Jake Gustafson has a pretty typical hockey origin story.
His father grew up in Canada and was a hockey player. After retiring, Jon Gustafson settled in San Jose and built a post-playing career in the sport, rising to Vice President of the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda and one of the largest hockey-focused facilities in the country — Sharks Ice.
The younger Gustafson developed as a youth hockey player in San Jose and committed to play at his dad’s alma mater, Colorado College. Then, last month, something happened that, until now, would have signaled the end of his future as a college hockey player.
On May 13, Gustafson signed with the Portland WinterHawks of the Western Hockey League. And he did so with the blessing of Colorado College’s hockey staff. Gustafson will join the WinterHawks for this coming season and the next, but he’s still committed to arrive in Colorado Springs in the fall of 2027.
College athletics has seen massive changes across all sports in recent years — a temporary extra year of eligibility for athletes affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the introduction of the transfer portal, and Name, Image and Likeness financial commitments. Revenue sharing is coming in just a few weeks.
But the college hockey landscape felt another seismic event in November. The NCAA Division I council voted to make Canadian Hockey League players eligible, effective Aug. 1.
“We have more really good hockey players available to us,” Colorado College coach Kris Mayotte said. “With an influx of talent — I mean, college hockey is going to be more talented than it’s ever been, and it’s not even going to be close, I don’t think — how much does it change roster composition in terms of winning championships and being the best team in your league?
“I think that’s what’s still so unknown.”
For decades, players have had to choose between the CHL, which comprises the top three junior leagues (WHL, OHL, QMJHL) in Canada, and NCAA hockey. That decision often had to be made when the player was 14 or 15 years old, even with college 3-4 years away.
Suiting up for a CHL team made a player ineligible for NCAA hockey. That changed with this ruling.
Gustafson is part of the first crop of players who can choose both. When Avalanche star Cale Makar decided to forego playing in the WHL in favor of college hockey at UMass, he spent two seasons with the Brooks Bandits in the AJHL, which is the second tier of Canadian junior hockey.
This ruling will change development paths all over North America. There will be plenty of uncertainty in the short term, which mirrors how the transfer portal and NIL have changed college sports.
But there can be positive long-term benefits as well.
“I think it provides more opportunities for youth players,” said Jordan Pietrus, Hockey Director for the Colorado Thunderbirds youth program. “Now, they don’t have to make a decision at 14 years old in Colorado to say, ‘Yes, I want to go to the Western league or not.’ Now they can say yes to everything and see what opportunities are available. From that perspective, I think it’s really, really positive.”
A modern gold rush
Players like Gustafson or kids currently in the Thunderbirds program will have more time to see how the new landscape develops, but the November ruling drastically altered how 2025-26 NCAA teams will be constructed.
While college teams have typically earned commitments from youth players years in advance, there was suddenly a flood of new players available and far less time to recruit them.
“It’s playing out in real time, and it’s been a little clunky here and there, but for the most part, I think it’s been pretty smooth,” DU coach David Carle said. “There’s never been more ways or avenues to build your roster. That started with the portal and then obviously the CHL player eligibility. So there’s a lot more players within the marketplace.”
Carle said last month that he expects to have between eight and 10 freshmen on his roster next season. His staff didn’t waste any time dipping into the new player pool.
The captains for Everett (Eric Jamieson) and Swift Current (Clark Caswell) from this past season both committed to join the Pioneers in August — a statement that would’ve read like a foreign language to college hockey fans before eight months ago.
Kyle Chyzowski, who scored 41 goals and 105 points in 66 regular-season games for Portland, is committed to joining them. The two goalies who will compete to replace program legend Matt Davis? Both have CHL experience.
Down I-25, Mayotte and the Tigers are excited for their incoming group of newcomers as well. The leading scorer for Prince Albert this past season, Tomas Mrsic, is one of multiple NHL draft picks in CC’s incoming class.
How this influx of older, more accomplished freshmen will affect college hockey remains a mystery. This ruling could open the door for a few more first-round picks who chose the CHL to spend a season or two in college, but it goes deeper than that.
