Tournaments & Showcases
The CHL/USA Prospects Challenge
The annual two-game showcase that pits top CHL draft prospects against USA Hockey's National Team Development Program. NHL scouts treat it as a major data point.
The CHL/USA Prospects Challenge is the marquee in-season showcase for top NHL Draft-eligible CHL players. It pairs a CHL Prospects roster against the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (NTDP) U18 team in two games on consecutive nights.
The format
- Two games, played on consecutive evenings, hosted in different cities each year.
- CHL roster is selected from top draft-eligible players in the OHL, WHL, and QMJHL.
- USA roster is the NTDP U18 team, which plays a full season together.
- All games are televised and heavily attended by NHL scouts.
How it replaced the Top Prospects Game
For many years, the showcase was the CHL Top Prospects Game: a single all-star contest between two teams of CHL prospects, each coached by an NHL legend. The new two-game series against the NTDP was inaugurated in November 2024 (the 2024-25 season), putting CHL prospects head-to-head with the top American developmental program.
Why scouts care
Most CHL prospects are watched dozens of times by scouts in their own league, but rarely against a roster of equally elite peers. The Prospects Challenge isolates the top CHL draft class against the strongest American comparison group available, all in the same arena over 48 hours. Performance here often shifts late-first-round draft rankings.