It's not a matter of if but when NHL teams will scout the 3ICE summer league for talent, according to the league's CEO.

North America’s top professional 3-on-3 hockey league, 3ICE, is returning for another season, this time with what they believe is the talent to start drawing attention from fans and other leagues.

This season, 3ICE has expanded to include eight teams compared to the six they fielded during their inaugural season, have moved to playing during primetime on Wednesday evenings, and feature a league-wide roster with more than a quarter of players having NHL experience.

“This season, it’s faster and more skilled, with a great mix of guys that can dazzle, veterans, and young guns,” said 3ICE CEO E.J. Johnston.

Similar to last season, each team will be coached by and named for a hockey legend, with John LeClair, Guy Carbonneau, Grant Fuhr, Joe Mullen and Larry Murphy returning to the bench, being joined by Hall of Famers Ray Bourque, Ed Johnston Sr. and Craig Patrick.

“It works on a variety of levels, like the players learning from them and fans wanting to interact with them, it’s fantastic,” said Johnston of the involvement of these hockey legends. “To the fans, it’s credibility, it helps us recruit, it’s undeniable.”

In an interview earlier this year with The Hockey News, Bourque discussed his excitement to join 3ICE and experience the style of play.

“It’s an exciting format – 3-on-3 is exciting to watch,” Bourque told The Hockey News. “I’m looking forward to just having fun with it, and I look forward to being part of it this year. We used to use 3-on-3 in practice for conditioning. Being a defenseman, I was always the floating guy ready to take off for breakaways.”

More than the personalities off the ice, however, Johnston believes Year 2 for the league will draw new attention based on the on-ice talent. 

Players with NHL experience include Brandon Pirri, T.J. Hensick, Joe Whitney, Ian McCoshen and Brandon Halverson, among others. Hensick and Whitney were two of last season’s top scorers. 

Bourque’s sons, Chris Bourque and Ryan Bourque, both played in the NHL and will play for their dad’s team.

The bulk of the league, however, are players who competed in the ECHL, AHL and Europe who are still chasing their hockey dreams. 

From the ECHL in particular, several members who finished among the top 10 in league scoring last season are competing. 

Scoring champion Hank Crone, the ECHL’s rookie of the year and MVP, was the only player in the league to break the 100-point barrier this season, recording 105 in 69 games with the Allen Americans. Other top 10 scorers from the ECHL include the league’s second-leading scorer Jack Combs, Cody Sylvester (fifth), Brandon Hawkins (seventh), and Shane Harper (10th).

Johnston said he believes it’s only a matter of time before leagues come chasing 3ICE looking to mine the league’s talent.

“Europe is already looking for guys because they are showing their skills with more open ice like they have there,” said Johnston.

With the added importance of 3-on-3 overtime in the NHL and a shift toward more skilled players, Johnston believes it’s only a matter of time before the flow reverses from ex-NHLers joining 3ICE to 3ICE players being scouted to join NHL organizations.

“You have to find talent somewhere,” he said. “In terms of NHL teams looking at us, it’s not if, it’s when.”

Last season, Team Mullen captured the inaugural championship, a season Johnston referred to as “a home run from pretty much every metric.” The 3-on-3 hockey format continues to grow globally and is even considered a potential sport for upcoming Olympic competition.

This season 3ICE begins its seven-week season on June 28 in Pittsburgh. The league will play its playoffs in a one-day format on Aug. 12 in Philadelphia. Hershey, Grand Rapids, Newark, Boston and Clarksville are the other cities hosting games. All matches are expected to be televised on CBS.