The QMJHL seems to be doing just fine in the ever-changing hockey development landscape.
While the league hasn't had as many high NHL Draft picks as the OHL and WHL in recent years, things could shift in 2027.
Despite being the only CHL league without an American team, the QMJHL has received a huge boost of U.S. talent thanks to the NCAA's rule change allowing ex-CHL players. The Q opened the season with 68 U.S. players, up from 48 last season and 16 in 2024-25.
QMJHL commissioner Mario Cecchini, entering his fourth full season on the job, is guiding the league through some wild times. He recently sat down with Sportsnet to discuss all things Q.
The interview has been edited slightly for length and clarity.
Sportsnet: This is the second full year of this brand new world we're in with the NCAA allowing ex-CHL players. How do you feel you're positioned?
Mario Cecchini: If we go back a little bit in time when it all started, I always liked to put it in perspective. The first thing I had said, if you remember, was we were happy for the parents and the players that they don't need to make a decision at 13, 14, 15 of where they're going to play when they're older. That holds true right now, that decision can come much later and see where they are in their development... We had said it was going to take two, three years to absorb all of that.
So the second year, we've lost — if I start with the negative, quote-unquote — eight players that are 19 years old that we would have loved to retain. It's not the exodus that a lot of people have told me. First of all, in the Quebec league, there's a language situation. Understanding forecheck, backcheck and having a conversation in the locker room in English is one thing when it's not your first language. But following a course of law and business in English is a different story. So that helps us. But at the end of the day, we've put a lot of work into ... what we do to make the experience better (for players). Every team has raised the standards.
On the very good side, we've seen this influx of talent coming in at 16, 17 that makes us a destination, makes us more international ... That influx of talent clearly overshadows, if you will, the players who are leaving, which in our case is not a lot of players.
SN: It seems like this year with Carter Meyer in Quebec, Jamie Glance in Saint John, Moncton's got a ton of Americans; there is even better U.S. talent. I assume you're thrilled about these kinds of players.
MC: We are thrilled. Our goal has tweaked a bit. Our goal has been on the ice; we can now welcome everybody. Either Europeans, who were telling us before, 'Don't draft me because I want to go to the NCAA.' Now, they're not saying that. Plus the Americans, of course, because they can come up and play. They obviously want to play at a higher calibre to get better and have more visibility.
SN: There'd be fewer Canadians in your league than there were a couple years ago. Is that a concern at all?
MC: Yes, it's on the agenda. Everywhere I go in the stands, parents are asking me. Obviously, when you open up a territory and new players come in, if the calibre goes up, you have to accept it. Therefore, it means that some players who were there before are no longer there. Obviously, the answer right now is in sort of two or three parts.
First of all, if you're a destination for the best players, it's very hard to tell our (teams) don't bring in more talent. Because you want to develop it, and we want to develop them for the NHL, and have them also very conscious that schooling in our league is extremely important. We take pride in the fact that our school process is good; you always have to go to school when you're in the Q. Therefore, you're prepared also to go to the NCAA.
... Then we also say the Canadians who now play in our leagues will get better because they play with better players. It is an elite league; it's more international. We cannot say at this point of time before we have any sort of deal with USA Hockey or the NCAA. We cannot accept to lose some players at the top end but not being able to refill the talent at the bottom end. We need to add those 16-, 17-(year-old players), making sure we have the best available players.
"For the person who wants us to protect Canadians or have some sort of quota, we're not there right now. We're still in the two, three years allowing all that dust to settle. We'll see where it goes. Specifically, right now, one of the provinces in our league is Hockey Quebec, who is going to present in November a retooled development plan. We were part of that. Our hockey operations VP was part of that group. ... We're part of that conversation to make Quebecers and Maritime players better and therefore earn their spot when they come to the age of playing in our league.
SN: There's no transfer agreement right now with USA Hockey. Are you still hopeful for one?
MC: It didn't work this summer, so we are now deferring to IIHF rules. We are very comfortable with that. What it means on an administrative basis is that basically some things that could have taken an hour or a day now could take a week. It's even cheaper from a transfer point of view in some cases, but the appeal process can be much longer. So it's different rules. The guys are used to it because of the European players.
But as we mentioned, this is not like the tariff wars. We're on very good speaking terms with USA Hockey and even the USHL. We disagree on the amount of money; we disagree on how to view player movement. But the conversation is ongoing, and as it often does, we may have a better conversation now that there is no deadline (as there was last season). We'll see how it goes. I'm hopeful; I'm always hopeful.
SN: I know you've talked about U.S. expansion. Do you need a transfer agreement to make that happen, or are these separate issues?
MC: We don't necessarily need a transfer agreement, but the transfer agreement we negotiate is with USA Hockey. It's the same regulatory body, USA Hockey, that would sanction us. So at the end of the day, it becomes intertwined. Right now, they have said they don't (want) to sanction any expansion until the dust settles a little bit. I'm paraphrasing, so they will excuse me if I'm not extremely precise. But that's basically what we get. And we want to do it properly.
Unfortunately, it's pushing back the agenda a little bit. But the next year or so will be extremely important in how we move forward.
SN: What is your goal in terms of expansion?
MC: Well, the board has approved two more teams, based in the U.S., because there is demand. There are groups. ... Every time I make comments, I get calls. They want to tell me they're still there, their hands are up in the air, and they want to know. There's no solid junior calibre in the northeastern part of the United States. It's, to some extent, right in the middle of our geography. We have a wide geography, so it's really not a disturbance from that point of view.
Ultimately, if it never works with USA Hockey, we're happy with 18 (teams), but then I'm also probably going to look at the Canadian territory. There are a couple of regions that could potentially (have a team) if they want to build a building or find someone that's interested, the right investor, that it could work. But we will push the agenda until the end in the U.S.
Games to watch in CHL this week
Regina Pats (0-1) at Brandon Wheat Kings (1-0), Friday, 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT
Pats super sophomores Maddox Schultz and Liam Pue battle Wheat Kings centre Jaxon Jacobson, a top prospect for the 2027 NHL Draft.
Cape Breton Eagles (0-0-2) at Saint John Sea Dogs (1-1), Saturday, 3 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. AT
The Eagles are the top-ranked QMJHL team in the CHL ranking at No. 3, and were missing several key NHL prospects on opening weekend. Meanwhile, there are high hopes for the Sea Dogs this season with new coach Jim Hulton at the helm.
Brampton Steelheads (0-3) at Sudbury Wolves (2-0), Sunday, 2:05 p.m. ET
Wolves rookie Tanner Adams plays his first game against the team that drafted him third overall this year. Adams and his family, from Northern Ontario, wanted him to play closer to home, and the forward didn't report to Brampton. The Wolves acquired him in a deal just before the season that saw the Steelheads get 17 draft picks. Adams has scored in each of his first two games.
