Back in November of 2024, the NCAA changed its rules on eligibility, allowing players from Canada's major junior leagues — the WHL, OHL, and QMJHL — to play hockey for a Division I school.
At least one 麻豆传媒映画Canucks prospect will be taking advantage of this change, as Anthony Romani has committed to Michigan State University for the 2025-26 season.
Romani and MSU announced his commitment on Instagram.
The Canucks selected Romani in the sixth round of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft in his second year of draft eligibility, making a high-upside bet on the OHL's leading goalscorer.
After a season slowed by injury, Romani lit up the OHL playoffs
Romani's post-draft year went awry when, just six games into his OHL season with the North Bay Battalion, Romani was hit from behind into the boards by the Erie Otters' Ty Henry and suffered a broken clavicle that took him out of action for three months.
Before Romani returned from injury, he was traded to the Barrie Colts, ironically playing his former team, the Battalion, in his first game back in mid-January. Romani took about a month to get back up to speed, but finished the regular season with 19 goals and 30 points for the Colts.
Romani then erupted in the OHL playoffs, tallying 12 goals and 24 points in 16 games to lead the Colts in scoring.
Romani's playoff performance reestablished him as one of the best players in the OHL, while also illustrating that he doesn't have much more to learn in that league. Before the NCAA's rule change, he would have had two options: sign a contract with the Canucks and play in the AHL or return to the OHL for his over-age season as a 20-year-old playing against teenagers.
Neither option would have necessarily been the best for Romani's development.
Instead, Romani can now develop further in a league with older, bigger players in the NCAA, while also getting started on his college education.
Why the NCAA changed the rules on CHL eligibility
Previously, the NCAA considered Canada's major junior leagues to be professional hockey under the reasoning that players signed to NHL contracts could go back to the CHL and keep playing. Players in the CHL also receive a stipend and have many of their expenses covered by the team. The NCAA's strict rules on amateurism meant professional players could not participate in NCAA sports, with players who even played one exhibition game for a CHL team barred from playing college hockey.
The amount of money universities made off of college athletics, however, made the NCAA's rules on amateurism look like a farce. As players in other sports pushed back about compensation, the NCAA relented, allowing players to .
In addition, against the NCAA for barring players from the CHL, arguing that the NCAA was violating antitrust laws.
With college athletes now making money under the new NIL rules that make the CHL's stipend look like a pittance, and in response to the legal challenge, the NCAA changed the rules.
How long will the Canucks hold Romani's rights?
Heading to college should help Romani's development, and it's likely the best option from the Canucks' perspective as well. It can be tough to give a young prospect the minutes he needs in the AHL, whereas Romani should be a top-six forward for MSU.
The Canucks might not be in any rush to sign Romani to a contract, either. If Romani signed a contract and played in the AHL, he would count against their 50-contract limit.
Normally, the Canucks would hold Romani's signing rights for just two years as a player drafted out of the CHL. That would mean they would need to decide whether or not to sign Romani before June 1, 2026.
With Romani heading to the NCAA, however, the Canucks will or until Romani choose to leave college hockey to turn pro. That's beneficial for the Canucks, as they don't need to make a decision on signing Romani for quite some time.
While this does raise the possibility of Romani holding out and becoming a free agent at some point in the future, the odds of that are low. Most players who take that route play three or four years in college hockey, which would be a long time for Romani to wait to turn pro, potentially passing up a significant amount of money.
Romani is one of the first wave of CHL players heading to the NCAA, but it could become a trend for NHL-drafted prospects, especially those drafted in later rounds.
Prospects will like the option, as it provides a tougher league for development and allows them to get an education while still working towards the NHL, while NHL teams will like that it allows them to hold on to their prospects' signing rights for a longer amount of time without having to sign them to a contract and find them playing time in the AHL.
