What Is the OHL?

Many families first hear about the OHL when a player begins attracting attention and someone mentions a draft. The questions usually follow quickly: What level is it? How old are the players? Do they get paid? And does playing in the OHL eliminate the NCAA college hockey option?

That last answer changed in 2025. OHL players can now retain NCAA Division I eligibility, provided they meet the NCAA’s academic and amateurism requirements.

Here is how the OHL works and how the league now fits alongside the NCAA pathway.

What Is the OHL?

OHL stands for the Ontario Hockey League. It is one of the three leagues that make up the Canadian Hockey League, alongside the Western Hockey League and the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.

For a broader explanation of how Major Junior, Junior A and Junior B fit together, read Canadian Junior Hockey Leagues Explained.

The OHL generally includes players from ages 16 to 20. In rare cases, a 15 year old who receives "exceptional player" status can enter the league a year early.

Each team plays a 68 game regular season. The 2026–27 season opened on September 17, 2026. The playoff champion receives the J. Ross Robertson Cup and advances to the Memorial Cup, where it competes against the WHL and QMJHL champions and the host team. The Guelph Storm will host the tournament in 2027.

How Many Teams Are in the OHL?

The OHL has 20 teams and it's organized into two conferences with four divisions. The Eastern Conference contains the East and Central divisions, while the Western Conference contains the Midwest and West divisions. Each division has five teams.

Seventeen teams are based in Ontario. The other three are in the United States: the Erie Otters in Pennsylvania, the Flint Firebirds and Saginaw Spirit in Michigan.

Conference	Division	Teams
Eastern	East	Brantford Bulldogs, Kingston Frontenacs, Oshawa Generals, Ottawa 67’s, Peterborough Petes
Eastern	Central	Barrie Colts, Brampton Steelheads, Niagara IceDogs, North Bay Battalion, Sudbury Wolves
Western	Midwest	Erie Otters, Guelph Storm, Kitchener Rangers, London Knights, Owen Sound Attack
Western	West	Flint Firebirds, Saginaw Spirit, Sarnia Sting, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Windsor Spitfires

What Is the OHL Age Limit?

The normal age range is 16 to 20, with specific rules at both ends.

• 16 year olds: An OHL team may register a maximum of four 16 year old players from the "Priority Selection". The first two are the team’s first two 16 year olds selected in the draft. The team may then designate as many as two additional drafted players as “wild cards.”

  A wild card is a 16 year old selected in any later round whom the team believes is ready to play full time in the OHL. The designation makes that player eligible to sign and occupy one of the team’s four available 16 year old roster positions.

  Other drafted 16 year olds can appear as affiliated players for up to 10 games. They may play additional regular season or playoff games after their youth or junior team’s season has ended.

• 20 year olds: These players are considered "Over-Agers". A team may dress a maximum of three overage players in a game. Clubs can temporarily protect more than three, but for the 2026–27 season they must reduce their overage protected list to three by January 7, 2027.

  
  

• 15 year olds: A player can enter the OHL at 15 only after receiving "exceptional player" status from Hockey Canada. It is deliberately rare. Six players have received it in OHL history, most recently Michael Misa in 2022. Hockey Canada denied an exceptional status application for the 2026–27 season.

When Is the OHL Draft?

The OHL Priority Selection is the league’s main draft and the route through which most players enter the league.

In 2026, it was held June 12–13 at Slush Puppie Place in Kingston. It was the first in person OHL Priority Selection since 2000, with the first round held Friday night and rounds two through 15 completed Saturday.

The draft primarily featured North American players born in 2010, although eligible older players who had not previously been selected were also included. American players were eligible throughout all 15 rounds. The 2026 draft included 81 players from American based teams, including high school, prep and AAA programs.

A total of 301 players were selected. 289 players selected were born in 2010, eight in 2009 and four in 2008.

Draft dates and formats can change, so families should check the OHL’s official announcement for the 2027 dates rather than assuming the event will remain in June.

The league also holds a separate OHL Under-18 Priority Selection. The 2026 event took place online on June 8 and was open to eligible 2008 and 2009 born players from Ontario based U18 AAA teams and Hockey Canada sport schools.

Each team was required to make two selections. A team that selected a goaltender in the first two rounds could make an additional skater selection in a third round.

Import Rules

Import players are players from outside Canada and the United States. American players are not classified as imports in the OHL.

Beginning with the 2025–26 season, each CHL team was permitted to carry as many as three import players. Those players are generally selected through the three round CHL Import Draft. The 2026 draft was held on June 30.

A team may carry only one 16 year old import per season. Beginning with the 2026 draft, 16 year old imports could be selected only in the first round. Once selected and rostered, that player cannot be traded or replaced by another import during his 16 year old season.

Do OHL Players Get Paid?

OHL players do not receive professional salaries in the way AHL or NHL players do. They receive approved benefits through their Scholarship and Development Agreements, including equipment, billeting, meals, education support and other hockey related expenses. Those benefits can have significant value, but they are not the same as wages.

There have also been persistent rumors that certain teams offer recruits or their families more than the league permits. The stories usually involve cash, vehicles, housing, family travel, employment for relatives or education packages beyond the standard agreement. Most of those claims circulate privately and cannot be verified.

The rumors are not entirely without context. The OHL has sanctioned teams for violating its player benefit and recruitment rules. In 2012, the Windsor Spitfires were fined $400,000 and stripped of five draft picks. In 2019, the Niagara IceDogs acknowledged violating recruitment rules, resulting in a $150,000 fine and the loss of a first round pick. In both cases, the league did not publicly disclose all the details of the violations.

