Only a fraction of NCAA Division 1 College Hockey Players will make a verbal commitment to attend a certain college prior to their Junior year of high school.
Furthermore, only a slightly larger number make that commitment prior to the start of their Senior year in high school.
There are approximately 50 or so NCAA Division 1 college hockey teams and each team has approximately 7 players per birthyear on its roster; or roughly 350 players per birth year in the USA and Canada who advance on to play Division 1 College Hockey.
Currently, only 20 players in the USA and Canada who are 1991 birthdates have made a verbal commitment to play for a Division 1 College Hockey Team; so roughly 330 players (or 95%) of the future 1991 birthyear Division 1 College Hockey Players have yet to verbally commit to a college.
Verbal commitments to high school underclassmen are a relatively recent phenomenon, and an opportunity that may be presented to certain high end players that colleges have identified.
If a player receives an opportunity to verbally commit to a school prior to his senior year of high school, and happens to be 100% sure of the college he wants to attend, than making a verbal commitment to that college may be advisable.
However, as the numbers clearly indicate, roughly 95% of all the players in a given birthyear who are future Division 1 College Hockey Players either wont have the opportunity to, or wont want to, commit early to a college prior to their senior year of high school.