Last updated: Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, 7:55 a.m. ET.
USA Hockey invited 29 programs to its new Development League, and all 29 accepted. The league starts play in 2027-28 with one 15U and one 17U team at each program. This page tracks every program and every date. We update it when USA Hockey or a club announces something, and we date every change.
New to the DL? Start with our plain-English guide: what the league is, who plays, how signing works and what it costs.
Weighing a DL offer?
This tracker tells you which programs are in. The DL Decision Kit helps you decide whether one of them is right for your family. It gives you the questions to put to a hockey director, a cost worksheet, three emails you can send as written, and a step-by-step way to make the call.
It is $12 until the first club fees are published, and every update is free to buyers.
Invited: 29 · Accepted: 29 · Declined: 0 · Next date: early signing for returning players, Jan. 15 to 31, 2027
Oct. 15, 2026. Minnesota Hockey hasn’t set costs yet for the Minnesota-only 15U and 17U High Performance teams it announced Oct. 6 as its answer to the DL. General managers will evaluate players through the winter, with a tryout in the spring. “By February we will know and lock some players in following the timelines of the USA Hockey DL,” said Mike MacMillan of Minnesota Hockey. Each team will have a head coach, two assistants, a goalie coach, a strength coach and a performance coach, and coaches will be paid stipends comparable to what the Minnesota State High School League pays high school coaches. Travel will be mostly regional, and two showcases planned in Minnesota will include the Chicago Mission, Shattuck-St. Mary’s and other DL teams. Let’s Play Hockey, Oct. 15.
Oct. 12, 2026. The Boston Jr. Eagles will go from a split-season fall program to a full-year schedule for the DL and will add a few staff members, director of hockey operations David Hymovitz told the Boston Globe. He expects the Eagles to play the other New England DL programs and to make day trips or one-night trips to play the five programs in New York and New Jersey. “If this was about getting on flights every weekend, it wouldn’t work for anybody,” Hymovitz said. He said he doesn’t expect the DL to pull large numbers of players out of prep school hockey. Boston Globe, Oct. 12.
Oct. 7, 2026. USA Hockey has told DL clubs that each program will decide whether its players can attend a camp, clinic or tryout with a junior program not affiliated with USA Hockey, and that the DL itself won’t rule on it, Clanko Media reported Wednesday evening (Clanko Media). Clanko had reported Tuesday that some invited programs wanted to know whether a guidebook rule on tryouts also covers training camps, including CHL camps. USA Hockey hasn’t said this publicly.
Oct. 7, 2026. Little Caesars will play its 14U team and both of its DL teams in the Northeast Pack Hockey League starting in 2027-28, the league announced. Little Caesars already plays in the league at 13O and 18U this season. The league says all nine of its member organizations were invited to the DL. Northeast Pack Hockey League, Oct. 7.
Oct. 7, 2026, 5 p.m. ET. All 29 invited programs have confirmed they will play in the DL’s first season in 2027-28, USA Hockey announced at the acceptance deadline. No program declined, and every program in the table below is now marked Accepted. Next on the calendar: deposits are due Thu., Oct. 15. USA Hockey release, Oct. 7.
Know of an announcement from one of these clubs that isn’t here? Email [email protected] with the link. We add it once we can confirm it.
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Program | State | Status |
|---|---|---|
Anaheim Jr. Ducks | CA | Accepted |
BK Selects (Bishop Kearney) | NY | Accepted |
Boston Jr. Eagles | MA | Accepted |
Buffalo Jr. Sabres | NY | Accepted |
Chicago Mission | IL | Accepted |
Colorado Thunderbirds | CO | Accepted |
Compuware | MI | Accepted |
Culver Academies | IN | Accepted |
Dallas Stars Elite | TX | Accepted |
Fox Motors | MI | Accepted |
HB Hockey Club (HB Detroit) | MI | Accepted |
Jr. Coyotes | AZ | Accepted |
Jr. Mounties | RI | Accepted |
Little Caesars | MI | Accepted |
Los Angeles Jr. Kings | CA | Accepted |
Madison Capitols | WI | Accepted |
Mid Fairfield | CT | Accepted |
Nashville Jr. Predators | TN | Accepted |
North Jersey Avalanche | NJ | Accepted |
Ohio Blue Jackets | OH | Accepted |
Okanagan Hockey Colorado | CO | Accepted |
Philadelphia Jr. Flyers | PA | Accepted |
Pittsburgh Penguins Elite | PA | Accepted |
Reapers Hockey Association | IL | Accepted |
Rockets Hockey Club | NJ | Accepted |
Seacoast Spartans | NH | Accepted |
Shattuck-St. Mary’s | MN | Accepted |
St. Louis AAA Blues | MO | Accepted |
Wolfpack Hockey Club | NJ | Accepted |
Accepted = USA Hockey announced on Oct. 7 that all 29 invited programs confirmed their participation. The Buffalo Jr. Sabres and Jr. Coyotes also announced it themselves. Names as USA Hockey announced them.
