Inside CEM Hockey: The Agency Behind the Signings
The Agency CEM Hockey Est. 2011
Every signing on this blog has the same name behind it. CEM Hockey is a Montréal agency founded in 2011. Its president, Chad Levitt, has been an NHLPA certified agent since 2017.
Who is Chad Levitt?
Chad Levitt founded CEM in 2011 and has held NHLPA certification every year since 2017. He played junior hockey before he ever negotiated a contract, skating for the Kemptville 73's in the Eastern Ontario Junior B league, and that playing background still shapes how he reads a player.
The legal side came next. Chad earned his civil law degree at the University of Ottawa, studied at Dalhousie in Halifax, and completed his Juris Doctor at the Université de Montréal. That legal training is the foundation for the part of the job families never see: the contract language, the arbitration filings, the leverage that gets built long before a deal is signed.
Montréal sports radio knows him too. TSN 690 has brought Chad on air to break down his clients' seasons.
What CEM Hockey believes
The agency runs on a short set of ideas, and they show up in every conversation with a player and his family.
A contract is a milestone. The work of managing timing, leverage and fit continues every season after the signing.
A founder with a full team behind him. Chad built CEM and stays close to every file. Behind him sits a team that handles communication and the day to day, so a call gets answered whether he is at a rink, a combine, or a draft floor.
Selective by design. CEM works on commission and invites players in. No family pays a fee to be represented, and the roster stays small enough that every player gets time with the people who run the agency.
Evaluate, plan, sign, advocate. An honest read on where a player sits, a plan built around it, the right signing at the right time, then a voice in the room for as long as the career lasts.
The players who trusted CEM
Angus Booth grew up in Montréal, went to the Los Angeles Kings in the fourth round of the 2022 NHL Draft, and signed his three-year entry-level contract in December 2023. On March 2, 2026, he made his NHL debut against Colorado and scored.
Damien Carfagna took the college route. After two seasons at Ohio State, where he led Buckeyes defencemen with seven goals in 2024-25, the Edmonton Oilers signed him as a free agent to a two-year entry-level deal in March 2025.
The next wave is already here. Max Brien went 10th overall to the Rimouski Océanic at the 2026 QMJHL Draft. Kage Flory, a 40-goal defenceman from Grand Island, New York, signed with the Charlottetown Islanders in August. Both stories live on this blog.
Our team
CEM runs as two groups. Hockey operations is Chad, Sy Nutkevitch, Will McNally, Kyle Hardy, Keif Orsini and Shawn Legris: the people who recruit, develop, negotiate, and stay in touch with players and their families through the season. Business operations is Mitch Richler, Joy Rodgers and Tyrus Xanthos, who keep the agency, its communication and its players’ stories running.
A player signs with CEM and gets the whole team.
What comes next
The roster keeps growing, and so does this page. Every new signing, draft call, and debut gets written up here as part of the record. If you have a player who should be on CEM's radar, the door is open.
Let's chat.
We're ready when you are.
Have a player who should be on our radar? Tell us who they are and where they're headed.
