Team OHL next for Russia on NHL Network

Fans can catch the next generation of NHL stars during the ongoing Canadian Hockey League Subway Super Series.

The six-game series features the best junior-age players from Team Russia facing all-star teams from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League and the Western Hockey League.

Team Russia's two games against Team OHL -- Thursday and Monday -- will be shown live starting at 7 p.m. ET on the NHL Network in the United States and Sportsnet in Canada. Games will be played Nov. 8 in Guelph, Ontario, and Nov. 12 in Sarnia, Ontario.

A number of the best 2013 NHL Draft prospects will play for Team OHL, among them Sean Monahan of the Ottawa 67's, Max Domi of the London Knights and Kerby Rychel of the Windsor Spitfires. Monahan will skate in the game in Guelph, and Domi and Rychel will skate only in the Sarnia game. All three received A ratings from NHL Central Scouting in its preliminary rankings of players to watch for this year's draft.

Monahan, a 6-foot-2, 186-pound center, is tied for fifth in the OHL with 27 points in 16 games. Domi, a 5-9.25, 193-pound center, has 22 points and a plus-10 rating in 22 games with the defending OHL champion Knights. He's the son of longtime NHL forward Tie Domi.

Rychel, a 6-1, 200-pound left wing, has 11 goals and 16 points in 19 games. His father, Warren Rychel, is general manager of the Spitfires and won a Stanley Cup with the 1996 Colorado Avalanche.

Steve Spott, who will coach Canada's entry into the World Juniors, also will coach Team OHL for the Super Series. He said he's especially looking forward to getting a closer look at the three top draft-eligible players.

"I've had the opportunity to work with Kerby and with Sean at the Ivan Hlinka Tournament two Augusts ago," Spott said. "Both of those young men are big and strong. For Max, he's obviously proven that he can be an elite player in the Ontario Hockey League even though he might not be a 19-year-old player. I'm excited to work with Max. He's strong, he's competitive. He reminds me of a player along the lines of a Theoren Fleury."

In addition to the top-rated stars for this year's draft, fans will be able to see 11 players taken in the first round of the 2011 and 2012 drafts.

From the 2011 class are forwards Ryan Strome (New York Islanders), Mark Scheifele (Winnipeg Jets) and Matt Puempel (Ottawa Senators), and defensemen Dougie Hamilton (Boston Bruins), Ryan Murphy (Carolina Hurricanes) and Stuart Percy (Toronto Maple Leafs).

Representing the 2012 class are goalie Malcolm Subban (Boston Bruins), defenseman Cody Ceci (Ottawa Senators) and forwards Tom Wilson (Washington Capitals), Scott Laughton (Philadelphia Flyers) and Brendan Gaunce (Vancouver Canucks).

There also will be a chance for fans to glimpse the future. Erie Otters 15-year-old center Connor McDavid, who won't be NHL draft eligible until 2015, will play in the game in Guelph. McDavid leads all first-year OHL players with 21 points in 18 games, and had a league-leading 15-game point-scoring streak end last week.

Beside national pride, players will be competing for spots on the Canadian and Russian teams that will play in the 2013 IIHF World Junior Championship.

"I think for us it's about getting the correct 22 (players) at Christmas," Spott said. "This is an extremely important evaluation for the players that were there in August [at the Canada-Russia Challenge]. It's a secondary opportunity to make an impression."

For Team Russia, the marquee player is forward Nail Yakupov, the first pick of the 2012 draft by the Edmonton Oilers.

Among 2013 draft candidates, London Knights defenseman Nikita Zadorov will be a familiar name. Rated as an A skater in NHL Central Scouting's preliminary rankings of players to watch, the 6-5.25, 230-pound blueliner has four assists and a team-best plus-10 rating in 16 games.

Twenty-two NHL teams will have at least one prospect taking part in one of the two OHL games, led by the Boston Bruins with five. The Toronto Maple Leafs will have four and the Tampa Bay Lighting will have three.

