Around the AHL: Why the NHL-CHL development agreement returns young stars to juniors

Players around the AHL are making a strong case to this season, some proving that they should stay at this level. However, the NHL-CHL development agreement prevents that from happening.

The NHL-CHL pact prevents a CHL player from joining an AHL club if he has remaining junior eligibility. As a general rule, that eligibility applies to players who are 20 and younger and who have not played four CHL seasons. 

The debate has simmered in the background over recent years, but the issue has largely remained theoretical, aside from a few exceptions like Filip Zadina 

With COVID-19 delaying play across much of the CHL for months this season, exemptions were given to junior players to head to the AHL. That meant the NHL and AHL could conduct a wide-ranging, real-life experiment featuring some of t