https://www.collegehockeynews.com/news/2...League.php
We have some concrete chatter about a new league, with the discussion led by Bob DeGregorio (outgoing commissioner of Atlantic Hockey, current commissioner of the women's NEWHA).
Teams involved are the entirety of the NE-10 D-2 league (Assumption, Franklin Pierce, Saint Anselm, Saint Michael's, SNHU, Post), plus Stonehill (leaving the NE-10 for D-I independent), Long Island (D-I independent), Lindenwood (D-I startup), and Utica (D-III, looking for D-I hockey home).
The NCAA has a moratorium on new conferences for the next two years, but as DeGregorio points out these schools don't have autobid access as is, so you may as well play as a league with a full schedule and tournament for two years and then be autobid eligible.
Lindenwood aside, this is a pretty compact bus league with similar budgets and ambitions. Utica might dream higher, but this is a good place to start. Notably, none of the western orphans outside of Lindenwood are involved. Asking these schools to include the Alaskas is probably a non-starter. And Arizona State wouldn't want a part of this. That leaves UAH (in theory), but I continue to believe that UAH's commitment to re-start hockey if they find a conference was not a real thing.
Atlantic Hockey has improved to the point that they don't need to take any warm body- the vast majority of those schools have made real commitments to the sport. Bentley and Sacred Heart have new arenas. RIT's arena is less than ten years old and they have always supported their program at an ECAC-light level. AIC now plays in a 6,000+ seat downtown rink and have won every trophy the league offers for the past four years. The service academies spend money.
I've been pretty vocal that I want expansion from the middle or the top, but if there is a true new league coming in, with programs that already sponsor the sport, that's fine.