The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) and USA Hockey announced Wednesday the creation of the CHL/USA Prospect Challenge, a new annual two-game series pitting the CHL's top first-year NHL Draft-eligible prospects against the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (NTDP).
Initially signed as a three-year partnership, the CHL's three member leagues – the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and Western Hockey League (WHL) – will take turns hosting the series at its inception.
“We're pleased to announce that we're excited to be working with USA Hockey on this exciting new partnership,” said John Vanbiesbrouck, USA Hockey's associate executive director of hockey operations, during a conference call Tuesday afternoon ahead of the announcement. Athletic USA Hockey may host the games at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Michigan, in the event's fourth year.
“One match per country is what we are thinking (in the long term), but first we want each country to have a great success with the matches,” Vanbiesbrouck said.
On another call on Tuesday evening AthleticCHL president Dan MacKenzie confirmed the deal is structured as a “three-plus-one” arrangement that would allow USA Hockey to host at least one of the two games in Year 4. In that scenario, the second game could also be played in one of the CHL's nine U.S. markets, MacKenzie said.
“Coming off the Memorial Cup in Saginaw, the US market would do a really good job. We've talked about it in year four. We'll see what happens, but it's certainly a possibility,” McKenzie said.
The first episode of the series is scheduled for November 2024 and will feature the top prospects in the 2025 NHL Draft class.
Vanbiesbrouck said the U.S. team will be “primarily NTDP” because the tournament is in November and “we're short on talent in terms of evaluation.”
CHL/USA Prospect Challenge do not have The tournament replaces the Chipotle All-American Game, which is typically held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January and showcases the top draft-eligible prospects playing in both the USHL and NTDP.
“We'll definitely have the (All-American) Game,” Vanbiesbrouck reiterated. “The more events we can have like this to honor our players, the better. This is an event to honor our players. We always want to do something for our players and I think this is a win-win.”
Vanbiesbrouck hopes the new series will be an introduction to the Canada-U.S. rivalry for many players at a time when best-on-best hockey between the two countries is seeing a resurgence. (Lena Laverty/US NTDP)
But the series replaces the CHL/NHL Top Prospect Game for now. MacKenzie said it's possible the new event could one day return to the old Top Prospect Game slot in late January, but that hosting the first of the series in November makes more sense than relocating the new event to the spot on the calendar once occupied by the now-canceled Canada-Russia Series.
“We wanted to keep thinking about the rivalries that fans want to see, and the Canada-U.S. rivalry is the biggest rivalry in hockey,” McKenzie said, “and from a prospect standpoint, the fact that it's the age group that a lot of people want to see, whether it's fans or scouts, we really felt like this was going to be an opportunity to create an event that would garner a fair amount of interest from fans and everybody else, so we're really excited about it.”
The CHL also felt the event could fill a void at the U18 level.
“When you think about the age at the under-18 prospect level, the best player doesn't currently play against the best player,” McKenzie said. “At the World Championships, the U.S. sends their best player and Canada doesn't because the playoffs are still on. And then in the summer, Canada sends their best player for Hrinka Gretzky and the U.S. doesn't because they're out of cycle. So this really fits into that need to see the best players play against each other.”
The size of the roster has yet to be determined, but McKenzie expects it to be around 22 players from the CHL. McKenzie said the CHL roster will be “selected by the 32 NHL clubs,” similar to how the CHL/NHL Top Prospect Game Teams were determined. NHL Central Scouting will continue to provide an “administrative function” as part of the process, but McKenzie insisted that the NHL teams actually select the players.
But MacKenzie clarified that the CHL's roster won't be all Canadian: While the league expects “the majority of players will be Canadian,” MacKenzie said the selection process “will not be based on nationality.”
“It's going to have the best players in the Canadian Hockey League,” he said, adding that it opens the door for European transfers to make the CHL roster, as well as the possibility of Americans playing on both flanks.
The new CHL/USA Prospect Challenge CHL roster will not be made up entirely of Canadians. (Daniel St. Louis/CHL)
McKenzie said the CHL is already discussing the possibility of adding a third marquee event to the calendar (joint with the CHL/USA Prospect Challenge and Memorial Cup).
McKenzie said some of the three member leagues might consider other exposure opportunities for players within the new calendar.
Vanbiesbrouck hopes the new series will be an introduction to the Canada-U.S. rivalry for many players at a time when best-on-best hockey between the two countries is seeing a resurgence.
“It's exciting at the highest level. You see the Olympics and the Four Nations,” Vanbiesbrouck said. “The Canada-U.S. rivalry is great and healthy. We compete hard against each other at times, but we still root for each other.”
The first two host cities and game dates are expected to be announced later this summer, and MacKenzie expects the two host cities will be “fairly close” each year as part of an annual rotation between the leagues (similar to the Memorial Cup rotation) that will save costs from the Canada-Russia format, which often involved teams flying between markets.
“This game is going to have a completely different feel than a traditional prospect game, so I think that's a good thing,” McKenzie said.
What do the scouts think?
“The truth is, I don't like either (the format),” one amateur scouting director for an NHL club surveyed about the upcoming announcement earlier this week said in a text message.
“Players are going to be over-rated or under-rated based on that game, especially if the GM is there and that's the only game they're watching,” he said.
Another scouting director said he feels there is a way for the CHL to create this new Canada vs. U.S. series while still maintaining its own game, but the director still likes the new format.
“The CHL Top Prospect Game was well run, but this is a great idea,” the second director said. “The US has a lot of talent but struggles to create the same environment. These games should be intense competition where players can truly showcase their individual skills. No one wants to see a free-for-all, no-checks All-Star Game.”
(Top photo: Daniel St. Louis/CHL)