TEAM OHL

*- players participating in both games

^- injured and will not play

^^- injury replacement

GUELPH

Goalies: *Jordan Binnington, Owen Sound (St. Louis); Malcolm Subban, Belleville (Boston)

Defensemen: Cody Ceci, Ottawa (Ottawa); Dylan DeMelo, Mississauga (San Jose); Matthew Finn, Guelph (Toronto); Slater Koekkoek, Peterborough (Tampa Bay); Ryan Murphy, Kitchener (Carolina); *Stuart Percy, Mississauga (Toronto)

Forwards: ^Brendan Gaunce, Belleville (Vancouver); Barclay Goodrow, Brampton (2013 draft eligible); *Tyler Graovac, Ottawa (Minnesota); ^^Zach Hall, Barrie (2013 draft eligible); Boone Jenner, Oshawa (Columbus); Scott Laughton, Oshawa (Philadelphia); *Josh Leivo, Sudbury (Toronto); ^Lucas Lessio, Oshawa (Phoenix); ^^Connor McDavid, Erie (2015 draft eligible); Zachery Mitchell, Guelph (2013 draft eligible); Sean Monahan, Ottawa (2013 draft eligible); *Matt Puempel, Kitchener (Ottawa); Brett Ritchie, Niagara (Dallas); *Ryan Strome, Niagara (N.Y. Islanders)

SARNIA

Goalies: *Jordan Binnington, Owen Sound (St. Louis); Jake Paterson, Saginaw (Detroit)

Defensemen: Alex Basso, Sarnia (2013 draft eligible); Frank Corrado, Sudbury (Vancouver); Dougie Hamilton, Niagara (Boston); Scott Harrington, London (Pittsburgh); Adam Pelech, Erie (N.Y. Islanders); *Stuart Percy, Mississauga (Toronto)

Forwards: Anthony Camara, Barrie (Boston); Daniel Catenacci, Owen Sound (Buffalo); Max Domi, London (2013 draft eligible); *Tyler Graovac, Ottawa (Minnesota); Seth Griffith, London (Boston); *Joshua Leivo, Sudbury (Toronto); *Matt Puempel, Kitchener (Ottawa); Ryan Rupert, London (Toronto); Kerby Rychel, Windsor (2013 draft eligible); Mark Scheifele, Barrie (Winnipeg); *Ryan Strome, Niagara (N.Y. Islanders); Tom Wilson, Plymouth (Washington)

TEAM RUSSIA

*- skating in QMJHL games only

^- skating in Val-d'Or game only

**- skating in Guelph game only

^^- skating in WHL games only

Goalies: ^^Andrey Makarov, Saskatoon, WHL (Buffalo); Igor Ustinski, Magnitogorsk 2, Russia Jr. (2013 draft eligible); Andrey Vasilevskiy, Ufa 2, Russia Jr. (Tampa Bay)

Defensemen: Kirill Diyakov, Khanty-Mansiysk, KHL (2013 draft eligible); Yaroslav Dyblenko, Mytischi 2, Russia Jr. (2013 draft eligible); Pavel Koledov, Yaroslavl 2, Russia Jr. (2013 draft eligible); Ilya Lyubushin, Yaroslavl 2, Russia Jr. (2013 draft eligible); Andrei Mironov, Dynamo Moscow, KHL (2013 draft eligible); Mikhail Naumenkov, CSKA 2, Russia Jr. (2013 draft eligible); Nikita Nesterov, Chelyabinsk, KHL (Tampa Bay); ^Artem Sergeev, Val-d'Or, QMJHL (Tampa Bay); Alexei Vasilevskiy, Ufa 2, Russia Jr. (2013 draft eligible); Albert Yarullin, Kazan, KHL (2013 draft eligible); **Nikita Zadorov, London, OHL (2013 draft eligible)

Forwards: *Mikhail Grigorenko, Quebec, QMJHL (Buffalo); Kirill Kapustin, Yaroslavl, VHL (2013 draft eligible); Alexander Khokhlachev, Spartak, KHL (Boston); Yaroslav Kosov, Magnitogorsk, KHL (Florida); Yevgeni Mozer, Omsk 2, Russia Jr. (2013 draft eligible); Valeri Nichushkin, Chelyabinsk 2, Russia Jr. (2013 draft eligible); Nikolay Prokhorkin, Manchester, AHL (Los Angeles); Maxim Shalunov, Chelyabinsk, KHL (Chicago); Anton Shenfeld, Magnitogorsk, KHL (2013 draft eligible); Andrei Sigarev, St. Petersburg, KHL (2013 draft eligible); Vladimir Tkachev, Kazan, KHL (2013 draft eligible); Bogdan Yakimov, Penza, Russia-2 (2013 draft eligible); Nail Yakupov, Nizhnekamsk, KHL (Edmonton); Damir Zhafyarov, Novokuznetsk 2, Russia Jr. (2013 draft eligible); Daniil Zharkov, Belleville, OHL (Edmonton); *Anton Zlobin, Val-d'Or, QMJHL (Pittsburgh); *Valentin Zykov, Baie-Comeau, QMJHL (2013 draft eligible)