“Good players have a tendency to get found now,” Minnesota State Coach Mike Hastings said.

According to College Hockey Inc., a record 82 Europeans played in Division I this season. There were only 32 five years ago. Twenty-two Europeans are on teams in the N.C.A.A. tournament, which begins Friday. Top-seeded Denver is led in scoring by Henrik Borgstrom, a freshman forward from Finland. Penn State’s Denis Smirnov, a Russian, led all freshmen in points this season, with 45.

The impact of well-developed players is evident throughout the sport. Of the 23 members of this year’s gold medal-winning American team at the world junior championships, 19 were current college players, representing 11 universities. Another 13 college players or recruits played on other teams in the tournament. Last season, 30 percent of N.H.L. players were college products. Already 32 collegians from last season have made their N.H.L. debuts in 2016-17.

N.H.L. Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly is a member of The Campus Effect, a partnership with U.S.A. Hockey and College Hockey Inc. to promote paths to college hockey.

“The quality and depth that can be recruited to Division I has never been deeper,” he said.

Daly added that the league was working with member clubs on ways to promote growth in college hockey. Thus far, he said, “We’ve only scratched the surface.”

For players for whom there is no room in Division I, there are other avenues to college hockey.

“The real beneficiary is Division III,” American International College Coach Eric Lang said. “There are about 40 to 50 players who spill over into D-III who are D-I players.” (Division II is a minor player with only one 15-member conference.)

Also benefiting is the American Collegiate Hockey Association, which encompasses more than 250 club teams in three divisions. Penn State and Arizona State won national championships in the A.C.H.A.’s top division before ascending to Division I, and a number of other schools have perennially strong teams.