NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly held their annual Stanley Cup Final media availability on Wednesday ahead of Game 1 between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers.
One of the less contentious issues broached by the pair during their nearly half-hour press conference was sparked by a question from The Hockey News’ Ryan Kennedy about the current NHL-CHL player transfer agreement. With the ever-changing junior hockey landscape, Daly provided an update indicating that the league is considering revisions to the terms of the agreement.
“Obviously, what we have is an agreement with the CHL currently that if an 18- or 19-year-old drafted player, who is signed, isn’t good enough to play in the NHL, they have to return to the junior leagues,” Daly said. “That’s something that’s an issue that’s been debated by our general managers time immemorial, forever, and there’s a lot of differing opinions about it.
“We have talked about it with the [NHLPA] across the table. I have given the CHL a heads-up that we’re talking about it. I expect we’ll have continued dialogue, if and when appropriate.”
The complete wording of the agreement stipulates that prospects drafted from either the OHL, WHL, or QMJHL cannot be reassigned to the AHL or ECHL until they have either turned 20 years old or completed four seasons in the CHL. While it was put in effect to protect the interests of the CHL, the agreement has often prevented more elite players from moving to the pros, despite having already maximized their development in junior hockey.
From a purely Washington Capitals perspective, two of the team’s top prospects over the past few years have directly had to deal with that situation. Firstly, Hendrix Lapierre, the club’s 2020 first-round pick, was required to head back to the QMJHL for the majority of the 2021-22 season after already playing six games at the NHL level for the Caps.
Andrew Cristall, a Capitals second-round pick in 2023, was forced back to the WHL this past year despite being one of the final cuts from Washington’s training camp and already having a 40-goal, 111-point season with the Kelowna Rockets under his belt. Cristall utterly dominated the WHL, recording 173 points (69g, 104a) over 76 combined regular season and playoff games.
Junior hockey is presently undergoing significant changes following the NCAA’s expansion of collegiate eligibility to CHL athletes. The ripple effects of that decision will likely prompt the CHL to utilize younger players more often, a shift that would only grow if top prospects can now move to the pros as teenagers.
As things currently stand, the Capitals have two drafted CHL prospects signed to entry-level contracts that would be eligible to move to the pros early if the agreement is indeed revised ahead of next season. 2024 first-round pick Terik Parascak and 2024 third-round pick Eriks Mateiko are both 19 years old heading into their 2025-26 campaigns for the WHL’s Prince George Cougars and QMJHL’s Rimouski Oceanic, respectively.
Parascak already made his AHL debut for the Hershey Bears at the end of this past season and served as a playoff black ace. Mateiko was never assigned to Hershey, as Rimouski was in the Memorial Cup, but the six-foot-six, 210-pound winger will turn 20 early next year on November 18.
