Niverville’s LeGall 1st MJHL player to move after NCAA rule change

Goaltender Raiden LeGall became the first Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) player to forgo playing for his junior A club to play major junior after the NCAA changed their eligibility rules.

The Morden product moved to the Western Hockey League’s Everett Silvertips Nov. 20.

LeGall was outstanding in his rookie season with the Niverville Nighthawks, posting a 0.920 save percentage while recording a 20-14-0 record. Those numbers had him named to the league’s all-rookie team,. drafted by the Muskegon Lumberjacks in the USHL and committed to NCAA division one program Bemidji State University.

Before the NCAA changed their rules this month, any player who played with a Western Hockey League team was no longer eligible to play American College Hockey.

After the rules have changed, players from junior A (or equivalent) leagues have began flocking back to major junior, with LeGall the first from Manitoba to make the jump.

He couldn’t have asked for a better situation to go into, as Everett are one of the best teams in junior hockey, but are currently dealing with an injury to regular starting goalie Jesse Sanche.

LeGall made the trip to an Everett training camp in the summer of 2023, but decided to come back to Manitoba to keep his options open. With the NCAA rule change, a trip back West made a lot of sense for the 18-year-old.

“I had pretty good training camp and they wanted me to stick around for the (WHL) pre-season, but that’s sort of when I decided that the college route was probably what I want to do and take a little more time developing,” LeGall said in an interview with the Winnipeg Free Press.

“And then, sure enough, the rule changed this year and I can do both.”

The Manitoban goalie became the second player to sign with Everett while being committed to an NCAA program, following American prospect and Arizona State University commit Booker Toninato earlier in the week.

“A month ago we would never have never thought of doing something like this,” Everett general manager Mike Fraser said.

“So this is certainly one of the positives for us. In saying that, there’s so much unknown (about the NCAA decision)… We’re all living through it. I said this to the players when it became official: ‘We’ll do our best to answer questions but there are questions that we don’t know the answers to, yet.’ We’re all going through this together and the extra wrinkle is it’s happening in the middle of the season.”

LeGall was the first player to dress for Everett following the rule change, backing up Alex Garrett in a 4-0 Silvertips win over Lethbridge Nov. 20. He saw game action Nov. 23 against Kamloops, stopping 29 shots in a 6-2 Silvertips victory.

“I’m thinking I’ll be here in Everett for as much of this year as I can be, and then next year as well and then probably go to Bemidji the year after,” LeGall said.

LeGall had a 7-7-1 record with a 0.921 save percentage for the Nighthawks this season.

With files from Mike Sawatzky

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