How to Play in the NAHL: Tryouts, Tenders, the Draft and the College Path

To play in the NAHL, you need to get onto a team's protected list, and there are four ways in: sign a tender, get picked in the NAHL Entry Draft, get picked in the Futures Draft at 16, or earn a spot at a tryout or main camp. For 2026–27 the league is open to players born from 2006 to 2010. It charges no tuition, but players pay a monthly billet fee.

The NAHL is the USHL's biggest feeder and one of the main routes to NCAA hockey. This guide covers how each way in works, what it costs, and what Athletedom's own data says about where NAHL players go next.

What Is the NAHL?

The North American Hockey League is the only Tier II junior league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The USHL is the only Tier I league, and the NA3HL is Tier III. The NAHL describes itself as "the oldest and one of only two USA Hockey Certified tuition-free junior hockey leagues," and 2026–27 is its 52nd season.

The 2026–27 season at a glance:

• 36 teams in 21 states, in five divisions: Central, East, Midwest, Mountain and South.
• 59 regular-season games, from 11 September 2026 to 17 April 2027.
• A new Mountain Division: Billings, Grand Junction, Idaho Falls, Ogden and Pueblo, where the Chippewa Steel relocated.
• The Robertson Cup, the oldest junior hockey trophy in the US, goes to the playoff champion. The Maryland Black Bears won it in 2026.

On Athletedom's league ratings, the NAHL is rated 79–85 on our U20 scale. That puts it tied for eighth of the 30 U20 leagues we rate, level with the AJHL and just behind Sweden's J20 Nationell. The USHL is fourth at 87–93.

NAHL teams map, 2026–27. See the NAHL on Athletedom.

The map shows what many families underestimate: the league runs from Alaska to New Jersey to Texas. Where you end up decides your billet town, your travel and which scouts see you most.

How Much Does It Cost to Play in the NAHL?

There is no tuition. The NAHL's own FAQ says players "do not pay to play." Teams pay for ice time for practices and games and for all travel to games and tournaments, including meals and hotels. Most equipment is supplied by the team too: sticks, gloves, pants, jerseys, socks and helmets.

What you do pay:

• A billet fee. The NAHL estimates $400–450 a month for room and board with your billet family.
• Personal expenses. Your phone, food outside the billet home, flights home and school costs if you are still in high school.
• Getting seen. Combines and camps cost money. A 2026 NAHL Junior Combine was $600, or $650 in Irvine, California.

Over a seven-month regular season, the billet fee alone comes to roughly $2,800–3,150. In the USHL, the league says billet housing is covered by the team. That difference is one reason players who can make the USHL usually choose it.

How Old Do You Have to Be to Play in the NAHL?

For 2026–27, players born from 2006 to 2010 are eligible. USA Hockey's junior rule is that players must be at least 16 and no older than 20 on 31 December of the season, with 15-year-olds allowed in by petition.

In practice, the NAHL is an 18- and 19-year-old league. Of the 1,116 NAHL players with a known birth year in Athletedom's 2026–27 data, the average age is 18.9:

Birth year	Age in 2026	Players	Share
2006	20	349	31.3%
2007	19	414	37.1%
2008	18	263	23.6%
2009	17	90	8.1%
2010	16	0	0%

Two-thirds of the league was born in 2006 or 2007. A 16- or 17-year-old can make an NAHL roster, but fewer than one player in ten was born in 2009 or 2010. If you are 16, the realistic first step is the Futures Draft or a strong U18 season.

The age profile matters more now than it used to. Under the NCAA's new age rule, every season you play after your eligibility clock starts costs you a year of college hockey. Our guide to the NCAA's new age rule for hockey shows how to work out your own clock.

How Do You Get Into the NAHL?

Every NAHL team builds its roster from a protected list of up to 30 players: returning veterans, signed tenders and draft picks. Rosters have to be cut to 25 players by 1 September. There are four ways onto that list:

1. Sign a tender before the draft.
2. Get picked in the NAHL Entry Draft in June.
3. Get picked in the NAHL Futures Draft at 16.
4. Earn a spot at a team camp. Teams run their own camps, before the draft and in the summer, and post dates on the NAHL's tryouts page and their own websites.

Most players come through the first three. Pre-draft camps are where teams see players they might tender or draft. By the time summer main camps run, teams have filled their protected lists through tenders and the draft, so a walk-on has to beat players the team has already invested in.

Where do NAHL players come from? Of 1,350 newcomers to the league in our data between 2021–22 and 2026–27, by the league they played in the season before:

• NCDC: 17.5% (236 players)
• BCHL: 13.4% (181)
• USHL: 11.9% (160)
• NA3HL: 8.9% (120)
• Sweden's top U20 league: 7.4% (100)
• AJHL: 6.7% (91)

The NAHL recruits heavily from other junior leagues, including players coming down from the USHL. The Swedish number shows that the route from Europe is real.

