Monday, February 6, 2023
Paths: British Columbia and NCAA Hockey
Province Sent 125 Players to DI Men’s Hockey in 2025-26
January 20, 2026
By Chris Meriney, Sean Hogan and Jayson Hajdu
The development of an aspiring young hockey player rarely occurs in a straight line. Similarly, a player’s development path can sometimes be as jagged as the Rocky Mountains. The latter is not the case in British Columbia, where a player can play his minor hockey and junior hockey in British Columbia and earn an opportunity in the NCAA.
In 2025-26 alone, a whopping 125 NCAA Division I men’s hockey players had come to college hockey from the province of British Columbia. Nineteen of them are NHL draft picks. At least 16 of them wear a letter for their teams.
Matthew Wood was one of many British Columbia players who opted to stay within their home province to play their minor hockey and junior hockey (BCHL) prior to arriving to college hockey and, eventually, the NHL. After his freshman NCAA season at UConn, Wood was selected 15th overall by the Nashville Predators in the 2023 NHL Draft.
His path closely mirrored that of Kent Johnson, a Port Moody native who played his minor hockey in B.C., matriculated to junior hockey (BCHL), and earned a scholarship to the University of Michigan. Following his freshman year with the Wolverines, Columbus made Johnson the fifth overall pick in the NHL Draft in 2021.
The path from British Columbia to the NHL via the NCAA has been heavily traversed dating back decades, a trail blazed by the likes of Vancouver’s Paul Kariya and Pitt Meadows’ Brendan Morrison. Both captured the prestigious Hobey Baker Memorial Award as the top player in NCAA Division I men’s hockey – Kariya with Maine and Morrison with Michigan – on their way to NHL stardom.
That path is as reliable as it is well-worn.
How Does It Happen?
NCAA Division I men’s hockey rosters in 2025-26 feature 125 players from British Columbia, a total that trails only Ontario (208) among Canadian provinces. College Hockey Inc. tracked and studied the paths of those players, and several noteworthy themes revealed themselves:
- British Columbians are primarily playing in three leagues at age 17: the BCHL, WHL and CSSHL.
- Roughly 16% of these players are not yet playing junior hockey at age 17.
- The average age a player from British Columbia will earn their NCAA commitment is 19.
It is important to understand that the recruiting process for NCAA hockey does not typically start until a player is 18 or 19 years old while that player is playing junior hockey in the BCHL or WHL.
The Data: Hockey Before NCAA
The average commitment age of players from British Columbia was 19 years old. An overwhelming majority of those players – 88 percent of them – earned their commitments while playing in junior hockey leagues.
Five of the 125 players studied earned their commitments while playing minor hockey.
Hockey players in British Columbia have numerous viable options en route to the NCAA. However, three themes bear repeating: 1) approximately 15 percent of the players studied are not playing junior hockey at age 17; 2) 88 percent of the players studied received their commitments while playing in junior hockey leagues; and 3) the majority of the players studied essentially played in three leagues – the BCHL, WHL and CSSHL.
| Where they were playing when they earned their NCAA commitments: | |
| League | No. |
| BCHL | 75 |
| WHL | 30 |
| USports | 7 |
| CSSHL | 5 |
| AJHL | 4 |
| SJHL | 3 |
| NAHL | 3 |
| AHL | 1 |
| ECHL | 1 |
| Prep | 1 |
| USHL | 1 |
| VIJHL | 1 |
| Where they were playing at 17: | |
| League | No. |
| BCHL | 64 |
| WHL | 30 |
| CSSHL | 12 |
| U18 AAA | 7 |
| VIJHL | 3 |
| PIJHL | 3 |
| KIJHL | 3 |
| AJHL | 1 |
| Prep | 1 |
| USHL | 1 |
Case Study I: Devon Toews
Now a star defenseman for the Colorado Avalanche, Devon Toews never left his home province on his way to the NCAA.
The Abbotsford native worked his way through the PCBHL, BCEHL and PIJHL before spending two seasons with the BCHL’s Surrey Eagles. During his rookie season with Surrey in 2011-12, Toews landed a commitment to ECAC powerhouse Quinnipiac University. One year later, he helped the Eagles win the BCHL’s Fred Page Cup and was named the Centennial Cup (formerly the RBC Cup) Top Defenseman.
“The Surrey Eagles gave me a chance, and the opportunity to go to college stuck out to me,” Toews told Vancouver’s Sportsnet 650 in 2020. “Having a degree to fall back on was very important, as a career in hockey doesn’t work out for everyone.”
Toews’ developmental trajectory continued upward once at Quinnipiac. He was selected in the fourth round of the NHL Draft by the New York Islanders following his freshman campaign in 2013-14. Two years later, Toews and the Bobcats played in the NCAA championship game.
In the book Sticks and Stones: How College Hockey Prepares You for Life by Russ Cohen and Adam Wodon, Toews reiterated that college hockey was his logical next step.
“…this culture of every day getting better, every day a new opportunity. The culture is seamless. The expectations never drift or vary. I brought those philosophies to the pros,” said Toews.
Fast-forward to the present, and Toews is now one of the top two-way defensemen in the NHL and a vital piece of a dynamic Avalanche squad.
Case Study II: Kai Daniells
Patience has been the hallmark of Kai Daniells’ hockey development.
A native of Whistler and a graduate of South Delta Secondary School, Daniells spent four seasons showing out in the CSSHL before advancing to the BCHL. After a 2020-21 season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, Daniells starred for Nanaimo the next two years, racking up 57 goals and 113 points in 108 games with the Clippers.
His productivity landed him at Princeton University, where he had direct family ties. More than that, he had opportunity.
“I also had the ability to play a big role and play a lot early, which was the other reason,” Daniells recently told College Hockey News. “You get tested in and out of school here, which helps in all aspects of life and on the ice.”
After a productive freshman season and an injury-marred sophomore campaign, Daniells has emerged as one of the top NCAA players in 2025-26. He ranks second in the nation in points per game (1.56) at the time of this writing and leads the nationally-ranked Tigers in scoring.
His patient development path continues to bear fruit; an undrafted free agent, Daniells will undoubtedly be in high demand among NHL teams.
“I played four years at the same academy, three years at the same team in the BCHL and now three years at Princeton,” Daniells said, “so loyalty is important to me.
Our data is loud and clear: aspiring hockey players in British Columbia do not need to leave their home province during minor hockey and youth hockey to pursue NCAA opportunities. Players can play well in British Columbia and earn junior hockey opportunities in the WHL or BCHL, where most NCAA recruiting will begin.
That throughline – playing minor hockey at home, followed by junior hockey in your home province, on the way to college hockey — among the vast majority of collegiate hockey players from British Columbia is instructive.
The province and the BCHL – and now WHL – are widely scouted by NCAA Division I coaches and is regarded by those same coaches as a vital proving ground for the players they are recruiting. British Columbians should take comfort knowing that they can play minor and junior hockey in their own province, perform well, and have opportunities to play college hockey.
Click HERE to read more College Hockey Inc. ‘Paths’ studies.
