The USHL is the top junior ice hockey league that’s sanctioned by USA Hockey. 

Last week, Hefferan and the USHL continued the discussion with NHL general managers to see how they could help the junior league’s athletes. 

“This takes what we were already doing and amplifies that message to say, ‘Hey, these are things that are on our drawing board,” he said. “We want to perfect those things from an NHL standpoint, so we absolutely know we’re going in the right direction from a developmental and training standpoint.”

During the 2024-25 season, more than half of the NCAA Division I roster spots belong to players with USHL experience, while more than 25 percent of NHL players had also played in the USHL. This past June, there were 40 direct picks from the USHL during the 2025 NHL Draft.

“The landscape can change in terms of ground rules, but it doesn’t change the way we develop players,” Hefferan said. “We’re still doing two-to-one practice to game ratios and we’re still playing 92% of our games on the weekend. These are all things that are athlete focused and they’re all important steps for our athletes.”

Through the Declaration of Excellence, the USHL implemented consistent, high-performing standards across the league’s 16 teams, which includes league-wide strength, conditioning and recovery programs, comprehensive wellness and mental health support and an optimized athlete-healthy schedule, featuring an average of three days between games for training and recovery.

There’s also resources for nutrition, personalized academic planning and tutoring, plus improvements in coaching and professional development, officiating, safety and game operations.

“The recovery … just the practice and game schedule, we have a good cadence to our schedule,” Hefferan said. “We’re not shoving a lot at our players. When you’re on the road and you’re on long trips, you’re not practicing. You’re getting in a pregame skate, but you’re not practicing and getting that skill time and skill development on a consistent basis and that’s what makes players improve.”

It’s all part of the way that the USHL continues to expand athlete-centered initiatives to produce elite players who will be ready to succeed once they move on to the NCAA or the NHL.

“I’m very confident that we have the best coaches, general managers and owners in the game,” Hefferan said. “Are we perfect? No. This is a lot of fun and there’s a lot of great things happening, but we’re always going to be a work in progress.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.