Erie Otters forward Connor McDavid is not eligible for the NHL Draft until 2015, but he has certainly grabbed the attention of those scouts in attendance as a 15-year-old rookie in the Ontario Hockey League this season.

McDavid, as you may know, was granted exceptional player status on March 21, 2012, by Hockey Canada to be eligible for the 2012 OHL Priority Selection. He joined John Tavares and Aaron Ekblad as the only players to be awarded that honor and was promptly drafted first overall by the Otters.

Erie is certainly reaping the benefits.

Ryan Fitzgerald opened eyes when he had three assists at the CCM/USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game in Buffalo in September. The 2013 NHL Draft prospect did it again Monday playing for the U.S. at the World Junior A Challenge.

Fitzgerald, who plays for Valley Warriors of the Eastern Junior Hockey League, had a hat trick to lead the U.S. to a 9-1 opening-game rout of Canada East.

Ryan Fitzgerald

The tournament, being played in Yarmouth, N.S., runs through Nov. 12.

A C-rated skater in NHL Central Skating's preliminary rankings of players to watch for this year's draft, Fitzgerald scored Team USA's first two goals, then closed the first by completing his hat trick with a power-play goal with 30 seconds left in the period.

Taylor Cammarata made it 4-0 with a power-play goal at 6:13 of the second, and after a shorthanded goal later in the second, defenseman Dan Molenaar made it 7-0 with a goal seven seconds into the third.

Eamon McAdam stopped 26 of 27 shots, including 15 of 16 in the third, for the win. McAdam, who plays for the Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League, earned a B rating from Central Scouting, as well as the accolades of his coach.

BOISBRIAND, Quebec – Andre Tourigny wanted to see what top draft prospect Nathan MacKinnon could do on the wing in case that’s where the star Halifax Mooseheads center may be needed on the Canadian team that will play at the next World Junior Championships.

After one game, MacKinnon’s switch to the wing can still be described as a work in progress.

MacKinnon played for the first time on left wing for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League team that lost Game 1 of the Subway Super Series 6-2 on Monday night on a line with Jonathan Huberdeau and Jean-Sebastien Dea, a line Tourigny was expecting to produce some offense against a powerful Russian team.

Except Huberdeau and MacKinnon finished the game a minus-4 while Dea was a minus-3, a situation Tourigny says can’t continue in Game 2 of the series Wednesday night in Val D’Or.

BOISBRIAND, Quebec – Mikhail Grigorenko knows the 6-2 final score makes it look like his Russian team completely dominated its counterpart from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League on Monday night, but he doesn’t feel it’s a true reflection of how Game 1 of the Subway Super Series was played.

In fact, the Quebec Remparts center feels the game was played rather evenly in spite of the most lopsided Russian win in this series since 2007.

“We played the way our coach wanted us to play,” the Buffalo Sabres prospect said. “I think for the Quebec guys a lot of them had games yesterday so they were probably a little bit tired. I think the next game will be a lot tougher and it will be more of a challenge.”

BOISBRIAND, Quebec – Talk about a statement game.

Led by a goal and assist from Mikhail Grigorenko, Nail Yakupov, Maxim Shalunov and Valentin Zykov, Team Russia trounced the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League All-Stars 6-2 in Game 1 of the Subway Super Series in front of a disappointed crowd of 3,173 at the Centre Excellence Rousseau on Monday night.

The four-goal margin was the largest in a victory for the Russian select team since a 5-1 win against the Western Hockey League All-Stars in 2007, a span of 25 games. It also marked the fifth straight win for Team Russia against the QMJHL in the history of the series.

The star for the Russian squad was goaltender Andrey Vasilevskiy, who was named player of the game for Team Russia. He made an incredible glove save off Jean-Sebastien Dea in the dying seconds of the first period and made a number of other spectacular saves among his 28 on the night.

BOISBRIAND, Quebec – A 5-on-3 power play goal by Detroit Red Wings prospect Xavier Ouellet got the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League on the board, but the continued excellence of Andrey Vasilevskiy in the Russian net and goals by Maxim Shalunov and Mikhail Naumenkov allowed Team Russia to enter the second intermission with a 4-1 lead in Game 1 of the Subway Super Series.

