The USA Hockey National Team Development Program has been the gold standard for player development in the United States. The program has produced several stars, first-round picks and Olympic gold medallists. But this off-season, the program is facing significant adversity, with players requesting releases.
At least six players departed the NTDP this off-season, including 2027 projected top-10 pick Carter Meyer, Kane Barch, Jake Boguniecki, Broden McArthur, and Alexander Milojevic, as the program experienced an unusual wave of exits after a very rough season. If there was one defining moment that completely changed the NTDP, it came on June 21, 2019. The NTDP made NHL draft history that night, producing eight first-round picks, which is the most ever from a single team in one draft.
Jack Hughes went first overall to the New Jersey Devils, while Alex Turcotte (5th), Trevor Zegras (9th), Matthew Boldy (12th), Spencer Knight (13th), Cam York (14th), Cole Caufield (15th) and John Beecher (30th) all heard their names called before the first night was over. By the end of the weekend, 17 players had been selected directly from the program, which was another NHL draft record.
This felt like the turning point for a program that was already rapidly producing NHL talent; it became simple: if you were an American hockey player, you hoped to make the development program, and then they turned you into a first-round pick. It was the clearest path to the pro level for Americans, but later on it wouldn't become the only great path to the NHL.
Although the NTDP isn’t what it once was, it’s still a great pipeline for future pros, but the decline was very rapid. Be Like Mack: 2027 Draft Prospect Carter Meyer Is Hoping To Be The Next Great NHL Center This story featured in The Hockey News' Draft Preview edition. Since then, Carter Meyer, a 2027 NHL draft prospect, has decided to leave the US NTDP and join the Quebec Remparts in the QMJHL for the 2026-27 season.
He is expected to join Boston University for the 2028-29 season. In 2024, the NTDP produced two first-round picks in Cole Eiserman and EJ Emery as part of a 13-player draft class. Two years later, the 2026 draft saw Wyatt Cullen become the only first-round selection, and Cullen wasn’t expected to be selected in that draft range before his growth spurt occurred.
Those are strong results by most standards, but they also reflect a program that is no longer producing the top American players each season. For years, the program offered America's top prospects a development path that was impossible for anyone else to match. Players received elite coaching, international competition, and a direct route to NCAA hockey without having to choose between college eligibility and major junior.
That equation changed in November 2024, when the NCAA voted to allow CHL players to play in college hockey beginning with the 2025-26 season. The decision shut down one of the NTDP's biggest recruiting advantages. Prospects no longer had to choose between playing in Canadian major junior and preserving their college eligibility.
One thing that has also hurt the program is the team's success in the USHL, where they’ve missed the playoffs the past three seasons and finished with a 17-40-5 record in the 2025-26 season. What’s next for the NTDP lies in the hands of alumnus Kevin Porter, who was with the program from 2002 to 2004. Memorial Cup-Winning Coach Hopes To Someday Bring'Position-Less Hockey' To The NHL Jussi Ahokas joins the Colorado Avalanche's AHL affiliate after winning the Memorial Cup with the Kitchener Rangers.
His creative coaching style and transition to North America make him an intriguing Finnish bench boss. He was then a star at the University of Michigan, where he won the Hobey Baker Award in 2008 as the country’s best player. He bounced