“I know we’re getting really good hockey players, and probably as good as we’ve ever gotten type of hockey players, but so is everybody else,” Mayotte said. “What’s that going to look like in terms of, how do you become one of the best teams in college hockey?
“I think the ceiling is going up, but I think the floor is getting closer to the ceiling. I think the floor is rising at a faster rate. If you add 5-10 more of those (high draft picks across college hockey), how much of a difference is that versus the fact that you’re going to add 150 more 19-20-year-olds that are really good hockey players?”
A trickle-down effect
Just like the extra “Covid” year and the transfer portal, the effects of CHL eligibility go beyond just a stream of new talent available to the 64 Division I programs.
Some players who were committed to those programs for next season have had find a new place to play. The USHL has been the top source of NCAA players from the junior ranks, while those tier two leagues in Canada like the AJHL and BCHL have also been strong pipelines.
Now, those leagues will have to compete with the CHL teams for youth players who can still go to college.
“I think you’ll see guys bounce around all over and find the place that they think is best for their development,” Mayotte said. “I think that’s one of the best things that options create, is it allows the player to do what’s best and not just have one option that they feel like they have to take or else their career is in jeopardy.
“I think you’ll see teams in all leagues that know how to develop players, how to resource development — those programs will thrive no matter what league they’re in.”
Just as NCAA teams are scrambling to adjust, changes will come for the other levels as well. CHL draft pools will change because a Canadian-born phenom like Macklin Celebrini won’t have to tell WHL teams he’s going to college when he’s 15 years old.
Not only could recruiting and scouting at all levels of amateur hockey get tweaked, but player retention is going to be very different now that players can leave the USHL or AJHL for CHL clubs without losing college eligibility. One of Carle’s incoming recruits, goalie Johnny Hicks, began last season with Makar’s old club in Brooks and finished the year with Victoria in the WHL.
How it will affect youth programs like the Thunderbirds also remains to be seen.
“I think it’s going to take a little bit of time to matriculate down to the youth market,” Pietrus said. “I think there’s still a lot of unknowns that are going to sort itself out at the junior level, which will then give more clarity at the youth level.
“Junior clubs are likely going to be looking for top youth organizations to recruit from, so that they know what they can expect. And that’s going to force youth hockey organizations to be better.”
An eye toward the future
When DU announced a new contract extension for Carle in May, one of the reasons he gave for eschewing NHL opportunities was his desire to help create further change in college hockey. While all of the alterations to college sports have led some (mostly older) high-profile coaches in other sports to leave for professional jobs or retire, Carle is leaning in.
“I kind of get excited about the changes and trying to navigate it,” he said. “I’m trying to drive more change than less change, certainly with our sport. I feel like I’m banging my head against the wall sometimes, but I think there’s a lot of room to still make the sport better.”
One of his objectives is changing the NCAA tournament structure, which has long been a thorny issue for Western schools. But another is tied to the CHL eligibility ruling.
He wants the college hockey recruiting calendar to change. Under the current rules, NCAA coaches can first speak with recruits starting Jan. 1 of their sophomore year in high school and officially extend scholarship offers Aug. 1 ahead of their junior year.
The scouting and evaluation start even before that.
“Why do we need to do that now?” Carle said. “Let’s let the kids be kids. We don’t need to be in rinks watching them in U-15 and U-16 hockey. They’ve got enough going on. Let them be with their teams, let them be coached, let them not have the noise and the pressure of colleges talking to them, and push it all back a year.
“I think it’s on the radar. We’re not changing tomorrow on it, but it’s something that could potentially change in the next year or two.”
While every college team could have more talent in the coming seasons, there is another side effect. Some players who have the ability to play NCAA hockey are going to be pushed down a level or delay their college careers.
Mayotte has a solution for that, too.
“Hopefully, it allows more schools to start hockey programs,” he said. “Because there are just going to be more good players than there are roster spots at the Division I level.”
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