For Players Like Justin Hryckowian, NCAA Rule Changes Opens a New Development Path

Justin Hryckowian (Credit: Andy Nietupski/Texas Stars)Amid all the NHL and AHL news coming in the last month, the bubble finally burst last week on something that has been percolating for several years in the NCAA world. After pressure from players and a proposed class-action lawsuit from major junior player Rylan Masterson, the NCAA has finally relented on their stance that major junior players are ineligible to play collegiate hockey in the United States.

As a primer, the NCAA has strict rules about eligibility across all sports. In hockey, specifically, the athletics arbiter had previously held that any participation in the Canadian major junior system would make a player ineligible for…