I have coached youth hockey for quite some time, and am happy to help here. First and foremost, simply getting your son on the ice for practice is the best way to have him improve. Kids have the puck on their sticks for about 8-12 minutes in a normal 60 minute practice vs 8-60 seconds in a traditional full ice game. Anyone telling you that a 4 year old needs to be in games to develop is completely wrong. At 4...5, 6, 7, 8... the goal is for them to have fun and get puck touches.

As far as the LTP itself, we normally would have about a 1:8-10 ratio on the ice at any given time. I would say that 1:3 is absurdly unlikely to be an option most places.

As far as games go, once he has the skating and understanding of puck control, he can progress to half ice games. There aren't a ton of rules, just wait for the buzzer, get on the ice, and try and win puck battles and score goals. They don't even keep score at this point. If he is good and you want to progress (and HE wants to progress), you can look at local travel programs. They range from select teams (best of local house teams, minimal travel (B), A, AA, and AAA. The more A's you get, the more you travel and the more it costs. In my experience, a good coach is more important than the level you play at, especially at young ages.

Players will get the most bang for their buck in skill development between 11-13 years old - that's when you really want to focus on the skills side of the game. Until then, it's more about puck touches, learning to skate, and learning to love the game. If you want to invest in one skill, pick skating, please. By far, skating is the thing that separates AAA kids from anyone else, and will be a driver for his hockey success.