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Frozen Four highlights CHL players' impact on NCAA hockey
Summary
The 2026 Frozen Four includes several players who moved from the CHL to NCAA after a November 2024 rule change, and coaches say those players have already played prominent roles for teams reaching the semifinals.
Content
The 2026 NCAA Frozen Four in Las Vegas will feature multiple players who previously played in the Canadian Hockey League. In November 2024 the NCAA adopted a rule allowing players with CHL experience to join college programs. Coaches at the Frozen Four said they did not expect the rule's impact to appear so quickly. Players who moved from CHL leagues have already taken meaningful roles for teams still competing.
What we know:
- The NCAA passed the rule in November 2024 allowing players with previous experience in the three leagues that make up the Canadian Hockey League — the Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League — to move to NCAA programs.
- The Frozen Four national semifinals in Las Vegas feature North Dakota vs. Wisconsin (5 p.m. ET) and Denver vs. Michigan (8:30 p.m. ET); the winners will play the NCAA championship game Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+.
- Denver coach David Carle said the coaching body expected the change to take two to three years to show its effects, but that players are arriving sooner and having success.
- Gavin McKenna moved from Medicine Hat of the WHL to Penn State last offseason and is described in the article as the expected No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.
- North Dakota freshman defenseman Keaton Verhoeff, who played with Victoria in the WHL, was listed No. 2 in NHL Central Scouting's midterm ranking of North American skaters for the 2026 draft and committed to North Dakota after a recruiting visit.
Summary:
The NCAA rule change allowing CHL-experienced players to join college teams has already produced contributors at the Frozen Four, sooner than many coaches anticipated. The semifinals and Saturday's championship will show how those roster shifts play out on the national stage.