Those cases establish that improper benefits have occurred. They do not establish that every successful OHL organization secretly pays its players or that under the table compensation is normal across the league.

Families should separate three different things:

• Benefits written into the player’s official agreement

• Additional benefits approved and documented by the league

• Private promises or side agreements that do not appear in the contract

The third category is where the risk begins. A verbal promise is difficult to enforce, may violate league rules and could create eligibility or tax questions. If a team offers something beyond the standard agreement, the family should ask for it in writing and have the agreement reviewed independently before the player signs.

The honest answer is that OHL players receive substantial approved support and there have been documented cases involving improper recruiting benefits.

The NCAA Rule Change

On November 7, 2024, the NCAA Division I Council voted to allow CHL players to retain eligibility for Division I hockey. The change took effect on August 1, 2025.

Before the change, the NCAA treated the CHL as a professional hockey environment. Playing even briefly in the OHL could make a player ineligible for NCAA hockey. Under the new Division I rule, a player can compete in the OHL and later play college hockey, provided he meets NCAA academic and amateurism requirements and was not paid more than actual and necessary expenses.

The OHL subsequently introduced a modernized Standard Player Agreement designed for the changing junior and college hockey landscape.

The original NCAA decision applied only to Division I.

Division III later adopted its own rule change, effective for students enrolling on or after August 1, 2025, removing the automatic Major Junior penalty. OHL players can now pursue either division, but eligibility is not guaranteed. Compensation, academic qualifications and remaining seasons of eligibility must still be reviewed for each player.

OHL vs USHL

The USHL is USA Hockey’s only Tier I junior league. It has 16 teams, charges no player tuition and has long been one of the primary development and recruiting routes to NCAA Division I hockey.

Read the article, introduction to the USHL to better understand the league in more detail.

The NCAA eligibility change removed one of the biggest historical differences between the two paths. The decision now depends more on the environment, opportunity, and fit.

• Schedule: The OHL plays 68 regular season games. The USHL plays 62, with approximately 90% scheduled on weekends. The OHL generally provides a heavier game schedule, while the USHL emphasizes a greater practice to game ratio.

• Age and entry: Both leagues identify players early. The OHL Priority Selection and the USHL Phase I Draft select players during the year they turn 16. OHL teams commonly bring selected players into the league at 16, while many USHL draft picks continue developing elsewhere before earning a full time roster position.

• Distance from home: Players in either league may need to relocate and live with a billet family. For an American joining the OHL, crossing the border also adds immigration, school transfer and other access considerations.

• Education benefits: An OHL player earns scholarship benefits based on seasons played. Admission to an NCAA school, a place on its hockey roster and any athletic financial aid are all separate decisions. The OHL scholarship may be applied to eligible college costs in accordance with the player agreement and NCAA rules.

• College eligibility: OHL players can now pursue NCAA Division I or Division III hockey, but eligibility is not automatic. Academic qualifications, compensation and remaining seasons of eligibility must still be reviewed.

Neither league is automatically better. The better choice is the team where the player will receive strong coaching and a realistic opportunity to develop.

Families comparing the geography and travel demands of the two leagues can also review USHL Teams: Where They Are and How the League Is Organized.

USHL vs OHL NHL Draft Numbers

At the 2026 NHL Draft, 47 players were selected directly from the OHL, compared with 32 from the USHL. The OHL produced seven first round selections, while two players were drafted directly from the USHL in the first round. Two additional first round picks had previously played in the USHL.

The Ottawa 67’s led the OHL with five players selected in the 2026 NHL Draft. Guelph, London, Saginaw and Sault Ste. Marie followed with four each. Among independent USHL clubs, Cedar Rapids and Muskegon each had four players with league experience selected, although the NHL officially credited three from each directly to the USHL. The NTDP, which also competes in the USHL, had nine current players drafted.

OHL vs. AHL

The OHL and AHL serve different stages of player development.

The OHL is a Major Junior league primarily for players ages 16 to 20. The AHL is professional hockey, serves as the NHL’s primary development league and pays its players under NHL or AHL contracts.

Beginning with the 2026–27 season, a player selected from the CHL in the first round of the NHL Draft can be assigned to the AHL during his 19-year-old season. This creates a new option for high-end prospects who may have outgrown junior hockey but are not yet ready for the NHL.

The exception does not apply to every drafted CHL player. Players selected after the first round generally remain subject to the existing NHL/CHL agreement: if they do not make the NHL and are not yet age eligible for the AHL, they are normally returned to their junior team.

The Question Behind the Question

Most families asking what the OHL is are really asking two things: does their player belong at that level and is it the right development path for him?

The NCAA rule changes removed a major drawback that once came with choosing the OHL, but they did not make the league right for every player. A 16 year old may be living away from home, managing school and travel and playing a 68 game schedule against opponents as old as 20. He needs the maturity, independence and resilience to manage that environment.

The honest starting point is an assessment of the player’s game today. Can his skating handle the pace? Can he make decisions under pressure? Do his habits remain dependable when time and space disappear? Just as important, is he coachable, emotionally prepared and ready for the responsibility that comes with Major Junior hockey?

If you want a deeper dive on this, read The Scout’s Lens: How Skating Is Really Evaluated explains what higher-level evaluators actually look for.

Being drafted by an OHL team confirms interest. It does not automatically mean signing and reporting immediately is the best development decision.