The NCAA Division I Board on Thursday approved a rule allowing players with Canadian Hockey League experience to compete at U.S. colleges starting next season, a landmark decision that has the potential to shake up the two biggest sources of developmental talent of the NHL.

The decision, effective Aug. 1, lifts the NCAA’s longstanding ban on CHL players who were previously considered professionals receiving a stipend of up to $600 a month for living expenses.

The approval was expected after the council presented a proposal to lift the ban last month. Players competing in junior ice hockey or on professional teams may retain NCAA eligibility as long as they are not paid more than actual and necessary expenses.

The decision also applies to skiing, bringing both into line with NCAA eligibility rules for other sports.

In doing so, the board opened the door for a major change in how players approaching their 16th birthday decide where to play. Instead of having to choose between one or the other, CHL players can now play NCAA hockey when they become college eligible.

“Everyone expected the rule to change. Now we will have to adapt,” wrote Don Lucia, commissioner of the Central Hockey Association, in a text to The Associated Press. “There may be some issues during the transition. But hopefully, over time, it will prove to be a positive change for everyone involved.”

NHL agent Allan Walsh called the ruling a “game changer.”

“This groundbreaking development is great news for young players and their families, who will no longer be faced with the important decision of playing Major Junior or going the NCAA route,” Walsh added in a text message to The Associated Press . “Young players and their families can now make decisions based on what’s best for them, not what’s best for the CHL or the NCAA.”

The CHL oversees the Western Hockey, Ontario Hockey and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey leagues.

The decision could encourage the CHL to invest more in player development and education to compete with the NCAA or risk losing 18-and-older talent to U.S. colleges. Meanwhile, an increase in CHL players could eat up college roster spots previously occupied by Americans.

One option the CHL is considering in response to the ruling is to increase its current limit of two non-North American major players on the roster. Otherwise, the CHL called the decision “a positive development” in providing players with more athletic and academic opportunities.

The NCAA ruling follows a class-action lawsuit filed Aug. 13 in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, New York, challenging the ban.

“It’s long overdue, but this is a great result,” Stephen Lagos, one of the lawyers who filed the lawsuit, wrote in an email to the AP. “We look forward to players and fans seeing the benefits of a more competitive and fairer, rule-free market starting next season.”

Lagos said lawyers will continue to pursue the lawsuit to seek damages for players joining the class action case affected by the ban that dates back to August 12, 2020.

The suit was filed on behalf of Riley Masterson of Fort Erie, Ont., who lost his college eligibility two years ago when, as a 16-year-old, he appeared in two exhibition games for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires. It lists 10 Division I hockey programs that have been selected to show compliance with NCAA regulations regarding the banning of current or former CHL players.

NHL agent Brian Bartlett welcomed the decision to open options for players.

“Like the transfer portal and NIL rule changes in recent years, there will be some growing pains and early chaos, but we expect it to be a positive long-term development,” Bartlett wrote in a text. “With a larger player pool, we hope more NCAA schools will consider adding hockey programs to provide opportunities for those additional players.”

In September, Braxton Whitehead said he had verbally committed to Arizona State, making him the first CHL player to attempt to play hockey at the US Division I college level. Whitehead, 20, said he plans to play this season for the WHL’s Regina Pats before playing for the Sun Devils in 2025-26.

The stipends CHL players receive are not considered income for tax purposes. College players, meanwhile, receive scholarships and can now earn money through endorsements and other uses of their name, image or likeness.

The eligibility change could have a trickle-down effect by impacting the various junior A leagues in Canada and the USHL’s ability to attract talent for those pursuing plans to play at U.S. colleges. Two recent NHL picks no. 1, San Jose forward Macklin Celebrini and Buffalo defenseman Owen Power, played in the USHL.

“The USHL remains the world’s premier avenue of development. All aspects of the league are focused on preparing athletes for collegiate and professional hockey, including on-ice, academic and character development,” the USHL said in a statement after the NCAA ruling.