Headlines segment of the Hockey Night In Canada broadcast that the NHL, AHL, and CHL are nearing an agreement that would pave the way for 19-year-old CHLers to be eligible for the AHL, under specific circumstances.
Per Friedman, previously-ineligible 19-year-old CHLers drafted in the first round will be eligible to be loaned to the AHL, as soon as next season. There is no limit on how many players an organization can loan, the key stipulation is just that the player must be drafted in the first round. The agreement still needs to be approved by the NHLPA before it can be made official.
Ryan Pike of Flames Nation laid out a list of the 2007-born first-round picks who would be impacted by this rule, players who could be eligible for an AHL assignment if the rule is implemented before the 2026-27 season. There are thirteen players in total who would be impacted by this rule for next season, although some, such as Matthew Schaefer, Michael Misa, and Ben Kindel, figure to play next season in the NHL.
Where the rule change could have the most impact is with players who are not locks to be full-time NHLers next season. Two top centers drafted last year, Brady Martin and Caleb Desnoyers, could be prime candidates to benefit from an AHL assignment.
For organizations that have a strong track record of player development at the AHL level, this pending rule change will allow them to further lean into that competitive advantage. The Nashville Predators, for example, have a lengthy history of developing NHL players who first play with the Milwaukee Admirals. They have two players (Martin and No. 21 pick Cam Reid) who would be eligible to play in Milwaukee on a full-time basis under the new rule.
There are numerous players who, in the past, could have benefited from this rule change. 2022 No. 7 pick Kevin Korchinski is an example, as a young defenseman who played in 76 NHL games the year after he was drafted. The Blackhawks were unable to assign Korchinski to the AHL, and had to choose between the NHL and CHL.
The Blackhawks reportedly believed Korchinski did not stand to benefit much (developmentally) from a return to the CHL, given that he had won the WHL title the year prior and had already developed into an elite point-producing defenseman at that level. So, they kept him in the NHL for all of 2023-24, as they were not allowed to assign him to their AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs.
Korchinski struggled to keep his head above water as a rookie, and has played in just 20 NHL games since that year. He is, undoubtedly, an example of a top prospect who likely would have benefited from being able to start off his pro career in the AHL, rather than needing to start in the NHL because his options were limited by transfer restrictions.
With the rule change set to be implemented, it seems those days will be a thing of the past for first-round prospects. It’s also worth wondering whether teams targeting a specific CHL talent near the top of the second round of upcoming drafts might attempt to trade into the final few picks of the first round, just to make that player eligible for AHL assignment under this new rule.
There is a precedent for teams maneuvering in the draft in such a way – albeit in other professional sports leagues. Such a strategy would be similar to draft maneuvering that sometimes occurs in the NFL, where teams have traded for a late first-round pick in an effort to secure a fifth-year option on a targeted prospect’s rookie contract. The Baltimore Ravens famously did this in 2018 to secure a fifth year-option on the rookie deal of future MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson.
While it’s too early to tell the full impact of this NHL/AHL/CHL rule change, it’s possible the implications of this change could stretch into the draft process itself.