How to Choose a Hockey Agent: A Parent's Complete Guide
What to look for, what to avoid, and the questions every hockey family should ask before signing with an agency.
Read Guide →Contracts. Development. Mental wellness. Career strategy. Every league that matters. People who answer the phone.
Full-service hockey agency & hockey advisors: player representation, contract negotiation, and development across OHL, CHL, USHL, NCAA, AHL, ECHL & PWHL.
What sets our hockey agency apart from every other hockey advisor in the industry.
Import Sports Management was built in 2017 on a simple idea: hockey players and their families deserve more than a name on a spreadsheet. Too many agencies treat clients like transactions: sign the deal, collect the fee, move on. ISM was created to be the opposite of that. Every client gets real attention, real access, and a team that's invested in their career from day one.
The results back it up. Over $6.37 million earned for professional clients. More than $7.7 million in NCAA scholarship dollars secured. Players placed across the AHL, ECHL, OHL, WHL, QMJHL, USHL, NCAA, Liiga, KHL, SHL, and professional leagues in Germany, France, and the UK. ISM doesn't just compete with the big agencies. It outperforms them where it matters most: in the details, the follow-through, and the relationships.
What makes ISM different isn't one person. It's the structure. A deliberately small client roster. A development team with NHL credentials. A sport psychologist on staff. Regional advisors across North America who are former players and coaches themselves. Direct phone access to your agent, not a call center, not an associate. The bar was set low in this industry for a long time. ISM exists to raise it.
Full-service hockey agent representation, from junior draft prep to professional contract negotiation. Here's what you actually get when you work with us.
We negotiate contracts. That's the core of what an agency does, and we take it seriously. We know the GMs, we know the market, and we know what your player is worth. AHL, ECHL, Europe, doesn't matter. We've put $6.37M+ into our clients' pockets across every league you can name, and we don't stop pushing until the deal is right.
CHL or NCAA? USHL or BCHL? Prep school or stay home and play AAA another year? These decisions keep parents up at night, and most of the advice out there is garbage. We sit down with your family, look at the player honestly, and map out the options that actually make sense, not the ones that make us look good. $7.7M in scholarship dollars tells you we know what we're doing here.
Sean Skahan was the S&C coach for the Ducks for 13 years and the Wild for 6. He has a Stanley Cup ring. Chris Stanley played 15 pro seasons and coached in Germany. These aren't consultants we found on LinkedIn. They're legit hockey people who work directly with our clients on strength programs, on-ice skill development, and video breakdowns.
Nobody talks about this enough. A 17-year-old kid moves across the country, lives with a billet family, and is expected to perform every night. That's hard. Danny Sheppard has two Master's degrees and a background in sport psychology, and he works with every ISM client one-on-one, completely confidential, no judgment. It's included. Not an upsell.
The women's game is exploding and most agencies are still figuring out how to spell PWHL. We're not. Courtney Tougas runs our Women's Division. She's PWHLPA-certified and handles everything from NCAA D1 recruiting to pro placement. Same service, same commitment, same standards as our men's side. Full stop.
Your career on the ice has an expiry date. What you build off of it doesn't. We help our guys grow their social media, land endorsement deals, and build a personal brand that has value long after they hang up the skates. We also get our clients involved in community work and philanthropy, because that stuff matters and teams notice it.
Not sure which service fits? We'll walk you through it.
Why families choose ISM as their hockey advisor over traditional agencies. The mega-agencies can't give your family the attention it deserves. The one-man shops don't have the resources. ISM was designed to be the only agency that does both.
Every ISM client gets their agent's personal cell number. Not a call center. Not a junior associate. When there's a decision to make, the person who knows your kid's game, your family's goals, and the deal on the table is the one picking up the phone. That's how it works here. Every time.
Most agencies stop at the contract. ISM has a Stanley Cup-winning performance coach, a certified European skills coach with 15 pro seasons, and a sport psychologist with two Master's degrees, all working directly with clients. ISM doesn't outsource development. It's built into the agency.
Liiga. SHL. KHL. DEL. EIHL. Ligue Magnus. ISM has placed players across all of them, not through a third party, but through direct relationships with GMs and sporting directors built over years. When Europe is the right move, ISM doesn't Google it. ISM calls the people who make the decisions.
The majority of new ISM clients come from families already in the program. That's not an accident. Parents talk to parents. When someone asks "who do you use for your kid?", ISM families don't hesitate. That kind of trust isn't bought. It's earned, one family at a time, over years of doing right by people.
You've invested years. Early mornings, long drives, tournaments across the country, tuition you don't talk about. You've watched your kid work harder than most adults ever will. And now comes the part where one bad decision, the wrong league, the wrong school, the wrong agent — can undo all of it.
ISM exists because that moment deserves better than a cold call from a guy who doesn't know your kid's name. When you work with us, we know the player. We know the family. We know the grades, the goals, the things that keep you up at night. And every move we make is filtered through one question: is this right for this kid and this family?
If the answer isn't yes, we don't do it. We don't chase commissions. We don't push a kid somewhere that isn't the right fit. We'd rather lose a deal than lose your trust. That's not a line on a website. Ask any ISM family.
The biggest decision a hockey family makes isn't which team, it's which path. Here's what you need to know.
There's no universal right answer. Some players are ready for CHL at 16. Others peak after four years of NCAA development. The wrong path doesn't just waste time. It can stall a career permanently. ISM evaluates each player individually: their projection, maturity, academics, family priorities, and financial situation. We lay out every option honestly and let the family decide. We never push one route because it's easier for us.
Most families come to us at Stage 2, but the earlier the conversation starts, the better the outcome. ISM's advisors have guided players through every stage, from 13-year-olds preparing for the OHL draft to 20-year-olds navigating their first pro contract. We build a personalized roadmap for each player and update it as they develop.
Six professionals across five regions. A Stanley Cup-winning performance coach. A sport psychologist with two Master's degrees. Licensed agents. PWHLPA-certified. Former pro players who've been through the system themselves. This is the team behind every ISM client.
These come up in almost every first conversation. Figured we'd answer them upfront.
Still have questions? Reach out directly — we respond same day.
Whether you're planning three years ahead or need a contract by next week — this is where it starts. One conversation. No obligations.
Client wins, league updates, and the information hockey families actually need.
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Read More →Import Sports Management is a full-service hockey agency headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario. Founded in 2017, ISM provides professional hockey agent services including player representation, contract negotiation, career advisory, development programming, and family consulting for hockey players at every level.
ISM's hockey advisors specialize in guiding families through the junior hockey draft process, NCAA hockey recruiting and scholarship placement, professional hockey contract negotiation, and long-term career planning. Our team includes certified player agents, performance coaches, mental wellness consultants, and dedicated representatives for women's hockey including the PWHL.
21 Crownhill St, Ottawa, ON · (613) 808-1738 · info@importsports.ca
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