If a new US bill looking to restrict international athletes in the NCAA passes, the biggest winner could be Hockey Canada and U SPORTS. It would create an immediate shift moving many U SPORTS teams beyond NCAA programs in talent and depth.
If a new bill introduced to the United States House of Representatives passes, restricting the number of international players on an NCAA roster to 20%, the real winner could be Canadian university women's hockey.
It will come with some growing pains as U SPORTS programs seek to accommodate more talent and interest than ever, but ultimately, women's hockey will have a new opportunity in Canadian universities, which coincidentally enough, would fulfil one of Canada's own goals.
"Our university women’s hockey system can be strengthened by a Canadian Development Model that keeps more girls playing the game, giving U SPORTS women’s hockey programs more players to choose from," Chair of the Board Jonathan Goldbloom; Chair of Hockey Canada's Women's and Girls' Hockey Steering Committee and three-time Olympic gold medalist Gillian Apps; and Hockey Canada president and CEO Katherine Henderson wrote in a joint letter as part of Hockey Canada's Rise As One document.
Any restriction of international players in NCAA women's hockey would immediately cause the retention of more women's hockey talent in Canada, and could ultimately send more international talent from Europe and Asia to Canada as well.
Hockey Canada's Rise As One is proclaimed as a "blueprint for building women's and girls' hockey in Canada." It was published less than a year ago in December 2025.
In the document, Hockey Canada identified six key barriers to building the game in Canada, one of which was "A lack of support to better resource U SPORTS women’s hockey programs to keep more student-athletes at home."
The "lack of support to better resource" programs is an issue Hockey Canada would need to solve, rapidly, if the bill passes in the United States. That's due to the influx of talent that would be choosing U SPORTS schools instead of NCAA programs. Some of Canada's best will still choose the NCAA, but with roughly only five international roster spots per program, meaning an average of one international recruit per season in a five-year eligibility window, spots will be incredibly limited.
And while top programs like Ohio State, Wisconsin, Penn State, Northeastern, Minnesota, and Minnesota-Duluth would certainly continue carrying their max number of international players, other programs may not, and it may become a choice of players not to go to those weakened programs, instead choosing to stay in Canada or Europe for better development.
Last season, 41.4% of the NCAA's women's hockey player pool were international players. One third of the NCAA player pool in 2025-26 was born in Canada. A large portion of those players, perhaps as many as 250 roster spots or more, would be staying in Canada or moving to Canada, further strengthening U SPORTS pool. There would also be a chance, that as the calibre of U SPORTS took a step forward, that more players from Canada could choose U SPORTS as an alternative to the NCAA to pursue their professional and national team goals. Talent could follow talent as well attracting more European players to Canada.
The bulk of the otherwise NCAA bound talent returning to Canada, or staying in Canada, would come from Ontario, which could present a significant opportunity for the 14-team OUA to become U SPORTS' top conference.
Presently, the skill level of many U SPORTS programs already exceeds a number of NCAA programs. Conferences like NEWHA, and the bottom dwelling teams in the AHA, Hockey East, and ECAC would all find themselves on the wrong side of match ups against strong U SPORTS programs. If hundreds of players currently strengthening NCAA teams were now part of U SPORTS' talent pool, the NCAA and U SPORTS could potentially find themselves looking eye-to-eye competitively outside a small handful of the NCAA's schools and programs. Programs like Ohio State and Minnesota, who have 14 and 12 international players respectively, as well as nine Canadians each, would likely load up on more American standouts, but it would also be robbing other programs of those players, weakening other schools and NCAA women's hockey's depth. And it would displace more than a dozen top recruits from those programs alone.
While many point at the NCAA as U SPORTS' on ice superior, which a portion of the teams currently are, U SPORTS is already stronger than many NCAA teams, and has a history of producing pros heading each year to Europe and the PWHL.
This year, two U SPORTS athletes heard their names called in the 2026 PWHL Draft in University of British Columbia forward Grace Elliott (Seattle), and Concordia University's Émilie Lavoie (Montreal). U SPORTS alums Erica Reider (Montreal), who captained the University of Manitoba, and Gabriella Durante (Seattle) who backstopped the University of Calgary, and also starred for Italy at the 2026 Olympics were also picked. And days after the draft former Concordia Unviersity netminder and Olympian representing France, Alice Philbert, signed a two-year contract with Detroit. It's a small cry compared to the NCAA cohort that is entering the PWHL next season, but U SPORTS has continued to produce professional players, and has a history that includes multiple members of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
This season, Elliott, Lavoie, Durante, Philbert, and Reider could be joined by several other U SPORTS alumni on PWHL rosters as Vivian Hinch, Mathea Fischer, Chanreet Bassi (who was a draft pick of Vancouver in 2025), Annalise Wong, Kaitlyn Ross, Maggy Burbidge, Lyndsy Acheson, Kendra Zuchotzki, and others, have accepted free agent invites to PWHL training camps. Sarah Bujold who previously played in the PWHL during the league's inaugural season, and was a reserve to finish the season last year in New York, is also back in camp with the Sirens. Other notable former PWHL players who are U SPORTS alumnae include long-time Canadian national team star Melodie Daoust, as well as Ann-Sophie Bettez, Alex Poznikoff, Carley Olivier, Brigette Laganiere, and Lindsey Post.
Last season eight U SPORTS alumni played in the PWHL including Jade Downie-Landry, Emmy Fecteau, Alexandra Labelle, Catherine Dubois, Rylind MacKinnon, Kaitlin Willoughby, Kendra Woodland, and Kelly-Ann Nadeau. Downie-Landry, Labelle, Dubois, and Willoughby won the Walter Cup as members of the Montreal Victoire.
On the opposite side of that coin, two former PWHL draft picks, Audrey-Anne Veillette and Ilona Markova played in U SPORTS women's hockey last season with Veillette winning a national title with Montreal, and Markova advancing to the national championships with the University of British Columbia.
Historically, several women's hockey legends played U SPORTS hockey as well including USA's Cammi Granato. Granato, a Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, played at Concordia University, where former American national team captain and four-time USA Olympian Julie Chu is currently head coach. Current PWHL coach Carla MacLeod was coaching U SPORTS hockey at the University of Calgary prior to her hiring by the Ottawa Charge. Hall of Famer Hayley Wickenheiser played at the University of Calgary as well.
Getting a significant influx of talent that otherwise would have been headed for the NCAA, could quickly turn U SPORTS into a more significant producer of PWHL talent, and perhaps even national team talent. Hockey Canada did invite University of British Columbia's Jaylyn Morris and Concordia's Émilie Lussier to their national development team summer showcase. And new Hockey Canada women's national team general manager Danièle Sauvageau, who is the general manager of the Walter Cup champion Montreal Victoire, and who was the first woman ever inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder, spent seven seasons as general manager of the University of Montreal prior to joining the PWHL.
At the top, the NCAA has been the superior collegiate or university league for years, and it would still take a major shift for U SPORTS to overtake those top teams. The overall depth of the NCAA, however, compared to that of U SPORTS hockey in the future, could in for a change.
If the US bill set to limit international participation to 20% in NCAA women's hockey, it would make U SPORTS arguably deeper, more balanced, and more competitive than the NCAA in many cases. It would be a shift that would accomplish Canada's own goals, and one that could derail a crucial development stage in the United States for many.
