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19-year-old first-round picks could be allowed in AHL next season: Friedman
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Photo credit: Steven Ellis/The Nation Network
Ryan Pike
Mar 21, 2026, 22:16 EDTUpdated: Mar 21, 2026, 22:22 EDT
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When the National Hockey League and the NHL’s Players Association announced their extension to their collective bargaining agreement last year, there were a lot of questions about a proposed change to the transfer agreement between the NHL and the Canadian Hockey League.
Under the existing rules, players drafted out of the CHL could not play in the American Hockey League until their 20-year-old seasons. For instance, in the current season, 2025-26, only players born in 2005 or earlier were AHL eligible if they were drafted from the CHL.
This obviously caused some hand-wringing because some players are too good for the CHL at 19 but not quite ready physically for the NHL – case in point, Calgary Flames top prospect Zayne Parekh.
Well, talks have progressed between the leagues involved, and following last week’s general managers meetings, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman had an update on his Saturday Headlines segment during Hockey Night in Canada.
Here’s Friedman:
Yeah, so one of the other things that was discussed was 19-year-olds in the AHL. It’s not allowed right now, but there is room for it. And what the league and the CHL and the AHL are working on is a proposal that will allow 19-year-olds who’ve been selected in the first round to play in the AHL as soon as next season. There will be no limit on the amount per NHL team. People don’t think there’s going to be a ton of them, but teams didn’t want a limit. If they will have more than one they wanted to be able to send more than one. That’s what they’re working on. The NHLPA still has to approve, but that’s what they’re working on. 19 year old first rounders being allowed to play in the AHL as soon as next year.
Would this allowance completely gut the CHL? Nope. Would it necessarily stop the movement of high-end CHL players to the NCAA? Also probably not. But given the CHL’s desires to maintain itself as a competitive league and a top developmental destination for NHL-destined players, it feels like a pretty good compromise solution for all leagues involved.
Under the proposed rule, the only Flames prospect that could play in the AHL next season would be 2025 first-rounder Cole Reschny, drafted from the Western Hockey League’s Victoria Royals but currently playing with the NCAA’s University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks.
We’ll see what exactly the new CHL/AHL rules look like once they’re finalized, hopefully well in advance of next season.
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