New MJHL player movement rules give more power to players

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This article was published 06/07/2023 (1004 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

by CASSIDY DANKOCHIK

Players entering the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) will have more power to choose their own destination, after the league changed their eligibility rules during their 2023 annual general meeting June 20.

Beginning with players drafted in 2022, an unsigned player who has completed two years of U18 eligibility may be signed by another MJHL team beginning August 1. If a player signs a letter of intent for the team that drafted them, they are no longer able to be signed in this way.

Players will also have the ability to sign mid-season for an MJHL franchise other than the one they were drafted to if they are in the middle of their third year of U18 eligibility beginning in December.

“On December 1st 2023, a 2006 born player drafted in the 2022 MJHL Draft who remains unsigned and/or signed to a Letter of Intent by the MJHL team that they were drafted by, may sign for the remainder of the current season (2023-24 season) with another MJHL team,” the MJHL website reads as an example of the new rule.

A player could also sign a letter of intent for another MJHL franchise for the next season beginning Dec. 1.

Niverville Nighthawks head coach and general manager Kelvin Cech compared the process to signing a restricted free agent in a professional sports league. If a drafted player does decide to move on, the team that drafted him will get compensation.

“Teams still have a good amount of control,” Cech said.

“It’s not like teams can go pluck off (players). If a player is good enough, then great, just sign him and put him in your lineup. It’s going to shift things for sure, but it will take a couple years for us to feel the ramifications of it.”

Cech said he, alongside Niverville assistant general manager Mike McAulay, helped craft some of the amendments and wording of the new rules.

“I think this is a positive step for the league in keeping our players here at home,” he said.

As a general manager of a team, Cech said he’s already started to look at players he could acquire using this process, as well as evaluating his own roster to see if any players would leave the Nighthawks.

“I wouldn’t be doing my job if I wasn’t looking at every conceivable avenue within the rules to make our program better,” Cech said.

“But I’m sure everyone’s doing the same thing.”

According to Cech, the rule changes were put in place with the goal of ensuring Manitoba players who want to play junior A stay in Manitoba. He pointed to Steinbach defenseman Warren Clark’s selection in the NHL draft June 28 as proof the league can develop top-tier players.

Cech added the rule changes have been a long time coming, and were not made in response to the B.C. Hockey League leaving Hockey Canada.

Since leaving the national system, junior A players can sign with BCHL teams without any compensation going the other way. Underage players from across Canada can also be signed by BCHL teams.

It is a risk for players to make the jump, as any player on a BCHL roster will not be able to play in a Hockey Canada sanctioned league after the start of the season.

Any unsigned player in the MJHL may only be traded with the consent of that particular player, which is the same rule as all carded MJHL players. Trade rules are strict in the Junior A ranks, with 17-year-olds only able to be traded within Manitoba, and 16-year-olds not eligible to be traded at all.

Also new this season will be the ability for teams to add undrafted players from any province or state to their protected list, with the consent of that player.

In addition to the new eligibility rules, the league approved new social media/broadcasting and officiating committees, re-committed to their player education program and confirmed the key dates for the upcoming season.

Another new rule coming to the MJHL this season is mandatory face-shields for players. The league will slowly begin to require players to have full face protection, beginning next season.

During the 2023/2024 season, the requirement will only cover players under 18-years-old. Players 19-years-old will be required to wear them during the 2024/2025 season, with all players set to be wearing full protection beginning in 2025/2026.

Plans to require face shields beginning during the middle of the previous season in the league were abandoned, with a new Hockey Canada rule coming into effect in November of 2022.

The new rules will be universal across all junior A teams across Canada, except the B.C. Hockey League, which left Hockey Canada at the end of this season.

With files from Mike Sawatzky