THE STARS OF TOMORROW
Columnist takes a look at CHL Top Prospects game.
It’s a time where all eyes tilt towards Guelph, Ont., the home of tonight’s CHL Top Prospects game. In addition to tonight’s showcase, which features 40 of the best NHL draft eligible players, this week also saw the release of the NHL Central Scouting midterm rankings.
2018 appears to be a banner year for the QMJHL in terms of elite talent for June’s NHL entry draft. Thirty-six “Q” players were listed by Central Scouting, and nearly half of them (16) earned the nod for Guelph. Drummondville blue-liner Xavier Bernard was the most recent addition after Moose Jaw’s Jett Woo was deemed unable to play due to injury.
Halifax leads the way for all CHL clubs with four players selected: goaltender Alexis Gravel, defenceman Jared McIssac, and forwards Benoit-Olivier Groulx and Filip Zadina. After a somewhat rough start to the season, McIssac has rebounded and is on track to be an openinground selection.
Zadina is expected to precede McIssac, as the talented Czech sniper is ranked second among North American forwards. Central Scouting splits names into four groups: Dividing skaters from goaltenders, and North American-based players from European ones. Imports playing in the CHL are counted in the North American rankings, including No. 1-ranked skater Andrei Svechnikov of Barrie (OHL), the younger brother of former Screaming Eagle Evgeny Svechnikov.
It’s been a whirlwind campaign for Zadina, who is in the top 10 in QMJHL scoring with 53 points in 38 contests. He was named to the all-star team at the world juniors with seven goals in seven matches. But this past Saturday, he was embroiled in controversy, having been given a five-minute major penalty for goaltender interference. He was also given a twogame suspension. However, the ban does not prohibit a player from participating in the Top Prospects game.
There’s movement among other potential first-rounders playing in the Maritimes. Joe Veleno is still expected go in the opening round, ranked as the 13th North American forward, but is no longer in Saint John following a deal to Drummondville (the former Sea Dog was chosen to wear the “C” for Team Cherry in Guelph).
But there’s a new potential first-round choice in New Brunswick with the fast-rising
Noah Dobson. The Bathurst blue-liner was in Round 2 of most projections in the fall but has rocketed up the ranks (the eighth-ranked North American skater) thanks to 47 points in 46 games and a plus/minus of +15.
This season has been a mixed bag for two Moncton Wildcat forwards. His streaky nature and a slow start have dropped Anderson MacDonald from a late first-round ranking to a 65th rank overall among North American skaters, despite nine goals in his last eight games.
Central Scouting has Moncton’s Alex Khovanov slated between rounds four and six, but he’s still listed as a first-round pick in rankings from Future Considerations and Sportsnet. Khovanov was taken second overall in the CHL import draft, but after contracting an illness in the off-season, he didn’t arrive in Canada until December. Thus far, the forward has seven points through 12 games.
His late arrival to the Western world means that he didn’t get the call to play in Guelph.
Both Future Considerations and Sportsnet combine North American and European, as well as skater and goaltender rankings together. No goalies crack Round 1 in either list, but QMJHL goalies account for three of the top four North American ranked netminders, and all three were tabbed for the Top Prospects Game. Gravel holds the No. 1 spot, Drummondville’s Olivier Rodrigue was given the No. 2 position, and Cape Breton’s Kevin Mandolese slid in at No. 4.
Mandolese was separated from his Eagles teammate in the Top Prospect roster selection, with Mandolese playing for Team Orr and forward Egor Sokolov (73rd among North American skaters) playing for Team Cherry. Another Cape Breton player, defenseman Adam McCormick, wasn’t
picked for the game, but is ranked 168th among North American skaters.
Sokolov is part of an impressive contingent of QMJHL import forwards chosen to Team Orr and Team Cherry. In total, five Europeans will play in the game: Sokolov, Zadina, Philipp Kurashev (Québec), Dmitry Zavgorodniy (Rimouski) and Vladislav Kotkov (Chicoutimi). The OHL and WHL combined to send only four imports to the contest.
Whether Canadian or European, QMJHL fans have been treated to some exceptional young talent this season and the fun will only continue as the NHL’s future stars take their next steps.