NAHL vs NCDC
- Nick Brusa
- Sep 27, 2025
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 31, 2025
NAHL vs NCDC: Key Differences in College Commitments, Draft Picks, and League Structure
This settles the debate. Let me help you make an informed decision by comparing college commitments, draft picks, league norms as well as show you some similarities between the two. Hopefully aiding you in your future endeavors by reading what I have gathered in my research. A short description below of the two: NAHL vs NCDC
NAHL
308 College Commitments (22-23 Season)
45 players selected in USHL Draft Phase 2 (22-23 Season)
32 Teams
Established in 1984
10 Tenders a team
4 import spots per team
NAHL Draft June 14
(Eligible players for the draft are amateur players under 21 years old, who are not listed on an NAHL team roster or have played fewer than 10 NAHL regular season and/or playoff games in the 2022-23 season and have not accepted a tender from an NAHL team before the draft.)
Undrafted players can reach out to coaching staff to tryout or advisor based fee to earn opportunity to make team
All NAHL rosters must be reduced to 25 players by September 1.
NCDC
20 College Commitments (22-23 Season)
2 players selected in USHL Draft Phase 2 (22-23 Season)
20 Teams (Upcoming 23-24 Season)
Established in 2012
Player can sign team agreement
Pulled Up/Down USPHL Affiliate
NCDC Draft April 25
BOTH
Team pays for players' ice time, travel costs, and most equipment.
Players live with billet families during the season, and they are responsible for a monthly fee to cover room and board.
High school student-athletes can leave home to play in the NAHL/NCDC and enroll in a high school in their NAHL/NCDC town
If you play in the NAHL, it significantly increases your chance to advance, whether to move up to the USHL or obtain your college commitment. The reason being: even though the NCDC markets itself “Tier 2” the numbers don’t add up in terms of player advancement. The results marked the polarity in my findings. Looking into the correlation between these two league and those players entered in Phase 2 of the USHL Draft, 45>2 by a landslide. 45 players selected from NAHL teams while only 2 players made it from the NCDC.
The NAHL has 300 players committing to play college (NCAA Div 1 & 3) while the NCDC has 20.
It is important to note these numbers can change year to year I am taking the statistics from the 22-23 season. Here is where I sourced my information.
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