For a number of Penguins prospects, including Harrison Brunicke, their options for where they'll play next season are limited to either the NHL or back to junior.
Players like Brunicke, who were drafted out of Canadian major junior leagues, are bound by the NHL-CHL transfer agreement, which keeps them ineligible for the AHL full-time until they're 20 years old or have four years of junior experience. Until then, they can't play in the AHL until the ends of their respective junior teams' seasons.
The logic in the agreement was that it keeps junior teams strong, which is good for those leagues' abilities to keep producing high-end talent. It benefits the teams financially, because their "star" talent can't be poached by NHL teams who don't intend on playing them in the NHL. But more importantly, it keeps the quality of play in the leagues strong. Players like Brunicke, when just a rookie in the WHL, surely benefitted from playing with and against 19-year-old players who might not have been there if the AHL was an option to them.
However, the landscape has changed. As of this coming season, the NCAA has ruled that players who once played major junior hockey are eligible to play college hockey, something that wasn't possible before because of the NCAA previously considering major junior hockey "professional."
As a result, those top prospects who are "too good" for major junior hockey but not quite ready for the NHL full-time already are leaving major junior and instead joining college programs. NCAA eligibility still prevents players who have professional contracts from playing college hockey, leaving players like Brunicke who have signed entry-level contracts still stuck between the WHL and NHL.
Penguins director of player development Tom Kostopoulos said that the transfer agreement is something that can present challenges for them and players like Brunicke who are affected by it.
"I think it's something that the league should look at," Kostopoulos said. "Because (Brunicke) has probably played his way out of junior hockey and might be ready for a step up."
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THE ASYLUM
Taylor Haase
8:57 pm - 07.07.2025Cranberry, Pa.Kostopoulos: NHL 'should look at' transfer rule
For a number of Penguins prospects, including Harrison Brunicke, their options for where they'll play next season are limited to either the NHL or back to junior.
Players like Brunicke, who were drafted out of Canadian major junior leagues, are bound by the NHL-CHL transfer agreement, which keeps them ineligible for the AHL full-time until they're 20 years old or have four years of junior experience. Until then, they can't play in the AHL until the ends of their respective junior teams' seasons.
The logic in the agreement was that it keeps junior teams strong, which is good for those leagues' abilities to keep producing high-end talent. It benefits the teams financially, because their "star" talent can't be poached by NHL teams who don't intend on playing them in the NHL. But more importantly, it keeps the quality of play in the leagues strong. Players like Brunicke, when just a rookie in the WHL, surely benefitted from playing with and against 19-year-old players who might not have been there if the AHL was an option to them.
However, the landscape has changed. As of this coming season, the NCAA has ruled that players who once played major junior hockey are eligible to play college hockey, something that wasn't possible before because of the NCAA previously considering major junior hockey "professional."
As a result, those top prospects who are "too good" for major junior hockey but not quite ready for the NHL full-time already are leaving major junior and instead joining college programs. NCAA eligibility still prevents players who have professional contracts from playing college hockey, leaving players like Brunicke who have signed entry-level contracts still stuck between the WHL and NHL.
Penguins director of player development Tom Kostopoulos said that the transfer agreement is something that can present challenges for them and players like Brunicke who are affected by it.
"I think it's something that the league should look at," Kostopoulos said. "Because (Brunicke) has probably played his way out of junior hockey and might be ready for a step up."
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