What Is an NAHL Tender?

A tender is the NAHL's version of an early offer. The league describes it as "a form, like a contract, that players sign announcing their intention to play with a particular NAHL team."

How it works:

• Each team gets 10 tenders, plus or minus trades, and can start signing players from 1 November.
• Signing gives the team your NAHL rights. No other NAHL team can recruit you.
• Tendered players skip the Entry Draft. You are already on the team's protected list.
• You can still try out elsewhere. The NAHL says tendered and drafted players can try out for any team in any league other than the NAHL, in the US and Canada.

A tender does not guarantee a roster spot. Teams protect up to 30 players and cut to 25. Before you sign, ask the coach how many tenders the team has already used, how many veterans are returning at your position and what role he sees for you.

How Does the NAHL Draft Work?

The NAHL runs two drafts every June.

The Entry Draft took place on 10 June 2026 and had 17 rounds:

• It was open to players born from 2006 to 2010 who were under 21 on 31 December 2026.
• Players who had signed an NAHL tender, were on an NAHL roster or had played 10 or more NAHL games in 2025–26 were not eligible.
• There is no registration. Every eligible player can be drafted.
• Teams pick in reverse order of the previous season's standings. Each team's number of picks is 30 minus the players already on its protected list, so a team with 15 veterans and eight tenders gets seven picks.

The Futures Draft took place on 9 June 2026:

• Each team picked two players born in 2010, one per round.
• Picks go onto the team's affiliate list and can play up to 10 NAHL games without joining the protected list.
• The team holds their NAHL rights until 15 November 2027.

Drafted players cannot try out for other NAHL teams unless both teams agree in writing, but they can still try out in any other league.

Are NAHL Combines Worth It?

NAHL Combines are paid showcase events run by the league. In 2026 they ran between March and May in St. Louis, Detroit, Middletown in New Jersey, New Hampshire and Southern California, in two age groups:

• Junior Combine, for players born 2006–2010 who want to play junior hockey next season: $600, or $650 in Irvine.
• Futures Combine, for players born 2010–2012 who are two or more years away: $500, or $550 in Irvine.

Players play four scrimmages with NAHL and NA3HL coaches behind the bench, attend seminars on the junior pathway and NCAA compliance, and get game video afterwards. The NAHL says its combines bring together over 1,800 players a year.

The honest answer on value: a combine is worth it if you are realistically at NAHL level and nobody has seen you yet, because it puts you in front of the coaches who make tender and draft decisions. If coaches are already talking to you, a direct conversation is worth more. With over 1,800 players attending and 36 teams cutting to 25, most combine players will not make an NAHL roster that season. Go in with video, stats and a list of teams you have already contacted.

Can European Players Play in the NAHL?

Yes, but spots are limited. USA Hockey allows each NAHL team to list up to four imports on its protected list at one time. Imports are non-US citizens, so Canadians count too.

Europeans are a real part of the league. The NAHL's stats source only publishes nationality for some players, so treat this as indicative: of the 276 NAHL players with a known nationality in our 2026–27 data, 46.7% were American, 18.1% Canadian, 13.8% Swedish and 4.3% Latvian, with Slovakia, Germany, Czechia and Hungary also represented.

If you are a European player:

1. Target teams with open import spots. Ask each coach how many imports he already has protected.
2. Sort out visas and school early. Our guide on how European players get to the USHL covers imports, drafts and visas, and most of it applies to the NAHL too.
3. Mind the NCAA clock. A European who plays junior hockey after his clock starts uses college eligibility, and full-time university study at home can start that clock early.

Does the NAHL Lead to College Hockey?

Yes, and it is the main reason most players go. The NAHL says it had over 410 NCAA-committed players during the 2025–26 season and that 23% of all NCAA Division I freshmen played in the NAHL. The league has published two figures for the Division I share of those commitments, 48% and 54%, so call it about half.

Athletedom's data shows where NAHL players actually went. We followed 4,053 NAHL player-seasons from 2021–22 to 2026–27, and 57.9% stayed in the league the next season. Of those who moved on to a league we cover:

Next league	Share of players who moved on	Player-seasons
NCAA Division I	20.2%	345
USHL	17.0%	291
NCAA Division III	14.9%	254
NCDC	11.2%	192
BCHL	10.4%	178
NA3HL	6.2%	106

About one in three NAHL players who moved on went straight to NCAA hockey, and nearly one in five moved up to the USHL first. Division III is a big part of the story: NCAA Division III took almost as many NAHL players as NCAA Division I.

How Do Players Move From the NAHL to the USHL?

