How would you rank these leagues?

[bud white]

WHL > QMJHL everyday of the week and twice on Sunday

You can win a cup without a guy from the Q.

You can't win a Cup without a guy from the W.

[a smell of green grass]

How does the College conference(s) map into this hierarchy?

[Harry S Deals]

Here’s the NHLe (NHL Equivalent) score for each league. This measures the relative strength of each league as compared to the NHL by comparing the performance of players between those leagues and the performance of the same players when they play in the NHL. It’s not a perfect science but the results basically put the leagues in the order I would based on the eye test so it at least passes the sniff test.

With the NHL at a base of 1.0, here’s how the other leagues stack up:

SHL: 0.64
KHL: 0.63
AHL: 0.56
Swiss NL: 0.54
Czech Extraliga: 0.45
Finnish Liiga: 0.40
Allsvenskan: 0.38
VHL: 0.37
German DEL: 0.36
Hockey East: 0.34
Big 10: 0.29
Slovakia: 0.29
NCHC: 0.29
ECHL: 0.26
USHL: 0.23
OHL: 0.19
SPHL: 0.17
WHL: 0.17
MHL: 0.16
QMJHL: 0.14
Swedish J20: 0.12
Finnish J20: 0.12
NAHL: 0.10

NHLe is meant to be a measurement of the current caliber of each league as compared to the NHL. The above is based on points scored by players. There’s another NHLe that measure “win shares” (how much players in those leagues would contribute to wins in the NHL). This list is largely in the same order but I’ll note the AHL comes in 2nd in that measurement and only 0.01 behind the SHL.

So this largely matches how I view them. The AHL and the SHL at the top. The SHL has gotten better over the last 5 years or so. It’s a legit league. Lots of foreigners that would’ve gone to the KHL now go to the SHL because of the Ukraine war. But the KHL is still pretty good too, just a bit lower than it was 5 or so years ago. And it’s more top heavy. Lots of haves and have nots there.

The Swiss league seems to be in underrated here. It pays super well (for a Euro league) so it has good talent too. Liiga has taken a step back but it’s still ok. The OHL, Dub, Q, USHL are jr leagues. They’re the best jr leagues in the world but I think many people still need to realize teams from mid-tier pro leagues in Europe would still absolutely dominate jr teams.

One other thought if im not mistaken the SHL and Euro leagues play on larger ice right? Transitioning the AHL can be tough

[STL fan in MN]

Here’s the NHLe (NHL Equivalent) score for each league. This measures the relative strength of each league as compared to the NHL by comparing the performance of players between those leagues and the performance of the same players when they play in the NHL. It’s not a perfect science but the results basically put the leagues in the order I would based on the eye test so it at least passes the sniff test.

With the NHL at a base of 1.0, here’s how the other leagues stack up:

SHL: 0.64
KHL: 0.63
AHL: 0.56
Swiss NL: 0.54
Czech Extraliga: 0.45
Finnish Liiga: 0.40
Allsvenskan: 0.38
VHL: 0.37
German DEL: 0.36
Hockey East: 0.34
Big 10: 0.29
Slovakia: 0.29
NCHC: 0.29
ECHL: 0.26
USHL: 0.23
OHL: 0.19
SPHL: 0.17
WHL: 0.17
MHL: 0.16
QMJHL: 0.14
Swedish J20: 0.12
Finnish J20: 0.12
NAHL: 0.10

NHLe is meant to be a measurement of the current caliber of each league as compared to the NHL. The above is based on points scored by players. There’s another NHLe that measure “win shares” (how much players in those leagues would contribute to wins in the NHL). This list is largely in the same order but I’ll note the AHL comes in 2nd in that measurement and only 0.01 behind the SHL.

So this largely matches how I view them. The AHL and the SHL at the top. The SHL has gotten better over the last 5 years or so. It’s a legit league. Lots of foreigners that would’ve gone to the KHL now go to the SHL because of the Ukraine war. But the KHL is still pretty good too, just a bit lower than it was 5 or so years ago. And it’s more top heavy. Lots of haves and have nots there.

The Swiss league seems to be in underrated here. It pays super well (for a Euro league) so it has good talent too. Liiga has taken a step back but it’s still ok. The OHL, Dub, Q, USHL are jr leagues. They’re the best jr leagues in the world but I think many people still need to realize teams from mid-tier pro leagues in Europe would still absolutely dominate jr teams.

One other thought if im not mistaken the SHL and Euro leagues play on larger ice right? Transitioning the AHL can be tough

Of the major Euro leagues, the SHL and Swiss league are really the only ones still using the large Olympic* sized ice of 60x30 meters (usually rounded to 200x100 feet for American audiences but it’s really 197x98.5 feet). Finland uses a hybrid of 60x28 meters while the KHL is a mix of 60x28 and 60x26 meters. 60x26 is pretty much equivalent to the NHL 200x85 feet.

*The Olympics are now supposed to be played on the NHL standard of 200x85 feet so maybe I should call the larger surface “international” or something like that now, idk.

But yes, this does impact transitioning to the NHL and AHL as it’s simply a little different game with a larger surface. More area to cover for d-men and typically results in more easy-west cross-ice plays whereas in N.A. the game is more north-south and direct. More hitting too obviously. But the main difference IMO is the traffic in front of the net. The N.A. game has more traffic in front of the net so more screens and tips. So probably the biggest adjustment is for goalies as their entire game is based on angles and vision and that’s the main difference with different widths. D-men have to be stronger in the N.A. game as the ability to box out and cover opposing forwards in front of the net is more important here than in most of Europe. For example, that was the main thing I expected Lindstein to struggle with as he transitioned to the AHL this season and it was.

But in the end, hockey is hockey for the most part, the cream rises to the top and the best players in one league would be the best on a slightly larger or smaller surface as well. But there is absolutely an adjustment period and some players whose games really favor one style over the other…but the Euro leagues are increasingly making their rinks closer to NHL size so that difference is shrinking.