By The Numbers: If New US Bill Passes, Here's A Look At The Impact To NCAA Women's Hockey Programs

A new bill brought to the United States House of Representatives is aiming to reduce the number of international players in the NCAA, capping the per team number at 20% of a roster.

There will be sports and programs where this is not a significant issue. NCAA women's hockey will not be among them, where the bulk of programs exceed that number, and many rely predominantly on international players to remain competitive. Coaches and schools have also spoken extensively on the many perceived benefits, educationally, athletically, and culturally, to having athletes with diverse backgrounds and experiences from across the world in their schools.

Some programs will be impacted far more than others. It remains unclear if the bill were to pass, if current athletes would be phased out, or if it would be an abrupt change occurring immediately. 

NCAA-wide there are 1140 players listed on official NCAA Division 1 women's hockey rosters for 2026-27, which are all now publicly available. 506 of those players are international meaning the percentage of international players rose this season in the NCAA to 44.4% from 41.4% last year. If you were to remove Saint Anselm, who is set to leave NCAA Division 1 women's hockey after this season, the percentage shifts upward to 45.1%.

The number of programs under the 20% mark dropped from eight last season, to six this season, which includes Saint Anselm. The only other compliant programs are NEWHA's Assumption (3.4%) and Franklin Pierce (9.6%), ECAC's Princeton (18.2%), and WCHA's Minnesota State (17.4%) and St. Thomas (4%). 

Roster sizes varied on program websites from a minimum of 22 players to a maximum of 31. Roster size, particularly carrying a larger roster, could become a tactic for some teams to remain compliant while still ensuring they can have at least five international players. For that to be the case, a team would need to carry at least 25 players. More players however, also means more players, who in this scenario would likely be Americans, would be sitting in the stands, instead of stepping onto the ice each night.

Currently, using the 1140 player pool, NCAA Division 1 women's hockey would need to shed and replace at least 278 international players. Even if existing teams that fall under the limit took the maximum number of international players they could add, it would only create 10 additional spots.

But not all conferences and teams have recruited the same. Here's a look at each conference and program in the NCAA and how significantly they'd need to shift their program toward a more American roster.

No conference in the NCAA has a higher percentage of international players than Atlantic Hockey America, headlined by the most internationally heavy roster in the NCAA at Mercyhurst, where 88% of their roster is non-American. The conference has 105 international players out of 173 total, equalling 60.7%. It's an immense number of players for teams to begin replacing while forming brand new recruiting pathways.

Team Scenario: Watching Mercyhurst and Lindenwood need to replace the majority of their rosters would be a challenge. Even the conference's top team, Penn State, who is significantly closer to the 20% threshold than most in the conference, would be saying goodbye to very good players.

If Penn State found a way to get up to 25 rostered players, they could keep five players like Grace Outwater, Abby Stonehouse, Matilde Fantin, Nicole Hall, and Danica Maynard. But that means not recruiting Sofia Ismael. It would mean no Madison Campbell in net, or veteran transfer Ashley Kokavec on the blueline, nor Taya MacDonald. 

The ECAC is more than half international players. Harvard could conceivably become compliant by adding one American player to their roster, while Princeton, who sits at 18.2%, would not be able to add another Canadian or European player to their lineup without adding another American at the same time. With a roster below average size however, it's something they could conceivably do. Beyond those programs, the rest of the ECAC is in trouble. Overall, 153 of the 302 ECAC players, or 50.7% of the conference, are international. No conference in the NCAA has more international players than ECAC, and no conference would shed talent back to Canada more quickly.

There will be a major impact in Hockey East as 115 of the league's 254 players, the equivalent of 45.3% are international. Every program in Hockey East is over the proposed 20%. Some, like Northeastern, have built a legacy on elite European players, while schools like UConn and Boston University have built strong recruiting roads into Canada.

Team Scenario: Assuming UConn increased their roster size to 25 to get five international spots, the Huskies could keep Claire Murdoch, Livvy Dewar, Maya Serdachny, True Thompson, and rookie Caileigh Tiller. It would still mean the team would not be able to bring in top recruits like U-18 Canadian national team members Laurie Aubin, Chelsea Tiller, and Amelia Wilkinson this season, and they'd also have to say goodbye to seniors Julia Stephen and Junior Sadie Hotles, among others. UConn would have been lost last year with soon-to-be PWHLers Tia Chan, Kyla Josifovic, and Megan Woodsworth, as well as Ashley Allard, Brooke Campbell, and Méghane Duchesne-Chalifoux in the mix.

The WCHA has 73 international players hitting the ice this season of their 194 player pool, the equivalent of 37.6%. Home to the four most successful programs in NCAA national championship history, the WCHA's top teams would need to shed large chunks of their core. The WCHA already draws heavily on Minnesota as a talent pool, but the conference would need to dig deeper into American pools. The best teams in the nation would have incredibly difficult recruiting questions to answer. For example, this season, Wisconsin would likely have only been able to recruit Canada's Rosalie Tremblay, or Slovakia's Nela Lopusanova, not both. 

Team Scenario: The calibre of player that teams in the WCHA would need to shed is incredible. Looking at Ohio State, and assuming they'd increase their roster to 25 players to make a fifth international player eligible, the Buckeyes would still be in for an impressive dispersal of talent. If they kept Hilda Svensson, Jocelyn Amos, Mira Jungaker, Maxine Cimeroni, and Sanni Vanhanen, it would mean not recruiting Canadian U-18 captain and national development team member Hayley McDonald, not keeping Canadian national development team member and senior Jordan Baxter, Slovakia national team member Ema Tothova, or former Canadian U-18 national team members Kate Viel, Alida Korte, Sydney Sawyer, Rowan Houweling, and defender Leah Wicks. 

Of the 217 players in NEWHA, 60, or 27.6% are international. NEWHA is the NCAA's weakest conference, and also features the lowest percentage of international players. Their numbers will change next season when one of only six programs sitting at 20% or below, Saint Anselm, drops to NCAA Division III. Were Saint Anselm removed, NEWHA's numbers would shift up to 29.5% international.