Team QMJHL outshot Russia 11-6 in the second period and 23-15 after 40 minutes, but Vasilevskiy has made a number of highlight-worthy saves to frustrate the Quebec league players time and again.

Buffalo Sabres prospect Mikhail Grigorenko assisted on Naumenkov’s goal at 17:35 of the second period to give him a goal and an assist in the contest, and he’s created a number of scoring chances in a standout performance through two periods.

BOISBRIAND, Quebec – Team Russia’s two biggest stars took advantage of a pair of turnovers by the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League to give the visitors a 2-0 lead after one period of Game 1 of the Subway Super Series.

The Quebec Remparts’ Mikhail Grigorenko, a Buffalo Sabres prospect taken 12th at the 2012 NHL Draft, beat Blainville-Boisbriand Armada goaltender Etienne Marcoux at 9:49 of the first period off a 2-on-1 break created by a turnover by Halifax Mooseheads star Nathan MacKinnon.

Just over a minute later, Edmonton Oilers prospect Nail Yakupov – the top pick in the 2012 draft – picked off an errant clearing attempt in the QMJHL zone and his low slap shot from the high slot beat Marcoux to the far side just inside the post at 11:03 of the period.

BOISBRIAND, Quebec – Here are the expected line combinations for the team representing the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and Team Russia in Game 1 of the Subway Super Series at the Centre Excellence Sports Rousseau.

The player’s NHL affiliation is in brackets, or if he is undrafted his draft year is in brackets.

TEAM QMJHL

Forwards

Jonathan Huberdeau (Fla) – Jean-Sebastien Dea (2013) – Nathan MacKinnon (2013)

William Carrier (2013) – Cedric Paquette (TB) – Anthony Mantha (2013)

Francis Beauvillier (Fla) – Philip Danault (Chi) – Charles Hudon (Mtl)

Samuel Henley (2013) – Brent Andrews (Nas) – Ryan Tesnik (StL)

Christopher Clapperton (2013)

Green Bay Gamblers teammates and 2013 NHL Draft prospects Barrett Kaib and Michael Rotolo were among the United States Hockey League's weekly award winners.

Kaib shared the CCM Defenseman of the Week honors with the Sioux Falls Stampede's Matthew Van Voorhis, while Rotolo was named Reebok Goaltender of the Week.

Kaib had a goal and an assist in two games last week. He scored the opening goal Friday in a 5-0 shutout of the Youngstown Phantoms, and was a plus-3 for the game. He then assisted on the game-winning goal in Saturday's 3-1 defeat of Youngstown.

Van Voorhis had three points and a plus-3 rating in two games. He assisted on the game-winning goal in a 6-4 home win against the Fargo Force on Friday, and had a goal and an assist in Saturday's 7-4 loss to the Chicago Steel on Saturday. It was Van Voorhis' second multi-point game of the season. He also was a plus-2 Saturday, marking the 10th straight game he has been an even or plus player.

When it comes to the 2013 NHL Draft and the Portland Winterhawks, the first name to come up is Seth Jones. But rapidly approaching that status is center Nicolas Petan.

The 5-foot-8.5, 163-pound forward had another outstanding weekend and continues to climb the Western Hockey League scoring chart. Petan had a pair of three-point games in wins against the Victoria Royals to climb to sixth in the league with 27 points. His 19 assists are third.

He had a goal and two assists Friday in a 6-2 win against Victoria, and repeated that effort in Saturday's 6-2 victory.

He now has a point in seven straight games, with four goals and 13 assists in his streak. He earned a C rating from NHL Central Scouting in its preliminary rankings of players to watch for the 2013 NHL Draft.

Petan wasn't the only draft-eligible WHL player to have a good weekend. Here are a few others:

* Lethbridge Hurricanes center Johnathaon Merkley scored two goals Friday in a 5-2 defeat of the Medicine Hat Tigers.

* Calgary center Gregory Chase had three assists in the Hitmen's 4-2 win at the Brandon Wheat Kings on Saturday.