Jude Herron was walking out of class and on his way to the rink when his cell phone rang.
His parents had news: the NCAA voted to allow CHL players to play Division 1 hockey. Most knew the rule was coming; it was just a matter of when.
Herron, a native of Fort Kent, Maine, was enrolled with South Kent’s 16-U team. He played on the 15O squad the year before. He was the captain.
Earlier in 2024, he was drafted in the sixth round of the USHL Phase 1 Draft by the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. He also was picked in the eighth round of the QMJHL Entry Draft by the Charlottetown Islanders.
Usually, when a New Englander was drafted into the QMJHL, it was met with a chuckle. The overwhelming majority of New Englanders yearn to play college hockey, so the QMJHL, which is a part of the CHL and has the regional rights to local players, never was in the cards.
Herron, however, was somewhat different.
He wanted to go to juniors. Cedar Rapids was full of veteran players and didn’t offer him a spot this season. That was out of the question. Charlottetown wanted him, but he was committed to Maine and wanted to be a Black Bear someday. In late summer, going to Charlottetown and later playing for Maine was impossible. So, he went back to South Kent for his 16-U season.
But when the news broke on Nov. 7, Herron knew his next move.
“We already had our decision made,” Herron said. “As soon as that rule changed, we had already talked about it. I wanted to go there.”
After hanging up with his parents, his next call was to Charlottetown general manager and head coach Jim Hulton.
“He was like, ‘Yeah, just whenever you’re ready, head up,’ ” Herron said. “I was like, ‘All right, I’ll see you tomorrow.’ ”
Herron was a man of his word. Like Lewis and Clark exploring the western United States in the early 1800s, Herron embarked on a journey to Charlottetown — the capital of Prince Edward Island — to find out what this new wave of hockey was all about.
His brother picked him up and took him halfway on the 13-hour trip from Connecticut. Herron’s parents took him the rest, helping him move in with his billet family.
Herron was on the ice for Charlottetown less than 48 hours after the rule change.
“It’s just awesome,” Herron said of the move. “More than I could’ve asked for.”
The implications of the ruling are unknown. Everything is speculation so far. Trends will become clearer in the spring as prospects choose their junior teams for next season. Even then, we won’t know half of what the CHL ruling will mean for the region and the wider hockey world.
From college hockey on down through 14-U, the landscape is about to change. Drastically.
Herron, a 2008 birth-year player, was the first player in New England to leave his team and head to the CHL after the ruling. He has one of the most raw and unique perspectives on the ruling.
Have other players been reaching out to see what it’s like?
“Yeah,” Herron said. “Tons of people.”
The impact on prep hockey
In 2019, a high-end prospect from Toronto — current Columbus Blue Jackets center Adam Fantilli — began as a sophomore at Kimball Union Academy. An ’04, he was 6-foot-2 and 180 pounds. He was ready to go against older players. He joined his brother Luca, an ’02, with the Wildcats.
Fantilli was an immediate hit. He centered the second line, posting 18 goals and 36 points in 26 games. He ranked second among all sophomores in New England in scoring.
“That was a hell of an accomplishment,” KUA head coach Tim Whitehead said. “It shows you what an experience it can be for him every day in practice going against college-bound players. Not everyone can do that.”
Fantilli used that one season at Kimball Union to catapult him into being an immediate impact player for the USHL’s Chicago Steel. He dominated in his second year, won the Hobey Baker Award in his freshman year at Michigan and was drafted third overall in the 2023 NHL Draft.
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The Toronto native wanted to play college hockey, so he went the common route for American players, using prep hockey and the USHL to get to Division 1.
Had Fantilli been coming up now, things could be different. Canadian players don’t necessarily need to head south to pursue a path toward college hockey.
That could impact prep.
“I think you’d be crazy to think it wouldn’t (impact prep),” Holderness head coach Alan Thompson said. “Those younger guys, especially from Canada who want to go the school route and suddenly they’re able to potentially play really high levels of junior in Canada for a couple of years instead of high school and then going to college, that’s going to impact our ability to get really good younger players from Ontario or Quebec that used to have prep school as their priority choice of where they want to go for their 16, 17 and 18 years.
“Suddenly they can play at a really high level close to home.”
If Thompson’s view becomes reality, prep would be significantly impacted. Top schools like Salisbury, Kimball Union, Berkshire, Phillips Andover and Deerfield heavily recruit from Canada.
“I’m a little bit more concerned and curious about the unexpected or the unforeseen impact of this,” Salisbury head coach Andrew Will said. “We’ve been one of the programs that benefits from the high-end Canadian kids. Are those kids going to be less likely to explore New England prep as younger guys? Are they going to now take a shot at major junior because it’s not going to compromise eligibility?
