Numerous players have committed to making the shift as the CHL model has been shaken to its core
The great exodus continues from the Western Hockey League to the U.S. collegiate NCAA.
Victoria Royals captain Justin Kipkie will play next season for the Arizona State Sun Devils to become the fourth Royals player to make the leap to the NCAA. Kipkie, a defenceman who was selected by the Minnesota Wild in the fifth round of this year’s NHL draft, was eligible to return to Victoria as one of three allowable 20-year-olds.
Royals star forward Cole Reschny, selected 18th overall in the first round of the 2025 NHL draft by the Calgary Flames, and highly-touted Royals defenceman Keaton Verhoeff, ranked in the top five for the 2026 NHL draft, were the first big WHL players in the 17-18 age range to take advantage of the NCAA rule passed last year allowing Canadian Hockey League players to play in the NCAA. Reschny and Verhoeff will play next season for the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks.
They were followed this week by Royals forward Teydon Trembecky, who broke out for 46 goals and 88 points last regular season and nine goals and 19 points in 11 playoff games, committing to the Michigan Tech Huskies. Trembecky was eligible to return to Victoria as a 20-year-old.
The biggest splash, however, was made by 17-year-old prodigy Gavin McKenna, the consensus projected No. 1 overall pick for the 2026 NHL draft, who announced this week he is leaving the defending WHL champion Medicine Hat Tigers for the Penn State Nittany Lions of the NCAA.
Defenceman Jackson Smith of the Tri-City Americans of the WHL, selected 14th overall in the first round of this year’s NHL draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets, will join McKenna at Penn State as the trickle became a flood. Joining McKenna and Smith at Penn State will be Calgary Flames prospect Luke Misa of the Brampton Steelheads of the Ontario Hockey League. Numerous other players have also committed to making the shift as the CHL model has been shaken to its core. The CHL governs the major-junior WHL, OHL and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.
Before the exodus, the Tigers and defending B.C. Division-champion Royals were favoured to meet in the 2026 WHL final. But the Royals have lost four top players and the Tigers lost not only a generational talent in McKenna but also other key players from their 2025 WHL championship team to the NCAA — Cayden Lindstrom to the Michigan State Spartans and Ryder Ritchie to Boston University.
“Any player we’ve lost, it’s hard to lose them,” Tigers head coach and GM Willie Desjardins told theMedicine Hat News.
“We honestly had built a team that I thought had a really good chance of winning the [Memorial] Cup this year.
“With Gavin, you can never take a guy like that out of your lineup and have it not be a big loss. You can say whatever you want, it’s a huge loss.
“The NCAA rule change probably couldn’t have caught us at a worse time with the group that we assembled. The thing is, whatever life gives you, you have to make it work.”
TheTimes Colonisthas contacted the Royals but the club has made no comment about the situation to this point.
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