Chicoutimi, Quebec City to host 2026 CHL USA Prospects Challenge

The annual showdown between two of junior hockey’s biggest entities is heading to La Belle Province.

On Wednesday, the Canadian Hockey League announced that the 2026 CHL USA Prospects Challenge will be hosted in Chicoutimi and Quebec City, Que. The event his being co-hosted by the Chicoutimi Saguenéens and Québec Remparts of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.

The games will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 1 and Wednesday, Dec. 2. Chicoutimi’s Georges-Vézina Centre will be the home for the first game of the series, while the Videotron Centre in Quebec City will house the finale.

Beginning in 2024, the CHL USA Prospects Challenge has pitted the best players from Canadian major junior hockey against the U.S. National Team Development Program’s Under-18 squad. The first event saw Malcolm Spence and Michael Misa lead the CHL over Team USA, sweeping the series 9-3.

This past year in Alberta, the Americans showed some fight. With Wyatt Cullen and Brady Knowling, the USNTDP came away with the series win.

The talent level in the first two editions of the showcase has been enormous. Sixteen of the 22 CHL players from the 2024 Challenge were taken in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft. This year’s roster had 17 of the top 30 skaters in NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings for the 2026 draft. Soo Greyhounds defenseman Chase Reid, Prince George Cougars defender Carson Carels and Brantford Bulldogs center Caleb Malhorta are among the top 10 draft prospects at Daily Faceoff. Each of which saw time in the 2025 showcase.

Cullen and Casey Mutryn are the top two prospects from the NTDP heading into this year’s draft. Other notable names that played in Calgary and Lethbridge this past November, who might hear their names called early in the 2026 draft, include Ethan Belchetz (Windsor Spitfires), Daxon Rudolph (Prince Albert Raiders) and J.P. Hulbert (Kamloops Blazers).