The clubs vary a lot. Which HS? BBC, Churchill, Whitman, Wooten have very competitive V teams and it’s hard to get on JV let alone V. Other schools like Blair, QO, RAM, upper Montgomery go the other way (not enough players to fill JV and V ranks).

But if your kid loves to play, there will always be places to play. He can play lower at Tri-City, Frederick, Olney. He can play house at Rockville, Kettler. I think it’s smart to manage his expectations, but I think it’s also smart to encourage him to do what he likes to do.

NP -- keep an eye out for communications about your 8th grader participating in the HS club's JV "Spring League." MoCo high schools have "club" teams. "Spring League" had a short season that began right after MCPS spring break:

https://monumentalhockeyhub.sportngin.com/page/show/3567860-mshl-league-information

I think sometime in mid to late January there was an announcement in his middle school's newsletter how rising 9th graders could contact their high school club team about spring league and about the high school teams generally. We also found the contact information for the club team manager and emailed directly about our 8th grader's interest.

Some teams take kids from multiple schools because there aren’t a lot of players. For example Blair’s team has kids from the other DCC schools like Einstein and Wheaton. Not sure where you live, OP, but I think this means it’s not very competitive at least in the DCC.

Since it’s not an official MCPS school sport, but a school sponsored club team, like crew, I think most all students with experience make the teams (either jv or varsity). Some MCPS high school ice hockey teams are more competitive than others and have rosters of varying sizes.

I have an 8th grader that plays hockey and wants to play on the high school team next year. What are the chances of a b level travel player making a team? Want to manage expectations.