There was a lot of uncertainty in the lead-up to Aug. 1, which is when Division 1 programs can offer rising juniors in high school.
For months, I heard from players, families and advisors about how this Aug. 1 would be different. The CHL ruling was in full effect, which allows CHL players to be eligible for NCAA Division 1 hockey, so there were fewer spots.
Families saw how active Division 1 programs were in recruiting older players in the CHL to join their teams in 2025-26, too. Those were more roster spots going away.
Would schools put out fewer offers to rising juniors in high school? On the flip side, would players want to wait to commit somewhere?
“I think teams are going to slow down in terms of offers,” Providence College associate head coach Ron Rolston told me in July. “Before, you might offer five or six kids and get four of them. I think that should slow down.”
The dust hasn’t fully settled, but it did slow down for many teams. On Aug. 1, 2024, 21 players committed to local schools. This year, that dropped to 13.
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Seven players committed in the two days following Aug. 1, 2024; only three did this year.
There were big commitments through the rest of August. On Aug. 5, Jake Boguniecki (Orange, Conn.) selected Boston College. Three days later, Carter Meyer (Winchester, Mass.) committed to Boston University. The following Friday, Finn Sears (Medford, Mass.) picked BC. Then came Sam Pandolfo (Winchester, Mass.), committing to BU on Aug. 18, while Rocco Pelosi posted his Instagram graphic on Aug. 24 for BC. All are playing for the U.S. National Team Development Program this year.
However, that was about all those schools did.
Boguniecki, Sears and Pelosi were BC’s recruits for this August. The Eagles picked up four recruits just on Aug. 1 of last year, while getting two more through the rest of the month. Outside of Meyer and Pandolfo, BU also picked up James Scantlebury and Freddy Meyer (Winchester, Mass.) through August.
Harvard is notoriously active in August. As a Beanpot school, the Crimson get high-end players. After committing Myles Brosnan (Winchester, Mass.) on July 2, the Crimson had two August commitments, which were down from seven last year. Maine had six August commitments last year, but only one this August.
Providence College was marginally down from six last year to four this year. The Friars were still active.
Nationally, Penn State went from six to one, Michigan State from five to three and Michigan from three to two.
Some of that can be chalked up to the recruiting class. One assistant coach mentioned to me recently that this class wasn’t as strong as others. Sure, there’s likely some of that. Some schools also increased the number of commits from last August to this one. Two prominent ones were North Dakota (two to three) and Minnesota (zero to six).
But it also highlights a changing landscape and a shift in recruiting.
Since the NCAA instituted the rule in May 2019 that schools can’t communicate with recruits until Jan. 1 of their sophomore year and can’t offer until Aug. 1, that Aug. 1 date was busy. Every year, more and more players were making Instagram posts announcing commitments.
These committed players, however, eventually had to make it to their destination. Some decommitted in the following years, while others had offers rescinded by schools.
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One big reason for decommitments was the transfer portal. Because of COVID-19, the NCAA allowed players the ability to transfer without having to sit out a full season beginning in 2021. Schools realized that bringing in an established college hockey player would give them a boost over a potentially underdeveloped freshman. That freshman could go back to junior hockey for another year or pick a new school — sometimes it wasn’t their decision.
Then came the CHL ruling in November 2024. In less than a year, various schools have been active in bringing in CHL players for the coming season. There are the high-profile ones like Gavin McKenna at Penn State, Roger McQueen at Providence College and Porter Martone at Michigan State.
But there have been some less-noteworthy commits from the CHL. Maine picked up 11, while UMass Lowell snagged eight. Many of Providence College’s impact freshmen this season will be players they got straight from the CHL.
So, what does this mean?
It means that in the first Aug. 1 post-CHL ruling, some teams showed more of a desire to commit just the best-of-the-best prospects, rather than some middle-tier Division 1 prospects.
As for that next tier of players, it’s becoming clear that their development at ages 16, 17 and 18 will be what determines their college hockey path.
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Many borderline Division 1 players became Division 3 prospects when the CHL ruling passed. For others, Division 1 schools want to see them have success in junior hockey before submitting an offer.
It will make things more stressful for players coming up. But it’s impossible to prepare for what will come next. It’s an ever-changing landscape.