“You look at Connor Davis (Quebec) or Zach Gill (New Brunswick). Because they’re interested in college and want to pursue that route, the (QMJHL) doesn’t really become an avenue for them. Once you’re done with Midget Triple-A or U-18, what’s your next step? That’s where prep has been a really good landing ground for those guys. Are as many of them going to be interested in coming down here?”
Davis is Salisbury’s leading scorer and a Northeastern commit. The same situation can be play out with other schools, too.
Last season, Kimball Union’s second-leading scorer was Sam LeDrew, a St. Lawrence commit from Nova Scotia. Berkshire’s leading scorer this season is London, Ontario, native Duncan Thompson. Andover is led by Grayden Robertson-Palmer, a New Brunswick native. Last season, Deerfield was led by Tom Molson, a Quebec native, and Justin Tavares from Ontario.
Not all prep coaches are pessimistic about the CHL ruling’s impact. Many believe that their advantage lies in education.
“I don’t really think it (impacts prep) in the short-term,” Frederick Gunn head coach and NEPSAC president Craig Badger said. “The thing that we offer is the education piece. Kids can come here and play high-level hockey and get a world-class education. The families that were always going to look down here from up north still will. With their values and their goals for their child, prep is still going to be the best match for that. I don’t think it will impact us a ton.”
That mindset is similar to one that prep coaches have when it comes to players choosing academies. If a kid is heavily considering an academy, there’s a strong chance they won’t be a fit at a prep school.
“I don’t feel like if a kid is looking at us, they’re considering going to Moncton (in the QMJHL),” Kent head coach Dale Reinhardt said. “It’s not a natural crossover. Maybe there are more kids who leave early. But the kids impacted by this are high-end Canadian kids that want to go to college.”
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A large part of that comes from the education element. The chances of the average prospect playing Division 1 or Division 3 college hockey are low. No matter what, getting a strong education is important — and parents know that.
“It definitely will affect us more than some other teams that don’t recruit Canadians. It’s a little concerning,” Whitehead said. “We get kids from everywhere, so we can adapt if for some reason these kids start choosing to go major junior when they’re 16 and 17. It’s still a gamble for them academically because they’re putting all their eggs in the hockey basket.
“A lot of parents just aren’t going to do that whether they’re still eligible for college or not. A lot of kids aren’t going to do it either.”
Players leaving early for junior
Long before the CHL ruling went into effect, players leaving prep schools and academies early for juniors had been prevalent.
Rivers ’09s Carter Meyer and Finn Sears are two of the highest point-producers in the region. Brunswick ’08s Joe Salandra and Mason St. Louis are right there with them. All four are immensely talented and will be Division 1 mainstays someday.
It’s also true that Meyer and Sears likely will be with the U.S. National Team Development Program next season. Salandra and St. Louis, both juniors, could opt for junior hockey, too. High-end stars not staying until senior year has caused prep to get even younger.
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Academies are facing the same reality. The 14-U and 15O levels are full of high-end talent. But by the 16-U group, the best of the best have either moved on to the NTDP or joined a junior team. The 18-U level is full of late-bloomers and likely Division 3 players.
With the CHL ruling, there are even more junior options.
“It’s got to calm down a little bit,” Mount St. Charles 15O head coach Scott Gainey said. “It’s absolutely insane right now. Right now people are jumping ship. They’re going here, they’re going there. The quick gratification usually never works out.”
South Kent’s 16-U team took a blow with Herron leaving. In late December, Mount St. Charles’ 16-U squad lost two of the best ’08s in the region in Matthew Krayer and Will Bent. Krayer left for the Saint John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL, while Bent, a Providence College commit, signed with the Halifax Mooseheads in the same league.
“Something has to change with USA Hockey,” Gainey said. “We can’t replace those kids. If we did replace them, they would be ineligible for regionals and nationals, which makes it like why come? There’s got to be some rules that are put in place.
“Right now, it’s a free-for-all. We can’t be the only program directly affected by this.”
And they’re not.
Taft lost ’08 goalie Nick Cirka in late December to the Halifax Mooseheads. Even though Cirka hadn’t played in a game yet, the 6-foot-2, ’08 from Quebec was offered a deal he couldn’t refuse.
In 2023, before the CHL ruling, Salisbury had Liam Kilfoil, a high-end, ’07 forward. Will had gotten Kilfoil from Mount St. Charles’ 14-U program the season before where the forward had 133 points in 62 games.
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“He had a ton of college options but Halifax came and put an educational package and a financial package in front of them,” Will said.
If the CHL improves the education it can provide its players, it could become even more attractive for players looking to leave their prep or academy program early.
“Are major junior teams going to adjust to be viable? Are they going to partner with those families and kids and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to help make the academic experience a little better to give you that opportunity?’ So that maybe we attract some kids?” Will asked. “Or I could see some people going the other way and making it as hard as possible for those guys to be academically eligible so they don’t have the option to leave and go play in college.”
Part 2 covers the likely impact of the CHL ruling on junior hockey, Division 1 and Division 3 college hockey.
