AHL to allow 19-year-olds under new development rules next season

Sharks general manager Joe Will said the American Hockey League would permit 19-year-old players in select development cases starting next season, a change that could send elite Canadian Hockey League prospects to the AHL a year earlier. The shift would give NHL clubs a new tool for first-round picks, crowded prospect pools and goalie depth charts as they decide whether a teenager is better served by pro minutes or another junior season.

The rule change was expected to be formalized and clarified before the 2026-27 AHL season, with the new NHL collective bargaining agreement set to take effect this fall. Until now, major-junior eligible players generally moved straight from the CHL to the NHL or were returned to their CHL club, rather than spending age-19 development time in the AHL.

A July 19, 2025 NHL memorandum said clubs would seek to limit loans of no more than one 19-year-old player per year to the AHL without first offering him back to his CHL club. That language pointed to a narrow carveout rather than a blanket rule, and it is likely to matter most for rebuilding teams willing to accelerate a premium pick, organizations with crowded junior pipelines, and prospects blocked by older CHL rosters.

Jason Bukala flagged Moncton Wildcats star Caleb Desnoyers as one of the names most directly affected, and other discussion around the change has centered on Sam O'Reilly and the wider WHL, OHL and QMJHL pipeline. NHL.com had already described general managers debating whether CHL players should be allowed to play in the AHL at 19, a sign the issue had moved from theory to roster planning.

For NHL clubs, the immediate consequence was not just where a teenager played, but how quickly his timeline moved. A player good enough for the AHL at 19 could force earlier decisions on contract slots, depth-chart placement and the path to the NHL, while a goalie or skater kept in junior would stay on a slower development track for one more season.