South Shore Kings defenseman Nolan Hayes (Milton, Mass./Cushing) is committed to Sacred Heart. (Dave Arnold/NEHJ)
The college hockey recruiting landscape perhaps never has been more intriguing.
The coronavirus has had far-reaching implications on all aspects of the sport, but recruiting has been impacted as greatly as anything.
What has happened to make recruiting such a soap opera at the moment? The NCAA enacted a one-time transfer rule and granted every current student-athlete a fifth year of eligibility. That will mean college programs across the country will look to get better with current college hockey players. It will push back players from entering school, meaning most 2002 and 2003 birth-year players won’t be going to school in the fall. Even some ’01s will get pushed back, and some currently committed ’00s might get gassed.
