The North American Hockey League (NAHL) is the only USA Hockey-sanctioned Tier II Junior League. Known as “the league of opportunity”, the NAHL offers junior hockey players the opportunity to develop, learn, train, grow and succeed, at no cost to them financially. The NAHL is unique in the fact that a vast majority of players begin their NAHL careers without an NCAA opportunity, but earn one through the course of their development in the league.
The NAHL’s dedication to player development is demonstrated through the league’s high-profile exposure events like the NAHL Showcase in September, the NAHL Top Prospects Tournament in February, and the NAHL Robertson Cup Championship in May. These annual events are recognized as some of the most prestigious showcases and are consistently scouted by NCAA programs and NHL teams.
During the 2017-18 season, the NAHL set a new single-season record with 305 NCAA commitments, with 70% of those being NCAA Division I commitments. Seven NAHL players were listed in the final NHL Central Scouting rankings for the 2017 NHL Draft and three players from the players were selected in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. Over the course of the last five seasons, 1,200 NAHL players have made NCAA commitments and 17 have been drafted into the NHL.