#timofeiruntso #GoHabsGo #NHLDraft2026
Seven rounds of the 2025 NHL Draft passed and nobody selected Timofei Runtso. One year later the Montreal Canadiens traded up four spots to take him 57th overall. The player did not change. A rule did.
Until August 1, 2025, playing a single game in the Canadian Hockey League cost an American player his NCAA eligibility. The NCAA Division I Council deleted that ban, Runtso left the NAHL’s St. Cloud Norsemen for the Victoria Royals of the WHL, and put up 44 points (11G-33A) in 68 games as the Royals’ top-scoring defenceman. Montreal sent picks 61 and 125 to Carolina to move up and draft him.
This video covers the part of the file nobody discussed in June: because Runtso enrolls at Miami University this fall instead of returning to junior, Article 8 of the CBA moves the end of Montreal’s exclusive rights over him from June 1, 2028 to 2030. The trade up bought four draft slots and roughly two extra years of a free option. Plus the scale of the change — 297 CHL players committed to Division I programs as of April 9, 2026, 38% of all D-I commitments.
Montreal Canadiens prospect analysis. No game footage is used, all visuals are AI-generated stills. This video contains AI-generated narration and imagery.
— SOURCES —
ESPN — NCAA Division I Council vote making CHL players eligible, effective Aug. 1, 2025:
Montréal Canadiens / NHL.com — 2026 NHL Draft recap (pick 57, the trade with Carolina):
CapSpace — Draftee Signing Rights, CBA Article 8.6 (junior vs. college rights windows):
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