This year’s NHL draft prospects have shown up in a big way early in the CHL playoffs. The best example of this is in Game 1 of the Blainville-Boisbriand / Victoriaville series (the Armada lead the series 2-0), where Xavier Villeneuve (#15 ranking) and Egor Shilov (#17) were named the 1st and 2nd stars of the game, respectively, with two goals apiece. Caleb Malhotra (#5) of the OHL also was named the 2nd star in Game 1 of the Brantford / Sudbury series (won 6-2 by Brantford), with two goals of his own for the Bulldogs.
Also in the OHL, Nikita Klepov (#16) managed two assists in a losing cause to Kitchener in Game 1. Switching gears to London, Jaxon Cover (#46) had the lone goal for the Knights in their Game 1 loss to the Soo.
Out west, Daxon Rudolph (#6) had a goal and an assist in a Game 1 win for Prince Albert over Red Deer, and was named the game’s 2nd star. JP Hurlbert (#10) managed the only Kamloops goal in a losing cause versus Kelowna.