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Message: [QUOTE="jncuse, post: 5232663, member: 1969"] I don't think that's accurate- McGill for example had at least 5 players that had PPG season (or in the range) in their last season in CHL ... and that's before they even went to University. You think they could not play in the middle of most NCAA rosters? They won't be the kids that get drafted, or on the top line, but they are probably quite capable of depth roles, especially when they are more mature age and physically compared to typical freshman - they come in as 20 year olds, not 18 year olds. For a depth player that matters. [I]Remember that for the 2025/26 and 26/27 season you are getting many of these kids as mature and stronger 20 year old freshman instead of 18 year olds. That's a big advantage at least for the crop that will infiltrate the NCAA in the next few years. [/I] You can certainly argue that the elite prospects in the world are not in the CIS (which is a 100% true)... the elite prospects either go the CHL route or the NCAA route and make their way into pro hockey. But the majority of the NCAA is not NHL prospects even for the best teams. [B]Let's look at the example of BCHL,[/B] by a clear margin the largest Canadian feeder league into the NCAA. The best tier 2 league in Canada. [B]In their 23 team league, they currently have 245 players currently committed to the NCAA.[/B] Almost half the players in the league. [URL unfurl="true"]https://bchl.ca/college-commitments-2024-25[/URL] [B]Yet when the players in the BCHL that were not taking the academic direction get called up to the WHL they almost always have a real decline in performance. That's because the WHL is better than the BCHL. [/B]So BCHL as per the link above is sending nearly half the league to the NCAA at some point -- but is still weaker than the WHL. I think its hard to then argue that a player that went the WHL route, had some decent success in the WHL, and can qualify for the CIS, would not be capable of competing at the NCAA. Of course they are not going to be an NHL draft pick -- but they are also often going to be a year or two older. [/QUOTE]

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