Through four seasons with the Prince Albert Raiders, Max Hildebrand has dressed for more than 100 games. And despite being a 13th-round pick in the 2019 prospects draft, he has become one of the Western Hockey League’s most consistent goaltenders.
Now thanks to a seismic shift in the North American junior hockey landscape, the 20-year-old Martensville, Sask. product has become the first WHL player from Saskatchewan in recent history to commit to an NCAA Division I program.
That shift was a decision by the National Collegiate Athletics Association to drop a previously iron-clad stance barring players in the Canadian Hockey League — of which the WHL is a member — from the association’s member schools. The reason for the ban? A long-standing policy that deemed major-junior athletes “professionals” for receiving monthly stipends from their teams.
“It was a crazy couple weeks there leading up to the rule change,” Hildebrand said. “[Bemidji State University] had been in contact with me before the rule change, so just kept talking with coach Tom [Serratore] there. We talked about the rich goaltending history and I really haven’t heard anything bad about the school up to this point. I just thought it was the right move for me.”
That move seemed like an impossibility only a year ago. But pressure from lawsuits and a changing collegiate sport environment with money and sponsorships for athletes from so-called “name, image and likeness” deals — or NIL — running through the NCAA, the association voted on Nov. 7 to end its policy
That single ruling has opened the doors for major-junior athletes from across Canada and the United States to be eligible to hit the ice for NCAA Division I programs beginning next season.
For the WHL, it will now mean any players who suit up for their 22 franchises will be able to keep their eligibility south of the border.
WHL commissioner Dan Near said the new rule creates opportunities for players who, before the change, would have had to pass on a WHL opportunity in order to maintain potential opportunities with NCAA teams. “I think what this ruling does is it creates an opportunity for young players, high-performance players, to have some flexibility in their development path,” Near said.
In the weeks since the ruling at least nine WHL players have made NCAA commitments including Regina Pats forward Braxton Whitehead, who became the first CHL player to make a verbal commitment to an NCAA program back in September with Arizona State University.
While the Saskatoon Blades are still awaiting their first official commit, president and general manager Colin Priestner took to social media on the day of the change to express his support for the ruling.
Calling it player-focused, he said the change will eliminate the weighty decision young hockey players have had to make between committing to major-junior hockey and following the college route.
“We ask a lot of these guys when they’re 14-and-a-half, 15 years old to make a decision about their futures,” Priestner said. “I’ve always felt uncomfortable with that… It’s a lot to put on a kid when a lot of them haven’t even hit puberty yet and they’re making that decision.”
Teams like the Blades and Raiders will now also have a larger pool of players to draw from. Teams across the CHL have been signing new prospects and players from other leagues, such as the British Columbia Hockey League and the United States Hockey League, which have been stepping stones for players on the path to the NCAA.
There is still uncertainty around the NCAA’s ruling, however, regarding when a player will be able to make the jump to Division I programs and if they’ll be able to break any player agreements with their junior clubs.
Near isn’t too concerned about that, adding it’s the WHL’s view that players will need to complete their major-junior commitment through their 19-year-old season.
“There simply aren’t very many 18-year-olds, maybe a few more 19-year-olds that might be ready or might be inclined to play [NCAA],” Near said. “I think it all depends where you are on your development journey, but it’s our belief that we’re the best place to develop for players that age.”
The NCAA’s ruling has opened new pathways for stars such as Blades forward Brandon Lisowsky, who recently moved into ninth in franchise goal scoring and has been to multiple NHL training camps with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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He said while the professional route either in the AHL or ECHL would be his first option next season, the NCAA would be a welcomed back-up plan.
“Obviously, I still have aspirations of going pro next year,” Lisowsky said. “But if it doesn’t work out or I don’t like what I see, then I think that the school route is an awesome thing for us players.”
Hoping to finish out his season on a high note with the Raiders before beginning his NCAA career at Bemidji State, Hildebrand said he believes the rule change is a positive step for players his age to chase their hockey dreams on their own terms.
“There are a lot of good players in our league around the CHL,” Hildebrand said. “I think a lot of people are going to be taking advantage of it. It’s a bit of a weight off of the shoulders of all the 20 year olds too, just really having a game plan.”
Model changing for Junior A hockey
For most western Canadians with dreams of playing NCAA hockey, junior A leagues such as the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League has been one of the primary paths to get there.
Now with Canadian Hockey League players getting the chance to compete for those same recruiting spots, the ruling has made life a little more difficult for SJHL standouts such as Notre Dame Hounds captain Liam Hunks.
“It’s going to be tough,” Hunks said. “Obviously, there are a lot of good players in the CHL who are going to be pushing for spots in Division I where I want to be. It’s going to be tough, but I’m going to work my ass off to try to keep it going.”
As long as CHL players were barred from the NCAA level, those with aspirations of playing south of the border would often hone their skills with junior A programs before making the jump to American collegiate programs.
After sending 13 players to NCAA Division I schools last year and 21 the year before that, the SJHL is boasting six NCAA commitments so far this season.
That includes Kindersley Klippers rookie defenceman Jaxon Herchak, who has exploded with 18 points in 23 games as a 17-year-old blueliner in the SJHL.
Already committed to Division I hockey at Colorado College, he is in support of the change but still believes in his choice to pursue a commitment through the junior A route.
“I think it’s going to open up a lot of opportunities, especially regarding the CHL and for the players that will be able to move on a play in big minutes already,” Herchak said. “But I feel like they should be able to see that they’re going to be getting less minutes in the WHL.”
While the NCAA is now allowing CHL eligibility for its Division I programs, Division III remains off limits to athletes with major-junior experience.
Division III has been a primary graduating path for those in the SJHL over the years, and commissioner Kyle McIntyre confirmed it’s still an area they can tap into but said that’s a decision best left up to the player and their family.
