NCAA Hockey Scouts Denied Passes for Crucial Recruiting League

If NCAA scouts want to keep their eyes on prospects in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) during the upcoming 2025–26 season, they’ll have to buy a game ticket like anyone else. 

The CHL will no longer extend scout passes to NCAA coaches for games in its three member leagues: the Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League, and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. The news was first reported by Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald.

The CHL confirmed the change to FOS on Tuesday, shortly after the report.

NCAA coaches, scouts, and personnel can still attend and scout games in any arena in the CHL, and are “still welcome to contact CHL general managers to discuss players on CHL rosters,” the league said. College programs may also work to coordinate game access directly with CHL clubs, which will individually manage their processes. The CHL also noted no passes were being cancelled from prior seasons, as access does not carry over year-to-year.

On Tuesday, the CHL gave the updated policy to College Hockey Inc., a nonprofit that serves as a bridge between the NCAA and junior leagues such as the CHL to promote growth of the Division I game. College Hockey provided FOS with the notification to NCAA coaches about the changes:

“The Canadian Hockey League will not be offering blanket NCAA scout passes for its games this season. NCAA coaches will have the option to purchase individual game tickets in order to attend and scout players. NCAA schools are welcome to contact CHL general managers at any time should you wish to discuss their players. Please be advised that expired 2024-25 passes are not eligible for entry.”

Mike McMahon, publisher of the College Hockey Insider newsletter, says he hadn’t heard rumblings of the change before the announcement Tuesday morning, but is not surprised. 

“It comes across as petty,” he tells FOS. “It’s not going to stop NCAA programs from recruiting CHL players. The only people (I feel like are) hurt by this are potentially the players. It’s like Bill Belichick locking out the Patriots from UNC games and practices. … It’s a minor hurdle. But it just seems unnecessary.”

The change represents the next chapter in a new tug-of-war between the CHL and the NCAA. 

In the past, CHL players were barred from skating in the NCAA, as they were considered pros, which violated amateurism policies. Following an antitrust lawsuit filed against the NCAA in August 2024, the rules were changed in November, opening the door for players from the 61 CHL teams to join college rosters. The changes coincided with the ability to monetize their name, image, and likeness under new NIL guidelines.

It was not clear at the beginning of the rule change how many players would jump from the CHL’s member leagues to the NCAA. But since the announcement, the CHL has seen hundreds of players leave for Division I programs. (The number includes players who are joining the NCAA for their 17- and 18-year-old junior hockey seasons, and also those foregoing their CHL overage seasons at 20 or graduating from the league at 21.)

Headlining the departures is Gavin McKenna, the presumed first overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, who left the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers to join Penn State for the upcoming NCAA season. The Nittany Lions made their first Frozen Four this past season, and reportedly provided the top prospect with a six-figure NIL deal. McKenna revealed his commitment to Hockey Valley live on ESPN, the first announcement of its kind from a college hockey player. 

Amid the moving pieces, the CHL has retained several notable junior players, and has seen NCAA decommits from players who initially made the jump to college and changed course to stay in the league. 

“At the end of the day, we’re going to aggressively defend our position as the top development league in the world. We know how to produce elite-level hockey players, and I don’t think that’s going to change,” CHL president Dan MacKenzie told FOS in July. The CHL has also shifted rules to allow players who choose NCAA hockey to return to the CHL “if it works out that their NCAA experience isn’t what was promised.”

Puck drop for the CHL’s first games are Sept. 18 and 19; NCAA hockey begins in early October.