Date | What happens |
|---|---|
Wed., Oct. 7, 5 p.m. ET | Invited programs must accept. All 29 did. |
Thu., Oct. 15 | Deposits due. |
Jan. 15 to 31, 2027 | Early signing period for returning players. |
February 2027 | Open signing period. |
Aug. 1, 2027 | DL teams may start practice. |
September 2027 | First regular season begins. |
Tier I programs outside the DL can’t hold tryouts until 48 hours after Nationals.
Who plays. 15U and 17U. In 2027-28 that’s 15U for players born 2012 and 2013, and 17U for players born 2010 to 2012. Our age chart has the full table.
The season. 40 to 55 games from September through March, at least 60% against other DL teams, then a DL playoff and championship separate from USA Hockey Nationals.
The rules for families. Before a DL team can offer an agreement, it must give the family a Team Fact Sheet with the season’s fees, payment schedule and weekly schedule. A signed agreement guarantees the roster spot for the full season. DL programs can’t also field 15O or 16U Tier I teams.
Who it doesn’t touch. Girls’ hockey, high school, prep and Tier II. The league is U.S. only.
The full breakdown from announcement day covers how programs were picked and what changes for clubs on and off the list.
Oct. 7, 2026, afternoon. The Buffalo Jr. Sabres announced they have accepted USA Hockey’s invitation (Buffalo Jr. Sabres), and the Jr. Coyotes announced they will play in the DL’s first season in 2027-28 (Jr. Coyotes). Both are now marked Accepted. Shattuck-St. Mary’s has accepted, Clanko Media reported Wednesday morning (Clanko Media); Shattuck hasn’t announced it yet.
Oct. 6, 2026, evening. Twenty of the 29 programs have said they will accept their invitations, according to a tally Clanko Media posted Tuesday evening: Anaheim Jr. Ducks, BK Selects, Buffalo Jr. Sabres, Chicago Mission, Colorado Thunderbirds, Dallas Stars Elite, HB Hockey Club, Jr. Coyotes, Little Caesars, Mid Fairfield, Nashville Jr. Predators, North Jersey Avalanche, Ohio Blue Jackets, Philadelphia Jr. Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins Elite, Reapers Hockey Association, Rockets Hockey Club, Seacoast Spartans, St. Louis AAA Blues and Wolfpack Hockey Club. Clanko lists the other nine as not commenting, undecided or not responding: Boston Jr. Eagles, Compuware, Culver Academies, Fox Motors, Jr. Mounties, Los Angeles Jr. Kings, Madison Capitols, Okanagan Hockey Colorado and Shattuck-St. Mary’s. None has publicly declined. The table below changes a program to Accepted when USA Hockey or the club confirms it. Clanko Media.
Oct. 6, 2026. Minnesota Hockey announced its response to the DL. Starting in 2027-28, two 15U and two 17U teams of Minnesota residents only will train together in Blaine in the fall and play DL programs, Shattuck-St. Mary’s, Tier I clubs and international teams, then return to their community and high school teams for the winter. Minnesota Hockey is also adding fall High Performance teams around the state: four 18U and four 16U Tier I teams, and five 18U and six 16U Tier II teams. It proposes a maximum of 55 games a season, counting association and high school games. Shattuck-St. Mary’s, still Minnesota’s only DL program, helped design it, and Minnesota Hockey says two fall series next year will bring DL teams, including the Chicago Mission, to Minnesota. A girls’ announcement is coming. Minnesota Hockey announcement.
Oct. 5, 2026. USA Hockey’s written announcement named Scott Paluch, its director of player development, as DL commissioner, and Erin Mensay, its manager of member services, as DL registrar, overseeing rosters and player changes. USA Hockey release.
Oct. 5, 2026. Among the programs that applied and weren’t selected: Masters Academy and Lovell Academy, the Boston Globe reported.
Oct. 5, 2026. USA Hockey named 29 programs on its Next Gen podcast. More than 80 applied. Invited programs had until Wed., Oct. 7, at 5 p.m. ET to accept.
YOUR MOVE: If a DL program reaches out, ask for its Team Fact Sheet first. Our free Team Fact Sheet is the same one-page form for any club, at any level. Then line the offer up against what you have now with our free comparison sheet.
Full Ice, free every Thursday. The Development League, age rules, team costs and safety, with every claim sourced. One email a week, written by a hockey parent.
Sources: USA Hockey Next Gen podcast, Oct. 5 · USA Hockey release, Oct. 5 · USA Hockey release, Oct. 7 (all 29 accept) · USA Hockey Development League · USA Hockey 2026 Winter Meeting legislation · Boston Globe, Oct. 5 (programs not selected) · Minnesota Hockey, Oct. 6 · Clanko Media, Oct. 6 (acceptance tally) · Northeast Pack Hockey League, Oct. 7 (Little Caesars) · Clanko Media, Oct. 7 (outside camps and tryouts) · Boston Globe, Oct. 12 (Boston Jr. Eagles) · Let’s Play Hockey, Oct. 15 (Minnesota HP teams) · U.S. only.
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