USHL and BCHL may actually come out of this quite nicely if they keep improving. The USHL had more players drafted this year than the WHL for the first time ever. There are now more US minor hockey players than Canadian ones for the first time ever. Needless to say, an American (and many Canadian) players would rather choose the team and the city they play in compared to being drafted by a small town Canadian team in the CHL. Those leagues are not burdened by the restrictive and sometimes backwards rules of Hockey Canada so I'd put my money on a potentially combined USHL/BCHL to continue being the top feeder system going forward.
|