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Rachel Doerrie, ESPN
The CHL USA Top Prospects Challenge is taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday, with two games in Ontario. Teams, scouts and fans have clamored for this type of best-on-best hockey for draft-eligible players in North America.
The CHL’s Annual Top Prospects Game featured the best draft-eligible players from three Canadian Major Junior Leagues. However, the excitement about this Prospects Challenge, which pits the United States National Team Development Program against the Canadian Junior hockey leagues, is one that many scouts have circled on the calendar.
Only a few top prospects that were expected to participate will miss out with injury: Carter Amico and LJ Mooney for the USNTDP and projected top-10 pick Roger McQueen for the CHL.
The USNTDP is loaded with talent, even without James Hagens who is at Boston College. The NTDP is the most centralized team of draft-eligible players in the world. While there are other draft-eligible players in the USHL that are expected to be taken in the first few rounds, the NTDP has the highest concentration of top-end players.
Canada does not centralize an under-18 team, as their under-18 World Championship team is made up of eligible players on teams already eliminated from Memorial Cup contention. Given that many of Canada’s best players will be unavailable for the spring tournament, this is likely the best opportunity for scouts and fans to see the best from Canada face off against the USNTDP. Here’s a rundown of the top players to know who will be in action this week:
The CHL has three players who are expected to go in the top 5 on the roster with Porter Martone (Brampton), Michael Misa (Saginaw) and Matthew Schaefer (Erie). Those three players will see plenty of ice time in front of curious eyes, given the expectation that they won’t be available in the spring for the U18s. Martone and Misa are in the mix with Hagens to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft.
Martone has a knack for lifting his game in big moments. Combine that with his production and physical package, and we shouldn’t be surprised if he’s the talk of the scouting room at the end of this week.
Misa is producing at a flabbergasting rate, on pace for one of the most productive seasons by a draft-eligible prospect in the OHL — his 46 points through 23 games project to a 136-point season. His ability to find the soft areas and outthink his opponents is masterful. Tack on an elite skill set, and he’ll likely make at least three or four plays that will make everyone say “Wow!” this week.
Schaefer is the best defenseman in the draft class, with my model projecting him to become a top-pair defenseman in the NHL. His mobility and two-way ability will be on display against the best from the U.S., a rare opportunity for him to show he can dictate play from the blue line against elevated competition.
Other Canadians to keep an eye out for include Caleb Desnoyers, Lynden Lakovic, Malcolm Spence and Blake Fiddler. All four are expected to go in the top 20, and two may sneak into the top-10. Desnoyers stands out as a play driver, consistently creating scoring opportunities while outthinking almost every opponent.
Spence and Lakovic aren’t producing at the pace you’d expect out of players pegged for the top 15, but both have qualities that scouts like to see out of players this age. Spence is a nightmare to play against, consistently disrupting plays, mixing it up and driving the opponents crazy. As the scouts say, “He’s the type of guy you win with.” Lakovic’s physical package combined with an ability to create from all over the ice has scouts believing his game is more translatable than other players producing at a more impressive rate.
Fiddler — the son of 877-game NHL veteran Vernon Fiddler — is the lone defenseman in this cohort, and he will not go unnoticed this week. He plays a hard-nosed, physical game at 6-4, 209 pounds, and is most noticeable for his ability to dictate the net front. His puck-moving continues to improve, and the combination of a big defender that owns the net front and can move the puck effectively will have GM’s smiling ear to ear.
Given that the NTDP plays together throughout the season, scouts and fans are familiar with the players who will feature in the games this week. One caveat to note: Three players who will play in this event are not eligible to be drafted until 2026: Landon Hafele, Casey Mutryn and Lincoln Kuehne. They won’t play prominent roles this week, but their inclusion speaks to how highly USA Hockey thinks of their talent.
Jack Murtagh has been the NTDP’s most consistent player this season, and leads them in points per game. He’s not a standout superstar, though he’s highly effective and makes use of his elite shot. Playing against the CHL’s best, this is an opportunity for Murtagh to firmly insert himself into first-round consideration.
William Moore is widely believed to be the top forward from this NTDP class, and is expected to go in the top 20. He’s not producing at the rate scouts would like (17 points through 20 games), but he’s consistently involved on both sides of the puck. He’s got an opportunity to show that he can outplay his peers this week, and would help downplay the concerns about his production.
Charlie Trethewey will attract a lot of attention for the USA given Amico’s absence. The right-handed defenseman has shown he can be a play driver from the back end. He reads the play at a high level, puts himself in excellent positions and involves himself physically. His skating is a plus attribute, and will continue to underpin his package as a probable first-round pick. Expect him to play a lot this week and don’t be surprised if he climbs up draft boards with a few good outings.
This is the inaugural faceoff between many of the top American prospects and almost all of the top Canadian ones. One thing is certain, there will be viral highlights from these games. While that doesn’t draw the attention from scouts the way it does for the fans, this is the first real opportunity for many of these prospects to introduce themselves to the casual fan.
Many of the players in these games will dominate draft conversations in the lead-up to June, and this is sure to be an exciting display of competition between peers.