Vancouver to host '16 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game

The top prospects from the Canadian Hockey League eligible for the 2016 NHL Draft will get an opportunity to showcase their ability before hundreds of NHL scouts at the 2016 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver on Jan. 28, 2016.

The CHL, in association with the Western Hockey League and the Vancouver Giants, made the announcement Friday.

The 21st annual event will include 40 of the top 2016 draft prospects playing in the Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

"This is an event that all NHL scouts look forward to attending," NHL Central Scouting Director Dan Marr said. "The game is a unique opportunity to evaluate 40 of the top draft-eligible prospects on a single stage in what has annually become an intense competition."

The rosters will likely be announced in December. The game will mark the eighth time the top prospects event will be hosted by the WHL, and second time it will be held in Vancouver since 2005.

"On behalf of the Canadian Hockey League, we are very pleased to return to Vancouver for the 2016 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game," CHL President David Branch said in a statement. "Since 1996 the CHL's top prospects have had the opportunity to showcase their skills in this event before hundreds of NHL scouts and general managers. In that time nearly 50 percent of all first-round NHL draft picks have competed in this event which truly features the next wave of NHL talent."

Erie Otters center Connor McDavid, the projected. No. 1 pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, captained Team Bobby Orr to a 6-0 win against Team Don Cherry at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines, Ontario, on Jan. 22. McDavid was one of 32 players among the top 60 on NHL Central Scouting's midterm list of the top 60 North American skaters eligible for the 2015 NHL Draft on June 26-27 in Sunrise, Fla.

The 2014 Top Prospects Game featured 17 players who were selected in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft, including top-10 picks Aaron Ekblad (No. 1, Florida Panthers), Sam Reinhart (No. 2, Buffalo Sabres), Leon Draisaitl (No. 3, Edmonton Oilers), Michael Dal Colle (No. 5, New York Islanders), Jake Virtanen (No. 6, Vancouver Canucks), Haydn Fleury (No. 7, Carolina Hurricanes), Nikolaj Ehlers (No. 9, Winnipeg Jets) and Nicholas Ritchie (No. 10, Anaheim Ducks).

Ekblad was the 12th player since the first game in 1996 to go from the Top Prospects Game to No. 1 pick of the NHL Draft, following Chris Phillips (1996, Ottawa Senators), Joe Thornton (1997, Boston Bruins), Vincent Lecavalier (1998, Tampa Bay Lightning), Rick Nash (2002, Columbus Blue Jackets), Marc-Andre Fleury (2003, Pittsburgh Penguins), Patrick Kane (2007, Chicago Blackhawks), Steven Stamkos (2008, Tampa Bay Lightning), John Tavares (2009, New York Islanders), Taylor Hall (2010, Edmonton Oilers), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (2011, Edmonton Oilers) and Nathan MacKinnon (2012, Colorado Avalanche).

The first choice of the 2012 draft, Nail Yakupov of the Sarnia Sting of the OHL, sat out the Prospects Game after sustaining an ankle injury playing for Russia during the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship.