In July, Penn State landed Gavin McKenna, the projected first overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and reigning Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Player of the Year, on a reported six-figure NIL (name, image, likeness, or endorsement) package that ESPN has called the biggest in college hockey to date.
This is a sign that Division I programs will begin to occupy more recruiting space than other major junior options. For players from Finland, it is a clear signal that NCAA hockey is no longer just an education path, but a serious, well-funded option in the global development race. When gravity shifts that much inside North American hockey, it reshapes the pathways that feed the NHL, including Finland’s.
What NIL and House Actually Changed
Two pieces reshaped the college landscape. First, NIL rules. Since 2021, NCAA athletes have been allowed to earn from endorsements, appearances and social media so long as they stay within school and state guidelines. That alone put college hockey on a different financial footing than it had for most of its history.
Then, in June 2025, the House v. NCAA settlement went through. A federal judge approved a $2.8 billion antitrust deal that allows Division I schools to share revenue directly with athletes, up to roughly $20.5 million per year starting in 2025–26. Many schools will funnel most of that toward football and basketball, but the settlement makes revenue sharing part of the normal vocabulary for every DI athlete, hockey included.
The numbers will vary by school, conference and donor base, but the important point is that college hockey now sits in a world where athletes expect real cash on top of scholarships. When a Big Ten program can put six-figure NIL and revenue-sharing budgets on the table, it changes who will listen to the pitch.
Related: A New Route to the NHL? Gavin McKenna’s NCAA Shift Sends a Message
NCAA Opens Its Doors To CHL Players
At almost the same time, the NCAA rewrote a rule that had shaped Canadian Junior decisions for decades. In November 2024, the Division I Council voted to make CHL players eligible for Division I men’s hockey, effective August 1, 2025, as long as they are not paid more than “actual and necessary expenses” in the CHL.
For years, the CHL was considered professional in the eyes of the NCAA, which effectively made it and DI rival tracks. Now, a player can skate in the Western Hockey League or Ontario Hockey League, then move to the NCAA if compensation fits inside the amateur line.
Recruiting writers have already described it as a new era. One early analyst noted that in the first recruiting cycle after the change, roughly one-third of incoming DI freshmen had CHL experience, and more than 80% of Division I teams dipped into the CHL pool to upgrade their rosters. Put that beside NIL and House, and the picture is simple: college hockey now has more money and a bigger talent pool.
Related: How the CHL Ban Lift Is Changing NCAA Hockey Message
Why NHL GMs Care Before We Even Talk About Finland
For NHL front offices, this shift changes three major areas of recruiting:
- It gives high-end prospects like McKenna a viable choice between staying in the CHL or playing in the NCAA while still earning real money.
- Players who would have gone straight to the CHL or stayed in Junior A can join DI hockey, especially if they can slot in as older freshmen.
- It squeezes others down. When CHL grads and older draft picks take up roster spots at big programs, some traditional DI recruits are pushed down to Division III, club hockey or back to leagues like the United States Hockey League, North American Hockey League or British Columbia Hockey League.
NCAA now has the momentum to become a crowded, cash-backed environment that already touches World Juniors, 4 Nations Face-Off rosters, and NHL playoff lineups. Once that ecosystem shifts, it alters European routes whether those leagues like it or not.
The Old Finnish Map: Two Real Choices
Ten years ago, a typical Finnish junior player’s map was easy to sketch. At home, they climbed the familiar ladder: U16, U18, U20 SM-sarja, then Liiga or Mestis. The top Finnish tier offered early pro minutes, real salaries, and a direct line of sight for NHL scouts. Finnish development research and retrospective work on Liiga players who reached the NHL both highlight how valuable earning eighteen and nineteen-year-old pro minutes are to translating the game to North America.
For those chasing a North American look, the CHL was the main off-ramp. A handful of Finnish skaters came over to adapt to smaller ice and live inside the CHL scouting loop. The NCAA was there, but it was niche, mostly accessible for specific profiles like goalies or older defensive prospects.
Statistics back that up. Quant Hockey’s nationality trends show that Finns were a small but steady slice of NCAA rosters through the 2010s and early 2020s, not a major cohort, even as the European presence broadly grew in college hockey. In that world, the big decision for a high-end Finnish teen was simple: stay in Liiga or jump to the CHL. That is not a set decision anymore.
New Gravity, New Options For Finnish Juniors
The combination of NIL money, House revenue sharing and CHL eligibility has given the NCAA three new selling points for a Finnish teenager and his family.
