It's a fascinating time in developmental hockey, with the new fluid landscape allowing players to suit up in both major junior and the NCAA without penalty and also to make money while in college. 

That sea change is still pretty new – just one full season in the books – but everyone involved is hyper-aware of this nascent world.

To that end, I had a chance to interview WHL commissioner Dan Near to get his thoughts on the state of the 'Dub' and learn about some upcoming changes.

The 2026 NHL draft was a solid one for his league. Four of the top 10 picks either played in the 'Dub' this season or the year prior, led by Gavin McKenna at No. 1. The other three – Daxon Rudolph, Carson Carels and Keaton Verhoeff – were all defensemen, a position the WHL prides itself on traditionally dominating at the high end.

"And most importantly," Near said, "we had 23 of the first 100 picks. That's a signal things are going pretty well in the West."

Of course, everyone has wins and losses, and the WHL took a hit recently when Everett's Landon DuPont, the early favorite to go first overall in the 2027 NHL draft, announced he was leaving the champion Silvertips to play at the University of Michigan next season. 

Was Near surprised?

"I don't think 'surprised' is the right word," he said. "It was a possibility all along. I think 'disappointed' is probably a better description because he's a player we want in our league. But the DuPont family is unbelievable, and Landon has been an amazing ambassador. He'll do great in any environment, and we wish him the best."

The WHL is also making a number of changes next season, all of which are based on making the league more enticing in this competitive environment. 

One of those changes that was top-of-list is the option for teams to take a plane instead of a bus for one out-of-conference road trip, beginning next season.

"We did a player survey, and unequivocally, from the survey and my interactions with players and their families, that interconference trip they do once a season is the hardest thing they do," Near said. "Not to mention, you've got college programs where some of them fly charter, and we made a decision to look at this. We think getting back to town quicker is better for the players' education and their rest and recovery. It's an important step forward for us."

Speaking of which, the WHL is also decompressing its schedule, adding a week to the calendar in order to take a couple of weekday games off the schedule.

The first round of the WHL playoffs will now be a best-of-five instead of a best-of-seven as well.

But the league is still bullish on its 68-game regular-season slate.

"At the moment, we consider it a competitive advantage or a point of difference that we emulate the NHL in a lot of ways and prepare the guys for the grind," Near said. "We like the 68-game structure right now, but extending it over an additional week gives the players more down time and supports strength and conditioning.

"We're hearing from some players that they want to put on more weight during the season – no one ever asked us that until this NCAA thing got going. These are minor things, but all meshed together, it creates a difference. We're in a world where the ball is in the players' court. They can play wherever they want, so let's be the league they choose."

With a growing number of elite players heading to the NCAA before their major junior eligibility has been used up, I assumed the CHL would be getting younger.

So far, that has not been the case, according to Near.

A big reason is that American kids who previously couldn't play major junior are now jumping in before they go to college.

"We're deeper than we've ever been with 17- and 18-year-olds because of all these prospects that have now made us part of their journey, even if it's not for four or five years," Near said. "There were fewer 16-year-olds playing regularly in our league this year than in the past. The configuration of 19- and 20-year-olds is different than it was in the past, and we frankly don't think it has settled yet. Some of the guys who took the NCAA route had courage to say, 'I don't know if one way or the other is definitively better, but I'm going to try it out.' We need more time to assess all this."

And on a final note, the WHL is still getting bigger. 

Chilliwack is expected to get an expansion team for 2027-28, though Near noted that it may be with a different ownership group. The original bidders have been trying to hash out an arena lease agreement with the city but have come to an impasse. 

Near tells me a second group has submitted a competitive bid package that is being considered by the WHL Board of Governors. The coming weeks will be crucial in determining whether a Chilliwack team takes to the ice in the fall of 2027.

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