It is not surprising the 15U/16U/18U levels have opened up a wide lead in the NCAA Division I commitment race for the 2021-22 season. While this process is a marathon, not a sprint, the numbers area still heavily skewed toward the "midget" level more than usual at this time of year.
One big reason for this is because of the NCAA rules that were implement a couple years ago regarding when a player can be contacted and when a player can make a commitment. These rules have pushed the top-end 16-year-olds to a starting line for commitments (August 1 prior to Junior year of high school), after which they come in a flourish.
In addition, until November the Northeast is in split-season mode where many of the Prep school athletes are playing 15/16/18U hockey for their private clubs. These teams attend multiple showcases with full-season midget teams and they are highly scouted by Division I coaches.
For those in other parts of the country, in the Northeast the state and District playoffs for USA Hockey national tournaments are in the fall, after which the teams disband for the year to attend prep and high school. The teams that qualify for nationals come back together in March after their schools seasons conclude and prior to USAH nationals.
Below is the up-to-date commitment data compiled after researching each player to categorize them correctly. You may find data that shows more U.S. Prep school players for example, but as Prep schools are not even on the ice right now the commitments are largely coming from the private club 15/16/18U participation and scouting. The Junior Hockey Hub preserves this information every 30 days and it does not update when a player matriculates to the next level or another team. We are focused solely on where a player is playing when his/her commitment takes place which will look far different than most data sets by the end of the season.
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