“Our job is to develop the whole player both on and off the ice, whether it’s through hockey or through life,” McIntyre said. “What I’m going to promote as a commissioner is (that) I want families to have the right type of information so they can make an informed choice about what’s best for their child and for their athlete.
With the change, the SJHL and junior A hockey across Canada will no longer have their status as the only place north of the border for elite players to earn Division I scholarships as one of their largest recruiting chips.
Klippers head coach and general manager Clayton Jardine said the top players in his league will likely jump up to the WHL now that the threat of losing their NCAA eligibility no longer exists.
However, he added there are still benefits to the SJHL and junior A as a whole that major-junior can’t always afford.
“How do we develop hockey players?” Jardine asked, rhetorically. “Really, it’s just opportunity and ice time. If you have that, you gain confidence, you become a better hockey player and then you move on to the next level when you’re ready to move on to the next level.”
Along with graduating their players to the next level at major-junior, those within the SJHL believe a pivot could be coming when it comes to advancing players through different levels of hockey.
“We got to find a niche market… we can promote our players to,” said Brett Pilkington, head coach and general manager of the Notre Dame Hounds in Wilcox, Sask. “Whether it’s Division III, U Sports or to other junior leagues in the process.”
McIntyre added that finding answers to those kinds of questions might take several years. “If the NCAA Division I route slows down for Canadian Junior A hockey, perhaps U Sport is going to increase because they’re still going to be need a strong pool of players,” McIntyre said. “The very best in Junior A, I think they’re going to have a choice whether they want to play U Sports or whether they want to play Division I.”
Putting up five goals and 18 points on the season from the Notre Dame blueline, Hunks is still chasing one of those Division I schools, although he is now up against greater competition. But the does have options following his final season in the SJHL, such as becoming a student-athlete at the Canadian university level.
“U Sports would probably be my next spot to go,” Hunks said. “It’s good hockey there. I’d love to continue hockey through my college career.”
U Sports schools to see competition for recruits
Like teams in the WHL and SJHL, times are changing for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies and the 35 men’s hockey programs across Canada that make up U Sports.
It will be a different landscape for recruiting players moving forward, players like forward Dawson Holt, who is leading the way with 24 points in 17 games in his fourth year suiting up at Merlis Belsher Place.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen now,” said Holt, who returned to Saskatoon after parts of five seasons in the WHL with Vancouver Giants and the Regina Pats as well as a single season with BCHL’s Vernon Vipers. “It’s going to be a different time for hockey, but it will be good for the game. People will have a few more choices now.”
U Sports programs like the Huskies and University of Regina Cougars will now face increased competition for incoming student-athletes from NCAA schools, which before the ruling were off limits to major-junior talent.
For Huskies men’s hockey head coach Brandin Cote, it will be a new challenge with most of his roster made up of Canadian Hockey League graduates. But doesn’t believe the sky is falling as a result of the NCAA’s decision.
“I don’t think it changes our standpoint a whole heck of a lot,” Cote said. “We can’t really control in terms of what’s going on around us. We have to be proactive in making sure we’re promoting our program as much as we can. I have no question that we’re still going to have, and we’ve still had, a lot of interest for people to come here.”
U Sports has relied heavily on talent moving from junior hockey to the Canadian collegiate ranks, with 182 CHL alumni playing in last year’s U Sports University Cup tournament which comprised 80 per cent of the eight rosters on the ice.
While there hasn’t been an immediate exodus of players changing commitments or leaving member schools altogether, U Sports chief executive officer Pierre Arsenault said he’s in the process of determining what the fallout will mean for programs coast to coast.
“That’s the stage we’re in now is actually seeing what exactly the movement will be,” said Arsenault. “There’s a lot of different potential opportunities going a lot of different directions. For us, we want to continue to make sure that for that young athlete and their families that they understand what the student-athlete experience in Canada represents.”
Life on the recruiting trail for coaches like Cote could look different next summer with more opportunities available for major-junior graduates. And he isn’t closing the door on players leaving Canadian teams for NCAA programs, only to potentially return if things don’t go as planned at the NCAA level.
“To start, I think there’s more than likely going to be a smaller pool of Western League guys, especially 20-year-olds available,” Cote said. “How many? I don’t know.
“I think it’s a big, new, shiny toy. My thought on it is, even just from seeing other people go that route in the past, maybe the grass isn’t always greener.”
That was the case for Huskies defenceman Landon Kosior, who was a star defenceman with the Prince Albert Raiders between 2019 and 2023, eventually earning a professional contract at the ECHL level with the Iowa Heartlanders.
After 19 games with Iowa however, he left to join the Huskies, wanting to make use of his multi-year WHL scholarship.
“Although that’s going to be allowed now, I still think the U of S is a premier program,” Kosior said. “I don’t even know if it would have changed my decision. With all of the facilities and everything we got here, especially Canadian guys being close to home, I think this hockey is super underrated.”
Canada West programs such as the Huskies and Cougars already recruit players out of junior A hockey and say it’s possible those relationships could deepen to expand the pool of athletes available to jump up to the U Sports level.
That includes leaning into their messaging for pending WHL graduates who hail from Saskatchewan, according to Huskies chief athletics officer Shannon Chinn, athletes who are still eligible to accrue Canadian university scholarships.
“Saskatchewan creates really great hockey players and one of the draws to coming to the University of Saskatchewan sometimes is coming back home,” Chinn said. “So, we’re just going to have to keep doing the things we’re doing.”
Chinn added conversations with her colleagues at the Canada West level are ongoing as to the ramifications and ripple effects of the changes to the hockey development model in U Sports.
The official NCAA policy will take effect on Aug. 1, 2025 with major-junior athletes able to suit up for Division I programs in the 2025-26 season.
