Kyle Garcia 
The LA Kings‘ second-round pick from the 2025 NHL draft, Vojtěch Čihař, has quite a few options on where to play in this upcoming season.
Čihař, 19, played in Czechia and the WHL (Kelowna Rockets) during a long 2025-26 season. In between, he helped Czechia win a silver medal at the U-20 World Juniors and won MVP of the tournament with 12 points in seven games.
Under old CHL-NHL transfer agreement rules, 19-year-olds weren’t eligible to play in the AHL unless they had a late birthday. For example, in the 2024-25 season, Koehn Ziemmer was 19 at the start of the season and turned 20 on December 8th, 2024. By rule, he was eligible to play in the AHL that season despite being 19 at the start of it.
Now, under the new CHL-NHL transfer agreement, teams are allowed to place one 19-year-old first-round pick playing in the CHL (OHL, QMJHL, and WHL) on their AHL affiliate. For Čihař, those rules, under the old and upcoming collective bargaining agreement, don’t apply.
Being drafted in the WHL by the Kelowna Rockets as a European import, Čihař has quite a few options on where he could play next year.
What could they be?
Option 1 – Back to Europe
This option is highly unlikely, so I will keep it short. Čihař played in the Czech Extraliga with HC Energie Karlovy before making his way to North America in the WHL. Čihař could return to his hometown, Czechia, for this upcoming season, then the AHL the following year, but that makes no sense after he joined the Kelowna Rockets this past season to improve his development. It’s still an option for him and the Kings, but one that I think they won’t entertain the thought of.
Option 2 – Another year in the WHL
Hey, why not?
A full season in the WHL wouldn’t hurt his development. Playing another full season in the WHL for Čihař would allow him to play alongside and against his peers in a scoring role if the Kings feel he isn’t physically ready to handle pro hockey in North America.
Option 3 – AHL debut
Lastly, professional hockey on North American soil. Remember, the CHL-NHL transfer agreement rules don’t apply to him since he was drafted as a European import in the WHL draft by Kelowna.
If Čihař and the Kings take this path, it would be a similar one that Jakub Dvořák and the Kings took before the 2024-25 season. Play in Europe and transition to the WHL in his D+1 year, then play with the Ontario Reign the following year. The only difference is that Čihař played for Czechia at the World Juniors in between his stops in Europe and the WHL.
Having already played as a professional in his hometown of Czechia, Čihař is no stranger to the pro game. If the Kings choose to go the same route they did with Dvořák two years ago and feel Čihař is ready physically and mature enough to turn pro in North America as a 19-year-old, they certainly can choose to.
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