On December 4th I wrote a piece that mentioned some concerns regarding Name, Image, and Likeness at the NCAA level. It was quick work for a challenge to come to the CHL regarding a ban on transfers to the NCAA that had been in place for a long time. Dig hard enough and you’ll find the names of an agent or two who were involved in getting a quick adjustment made. The collegiate season will end in the spring and it was a U of M football article that made me realize what all of this could mean for existing prospects in the NCAA.
I’ll be frank and mention Trey Augustine over at Michigan State University. It was shortly after I’d been writing about the new CHL transfer agreement and NIL that I got a text from a friend who has season tickets to MSU hockey. There were scouts at the game and not just from Detroit. So what, right? The NHL teams scout division I hockey teams all the time. Then the article I’d read about the University of Michigan using a huge NIL deal to lure a #1 recruit into decomitting from LSU and committing to the Wolverines. A deal worth 10.5 million dollars over 4 years.
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The video covers the U of M football deal and how I believe it can easily convert to the world of collegiate hockey. The Long and short of it is this. A CHL player can now transfer to the NCAA. The junior pro league has already been competing with collegiate programs more and more. Now add one interesting new component. A top player can go to a division 1 school while their agent gets them a nice salary to go along with a potential full ride. I.E., colleges can now scout pro junior in Canada and there may be a path to the same type of programs in Europe. Depending on the caliber of the player, they could make 6 figures at a school that has the alumni and NIL connections that wants to buy a championship.
Full circle back to Trey Augustine. The hope is that he feels ready to sign his ELC after this season. Cossa could move up to Detroit next year with Husso and Lyon expiring and Augustine could join Gylander or possibly Cossa (depending on what happens) in Grand Rapids. The ELC salary in the AHL is around 100k, right? In the NHL you’re closer to 7 figures with potential schedule bonuses negotiated into the deal.
It hit me during the game last night, what if in a crazy world an NHL team gets a good look at an unsigned draftee who already has 2 or 3 college seasons under their belt? It would be tampering, to be sure, but is it far fetched to wonder if a team couldn’t help an agent get an NIL deal that pays as much as the AHL deal and the player can hit free agency if they play 4 years?
The NHL is unique from the NFL in that the players in college football aren’t drafted eligible right away. In hockey, they may be drafted already. Every year there are players who opt to go to free agency that may have been late bloomers but end up as Hobey Baker contenders. Winnipeg saw a player who just didn’t want to join the team tell them he would wait until free agency unless he was traded.
This isn’t a “panic”, it’s simply an eye opener on how quickly a large university was able to use a relatively new modification to persuade a player to change their commitment. Let me know your thoughts. This could already be in discussions as teams will be talking to prospects whose seasons will end in the spring. A school that wants to keep a player can get them paid but once that ELC is signed that player is no longer eligible. I look forward to some of the insights and contrasting thoughts on what is unexplored territory at this point.
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • 
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