Rumored CHL, USA Hockey all-star game could be huge for NHL prospects

With the CHL Top Prospects game coming to an end in Moncton, New Brunswick yesterday, it was announced this morning that the format of the event will be changing for the future. Daily Faceoff prospect analyst Steven Ellis joined the show to weigh in on the decision and what this entails for junior hockey in North America.

Tyler Yaremchuk: With this being the last year of the Top Prospects Game format, can you explain how it’s changing next year and are you a fan of it? 

Steven Ellis: So what it looks like according to Jeff Marek is that the CHL will do a combination style format with USA Hockey. I have mixed opinions as one, I love to go to Michigan and watch their games but in terms of the format, I think there are a lot of players on both teams that go to those games and aren’t huge threats to get drafted or would be late-round picks. It can kind of water down the competition so having the best of the best makes sense.

Steven Ellis: We see the USA vs Canada rivalry in women’s hockey how do we not have that within the junior programs or even the men’s side? We have the World Cup of Hockey but wouldn’t it just be great to have a seven-game series between Canada and USA? To be able to do it at the junior level reminds me of the old Canada vs Russia Super Series event. In this case, I think one team for both would make the competition a bit better and would give the USHL a big opportunity to show up and prove they are just as talented as the top leagues in the CHL and we can compete too.

You can checkout the full show here…