The NCAA is prepared to vote on a proposal that will allow Canadian major junior players to be immediately eligible to play college hockey.
The NCAA Division I Council is scheduled to take up a recommendation to adopt emergency legislation that would eliminate the prohibition on major junior players in NCAA hockey, according to a source. The council meets on Tuesday and Wednesday.
A committee studying eligbility concepts recommended the change, which would head off legal challenges to NCAA rules that have taken away eligibility for players who have appeared in major junior games.
Attorneys for Canadian player Rylan Masterson claimed in a lawsuit filed in August that the NCAA’s rule taking away eligibility for those who play games in the Canadian Hockey League violates U.S. antitrust laws.
It is not clear how quickly the legislation changing NCAA rules would take effect.