- Development Environment
Top DI programs can now offer NHL-style facilities and a deep support staff, along with a schedule that feels closer to NHL demands than a traditional junior loop. The volume of NCAA alumni on NHL rosters and their presence at events like the 4 Nations makes the sales pitch more convincing.
- Real Money, Even Outside Football Schools
While football will eat most of the $20.5 million revenue cap at many universities, Big Ten schools and power conferences have already talked openly about six-figure NIL and revenue-sharing pools for hockey. A Finnish player might not match McKenna’s level, but the idea of being paid something, not just scholarship value, is now part of a normal hockey conversation.
- Flexibility With CHL Experience
Once playing in the CHL no longer automatically closes the NCAA door, a Finnish player can try the CHL first and still look at DI as they develop and grow. All of that sits on top of Liiga’s existing pull. Finland can still offer pro jobs at eighteen. Liiga clubs still sign teenagers to multi-year deals, develop them and sell the idea of a stable domestic path. The difference is that the NCAA is now a genuine option, not a curiosity.
When the NCAA pulls harder, it also puts pressure on North American Junior teams. Players squeezed out of DI by older CHL grads or high-profile recruits are more likely to drop into tier II leagues or head to Europe for opportunity, which feeds back into how much ice time and visibility a Finnish import might have in those leagues.
A kid in Espoo now has four serious routes to turning pro instead of two: stay in Finland longer, jump to the CHL, target the NCAA directly through USHL or tier II, or find the right combination of options to develop.
Current Finnish NCAA Landscape
Even though the NIL deal is expected to shift more players towards the NCAA, there is already a strong contingent of Finnish players in the program now. Quant Hockey’s nationality pages show the number of Finnish players climbing from season to season.
On the individual side, there are clear examples that NHL clubs now think of the NCAA as a normal Finnish pathway, not a side road:
- Harvard’s Finnish goaltender Aku Koskenvuo turned three collegiate seasons into a two-year entry-level contract with the Vancouver Canucks in March 2025.
- Defenseman Joona Väisänen, a product of Kiekko Espoo and the USHL, moved into Western Michigan and onto the Pittsburgh Penguins’ prospect list, illustrating a route that runs Finland to USHL to DI to NHL rights.
- Forward Samu Salminen went from Jokerit’s U20 team to a third-round pick by the New Jersey Devils, then into the NCAA, now playing a key role at Denver.
Those players are not the only stories. They are signals that Finnish families and NHL organizations have slowly started using the NCAA in ways that would have been rare a decade ago, and are expected to grow more as the NIL impact settles.
Sidenote: Why Paperwork, Not Talent, Can Decide a Finn’s Route
When a Finnish player crosses borders, four sets of rules come into play. The IIHF’s international transfer regulations and International Transfer Card system are designed, in their own words, to maintain “worldwide good order” and protect both players and clubs. Any move from one national association to another requires formal approval and can affect a player’s eligibility for IIHF tournaments like the World Juniors or World Championships.
On the immigration side, most European students in the United States are on F-1 visas, which restricts off-campus employment. University counsel and sports law firms have warned that many NIL deals can seem like “work” if they involve ongoing promotional activity in the United States, which forces international athletes to structure deals carefully or keep much of their NIL activity off U.S. soil. Layer NCAA amateur rules and existing contracts in Finland on top of that, and it becomes clear why “just join the NCAA” is not a button a Finnish teenager can push by himself.
What NHL GMs Should Watch Next
For NHL clubs, the implication is straightforward. The days of thinking in single leagues are over. Smart organizations will map out pathways, not destinations. If they draft a Finnish player in 2026, they are not just deciding whether he fits in Liiga or their American Hockey League affiliate depth chart. They are now also asking:
- Does his existing contract in Finland leave room for a college route if that becomes the best fit?
- How crowded will his position be in the NCAA with more CHL grads and high-end recruits chasing NIL and revenue-sharing spots?
- Is a CHL stop the right way to acclimate, or does that create too much friction with transfer rules and later NCAA options?
- Which partners, in Finland and in North America, do they trust to keep the paperwork and visa side clean so the player can focus on hockey?
The talent is still there in Finland. The coaching, the rink culture, the defensive habits that have fed NHL rosters for years are not going anywhere. What has changed is the difficulty in joining North American college hockey. NIL and House money, plus CHL eligibility, have turned the NCAA into another strong option in the development map.
The clubs that thrive in this era will be the ones that can steer a Finnish prospect cleanly through the changing development options, so their prime years are spent on the ice.
