NIL for hockey

[Marylovesthelions]

1. If NIL comes to hockey, no one has deeper pockets behind them than PSU

 

[Aardvark86]

1. If NIL comes to hockey, no one has deeper pockets behind them than PSU

Perhaps, but the problem is that when it comes to hockey, college is one of many overlapping development paths to the NHL. Contrast that with football, where the NCAA is pretty much the sole pathway available and therefore has power and appeal.

In hockey, some kids go straight to college, though there is a more limited supply of them than their are colleges with football programs. Some kids go to Canadian juniors. Some kids play in european club leagues. Some go to US juniors or the US national development team. Some in European pro leagues. Some do 4 then 1. Some do 3 then 1. That's why college hockey sometimes has 25 year olds playing against 18 year olds. So you're not merely competing among colleges on the basis of nil, you're competing with organizations globally, which offer very different things.

In the 2023 NHL draft, 3 players were drafted out of NCAA programs in the first round (fewer than the USNDT). It gets worse in round 2 (1), 3 (0), 4 (1), 5 (2), 6(0), and 7 (1).

For a kid that wants to play pro hockey, making some NIL side money that is going to be local or regional in its appeal at best, even at a leading D1 program, is not in the foreseeable future going to outweigh the apparently greater chances of making it to the NHL by following one of the other pathways. That is especially so when you consider that even among those who are drafted, there are very very few who go straight to the league and don't have to grind it out with an AHL or ECHL team for a while first anyway.

 

[2PBC22]

Perhaps, but the problem is that when it comes to hockey, college is one of many overlapping development paths to the NHL. Contrast that with football, where the NCAA is pretty much the sole pathway available and therefore has power and appeal.

In hockey, some kids go straight to college, though there is a more limited supply of them than their are colleges with football programs. Some kids go to Canadian juniors. Some kids play in european club leagues. Some go to US juniors or the US national development team. Some in European pro leagues. Some do 4 then 1. Some do 3 then 1. That's why college hockey sometimes has 25 year olds playing against 18 year olds. So you're not merely competing among colleges on the basis of nil, you're competing with organizations globally, which offer very different things.

In the 2023 NHL draft, 3 players were drafted out of NCAA programs in the first round (fewer than the USNDT). It gets worse in round 2 (1), 3 (0), 4 (1), 5 (2), 6(0), and 7 (1).

For a kid that wants to play pro hockey, making some NIL side money that is going to be local or regional in its appeal at best, even at a leading D1 program, is not in the foreseeable future going to outweigh the apparently greater chances of making it to the NHL by following one of the other pathways. That is especially so when you consider that even among those who are drafted, there are very very few who go straight to the league and don't have to grind it out with an AHL or ECHL team for a while first anyway.

Agreed, however, that just means there are players that want to make what they can in college because they most likely won’t get drafted.

We aren’t competing against Canadian/European leagues or the USNDT directly, we are competing to get the best college players to pick Penn State.

 

[PSU_Nut]

1. If NIL comes to hockey, no one has deeper pockets behind them than PSU

It applies to all sports already. There is no if. It has been that way for the past two years.