By rdnewsNOW staff

Rebels’ Zaytsev to play in Top Prospects Game

Dec 13, 2018 | 3:57 PM

Forty players have been chosen to play in the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game in Red Deer next month.

Among them is Red Deer Rebels forward Oleg Zaytsev.

The 24th annual showcase of the CHL’s top prospects eligible for the NHL Draft will be played on Wednesday, January 23, 2019, at the ENMAX Centrium. The 40 competing players were chosen by NHL clubs and include talent from across the WHL, the Ontario Hockey League, and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

“The Sherwin-Williams CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game provides scouts and general managers the unique opportunity to evaluate talent competing in a best-on-best showcase,” said Dan Marr, NHL Central Scouting Director. “All 31 NHL clubs contributed to the roster selection and have a great interest in this priority scouting event to see which players can elevate their game under the spotlight.”

Eleven of the invited players are identified by NHL Central Scouting as potential first round candidates in their November ‘Players to Watch’ list.  Six hail from WHL clubs including forwards Dylan Cozens of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, Kirby Dach of the Saskatoon Blades, Nolan Foote of the Kelowna Rockets, and Peyton Krebs of the Kootenay ICE, along with defencemen Bowen Byram of the Vancouver Giants, and Matthew Robertson of the Edmonton Oil Kings.

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Also named to this year’s roster is 19-year-old forward Brett Leason of the Prince Albert Raiders, who leads all draft-eligible CHL players in scoring with 64 points.

Of the 16 WHL players named to the roster, nine forwards, five defencemen, and two goaltenders will be taking part in the event. In addition to the six WHL players with ‘A’ ratings from NHL Central Scouting, eight have ‘B’ ratings, and two have ‘C’ ratings as awarded in their latest ‘Players to Watch’ List ahead of the 2019 NHL Draft, which was released in November 2018.

33 of the CHL’s 60 member clubs will be represented in the game with a total of 16 WHL players from 12 different teams, 15 OHL players from 12 teams, and nine QMJHL players each from a different organization. Kelowna leads the way with three players selected while the Medicine Hat Tigers and Seattle Thunderbirds each have a pair of players named to the roster for the event.

2019 Sherwin-Williams CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game Roster:

Goaltenders:

Colten Ellis (Rimouski Océanic)

Taylor Gauthier (Prince George Cougars)

Hunter Jones (Peterborough Petes)

Mads Sogaard (Medicine Hat Tigers)

Defencemen:

Samuel Bolduc (Blainville-Boisbriand Armada)

Bowen Byram (Vancouver Giants)

Billy Constantinou (Kingston Frontenacs)

Thomas Harley (Mississauga Steelheads)

Artemi Kniazev (Chicoutimi Saguenéens)

Vladislav Kolyachonok (Flint Firebirds)

Kaedan Korczak (Kelowna Rockets)

Jake Lee (Seattle Thunderbirds)

Nikita Okhotyuk (Ottawa 67’s)

Matthew Robertson (Edmonton Oil Kings)

Lassi Thomson (Kelowna Rockets)

Michael Vukojevic (Kitchener Rangers)

Forwards:

Nikita Alexandrov (Charlottetown Islanders)

Maxim Cajkovic (Saint John Sea Dogs)

Joe Carroll (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds)

Graeme Clarke (Ottawa 67’s)

Dylan Cozens (Lethbridge Hurricanes)

Kirby Dach (Saskatoon Blades)

Nolan Foote (Kelowna Rockets)

Matvey Guskov (London Knights)

Dillon Hamaliuk (Seattle Thunderbirds)

Arthur Kaliyev (Hamilton Bulldogs)

Peyton Krebs (Kootenay ICE)

Raphaël Lavoie (Halifax Mooseheads)

Brett Leason (Prince Albert Raiders)

Nathan Légaré (Baie-Comeau Drakkar)

Connor McMichael (London Knights)

Sasha Mutala (Tri-City Americans)

Jakob Pelletier (Moncton Wildcats)

Samuel Poulin (Sherbrooke Phoenix)

Jamieson Rees (Sarnia Sting)

Nick Robertson (Peterborough Petes)

Ryan Suzuki (Barrie Colts)

Philip Tomasino (Niagara IceDogs)

Josh Williams (Medicine Hat Tigers)

Oleg Zaytsev (Red Deer Rebels)

The 40 players will be divided into Team Cherry and Team Orr by NHL Central Scouting prior to the event.  Coaching staffs for both teams will also be announced at a later date.

Tickets for the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game are available through reddeerrebels.com or ticketsalberta.com, or by calling the Rebels office at 403-341-6000.

(With file from CHL media release)