WHL player commits to ASU, challenging NCAA

Braxton Whitehead of the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats has received a verbal commitment for the 2025-26 season from Arizona State University’s Division I program despite NCAA eligibility rules that prevent any player who has appeared in a major junior hockey game from playing college hockey.

This is the first NCAA commitment for a Canadian Hockey League player since a proposed class action suit was filed against the NCAA and 10 universities in August claiming that the eligibility rules violate antitrust laws. The suit seeks to allow players to play hockey in both major juniors and college, which would be a dramatic shift in the player development landscape.

Whether or not that suit is successful, Whitehead and Arizona State are both confident those restrictions will be lifted before he joins the Sun Devils in 2025.

“[ASU’s] slogan is ‘Be the Tradition’ and I think they love the idea of me being a trailblazer throughout all this and paving the way with NCAA and CHL relations,” Whitehead told ESPN on Thursday. “I’m very hopeful that [the rules] will turn over before the 2025-26 season.”

The NCAA has deemed anyone who played in the CHL — composed of the WHL, the Ontario Hockey League and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League — as ineligible because there are players who have signed professional contracts with NHL teams playing in those leagues. CHL players are also paid a monthly stipend that’s capped at $250.

NCAA Bylaw 12.2.3.2 states that “an individual shall not be eligible for intercollegiate athletics in a sport if the individual ever competed on a professional team.”

In August, OHL player Rylan Masterson challenged that rule. He filed a proposed class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Western New York against the NCAA and 10 universities for what the suit termed a “group boycott” of Canadian junior players. It said the boycott “prevents competition between the CHL and NCAA for top-end players and thus artificially suppresses compensation for players and artificially creates less competitive leagues,” which it argued was “illegal under antitrust laws.”

Whitehead, a 20-year-old forward, is entering his fifth and final season with the Pats. He has played 195 games in the WHL, scoring 52 points in 52 games last season.

The Arizona State men’s hockey program declined comment, citing NCAA rules about discussing players before they’re officially signed.

There has been increased debate in college hockey about dropping restrictions on CHL players, especially after NCAA name, image, and likeness rules were loosened in 2021. Supporters of changing the CHL rules pointed to well-compensated athletes in other sports — such as Olympic swimmers — who had retained their NCAA eligibility; and pointed out that some college hockey programs welcomed players who had played professional games overseas without the NCAA barring them from playing in college.

“Anyone who loves hockey and developmental leagues has been watching what’s been happening in the NIL space and in the transfer portal space, trying to imagine if this will have implications on the future of how junior hockey players develop,” WHL commissioner Dan Near said. “I think this could be the first domino to fall in that regard.”

For Whitehead, it was the proposed class action lawsuit that really laid the groundwork for the Arizona State commitment.

The proposed class action suit wasn’t unexpected by the NCAA. In 2023, during a review of its policies, the NCAA determined there was a legal vulnerability in a potential “group boycott” of Canadian junior players. But the programs’ coaches never took formal action to drop the rule before the suit was filed.

While dropping the restrictions would deepen the talent pool for NCAA hockey, there is fear among some coaches that elite talents would opt not to play college hockey without having the current pressure point of losing eligibility if they chose Canadian juniors instead.

“It has forced kids’ hands at an early age to decide which path they want to take,” said Near.

Whitehead said he has wanted to play college hockey in the U.S. since growing up in Alaska. The proposed class action suit “sparked my interest,” he said. Whitehead sent out several letters to NCAA programs — including Arizona State, his No. 1 choice.

“I kind of hit the lottery with the timing of all that’s going on right now,” he said. “I think [the suit] gave me that extra step just to put myself out there and try something that’s never been done before.”

Whitehead informed his teammates in Regina about his commitment Thursday, after rumors has swirled about it in the dressing room.

“I know my teammates really well, and they’re always supportive of pursuing new things. Once I kind of got the jitters out of the way, they were all just really happy,” said Whitehead, adding that there’s interest among some of them to “follow in my footsteps” to NCAA commitments.

Whitehead’s commitment to ASU could open the floodgates for CHL players. According to one NCAA hockey source, some college programs are “already allocating recruiting budgets” to send scouts to CHL games this season to recruit players.

“We’re thrilled that one of the post-graduation options for WHL players could be the NCAA, if this thing were to change,” Near said. “The more options our players have coming out of our league, the better.”

ESPN’s Kristen Shilton contributed to this report.