The NAHL is the USHL's biggest feeder. Of 586 newcomers to the USHL in our data between 2021–22 and 2026–27, 251 — 42.8% — came from the NAHL, more than from any other league. In 2018 the two leagues signed an agreement that lets USHL teams recall designated affiliate players from the NAHL without a formal trade, under certain conditions, and loan players to NAHL teams.

For a player, that means the NAHL is often a development year before the USHL, not only an alternative to it. Our USHL vs NAHL comparison goes through the differences, and our guide on how to play in the USHL covers the Tier I route.

How to Get Noticed by NAHL Coaches

Teams sign tenders from November and draft in June, so the recruiting happens during your U18 or high school season, not in the summer.

1. Build a one-page profile with your position, birth date, height and weight, stats, video, school and contact details. Use our hockey player resume template, or build a free player CV on Athletedom and send it as one link.
2. Email coaches directly with your profile and a short clip. Our guide on how to email a hockey coach has templates.
3. Pick your targets. Look at each team's roster at your position, its import spots if you are not American, and how its players have moved on.
4. Use combines and camps selectively, as a way to be seen by teams you have already contacted, not as a lottery ticket.

If you want help building the plan, Athletedom Agency works with junior players from €670 a season, with no commission on junior contracts.

What Does an NAHL Season Look Like?

• September: rosters are cut to 25 by 1 September, and the 2026–27 regular season started on 11 September.
• The NAHL Showcase: held every September. In 2026 it ran from 23 to 26 September at the Super Rink in Blaine, Minnesota, with every team playing three games, and the league says the Showcase draws more than 330 professional, college and junior scouts. It is the biggest scouting week of the year for NAHL players.
• 1 November: teams can start signing tenders for next season.
• April: the regular season ends on 17 April 2027.
• May: the Robertson Cup playoffs and national championship, played at Fogerty Arena in Blaine on 21–25 May 2027.
• June: the Futures Draft and the Entry Draft.

Which NAHL Teams Have Been Strongest?

If you are choosing between offers, recent results are one signal of how a program is run. First place in the NAHL regular season, from Athletedom's data:

Season	First place	Points
2025–26	Maryland Black Bears	102
2024–25	Bismarck Bobcats	116
2023–24	Lone Star Brahmas	116
2022–23	Oklahoma Warriors	90
2021–22	Lone Star Brahmas	86

Maryland also won the 2026 Robertson Cup and was top of the table early in 2026–27. Winning is not everything, though. For college hockey, ask each team how many of its players committed last season and how much ice time it gives first-year players.

The Short Version

• The NAHL is the only Tier II junior league in the US: 36 teams, five divisions and 59 games in 2026–27.
• There is no tuition, but players pay a billet fee of about $400–450 a month plus personal costs.
• Players born 2006–2010 are eligible for 2026–27, and most are 18 or 19.
• The ways in are a tender, the Entry Draft, the Futures Draft at 16, or a tryout.
• Each team can protect 30 players and has four import spots.
• In our data, 20.2% of NAHL players who moved on went to NCAA Division I, 17.0% to the USHL and 14.9% to Division III.
• Build a profile, email coaches before the November tender window, and use combines selectively.

Sources

• NAHL: Recruiting FAQ — no tuition, the billet fee, what teams pay for, tenders and import limits.
• NAHL: About the NAHL — 52nd season, 36 teams, tuition-free status, NCAA commitments and the share of Division I freshmen.
• NAHL: 2026–27 regular-season schedule — 36 teams, five divisions, 59 games and season dates.
• NAHL: Mountain Division announcement — the new Mountain Division teams and the Chippewa Steel's move to Pueblo.
• NAHL: Entry Draft and 2026 Entry Draft details — eligibility, 17 rounds, picks per team and the 25-player roster cut.
• NAHL: Futures Draft — 2010-born picks, affiliate status and rights.
• NAHL: Combines and 2026 combine dates — age groups, prices, what players get and locations.
• NAHL: Showcase — 2026 dates and venue, games per team and scouts.
• NAHL: Showcase preview, September 2026 — the 54% Division I commitment figure.
• NAHL: Robertson Cup — the trophy, the 2026 champion and the 2027 championship venue and dates.
• NAHL: Junior hockey in the US — USA Hockey's junior age rule and the tier structure.
• USA Hockey: Junior hockey — the USHL, NAHL and NA3HL as the Tier I, II and III leagues.
• USHL: Ladder of development — what Tier I teams cover, including billet housing.
• NAHL: NAHL and USHL player affiliation agreement — recalls and loans between the two leagues.
• Athletedom league pages for the NAHL and the USHL — ratings, ages, nationality, player movement and first place by season, 2021–22 to 2026–27.

Rules, dates and prices change every season. Check each team's website and the NAHL's own pages before you sign anything. Last checked October 2026.