Medicine Hat Tigers head coach Willie Desjardins laughs during a conversation on the Team CHL bench during a practice Monday at Calgary's Winsport Arena ahead of the CHL USA Prospects Challenge on Tuesday and Wednesday in Calgary and Lethbridge. Desjardins is the head coach for Team CHL for the two-game series against the U.S. U18 national team.--NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
CALGARY
The CHL’s top NHL draft talent is on display this week in the CHL USA Prospects Challenge.
The two-game series, pitting Team CHL against the U.S. national U18 team, gives CHL players an opportunity to play among the best in front of NHL scouts in the middle of their seasons. All 15 CHL players who received an “A” rating from NHL Central Scouting – identifying them as projected first-round candidates for the 2026 NHL Draft – made the CHL roster. Medicine Hat Tigers forward Liam Ruck, a B-rated prospect, is one of nine WHLers named to Team CHL.
Even still, the two-game series is missing some of the CHL’s top developed talent from the last few seasons. Projected No. 1 pick Gavin McKenna and likely top-three pick Keaton Verhoeff would be fixtures for Team CHL had they not taken advantage of the NCAA rule change allowing junior hockey players to play Div. I hockey.
The NCAA’s rule change has also brought top American-born talent to the CHL, with two of the top names playing in the prospects game in WHL-leading scorer JP Hurlbert (Kamloops Blazers) and Kelowna Rockets net minder Harrison Boettiger.
The landscape of junior hockey has changed tenfold over the past six months, no one more familiar with those impacts than Medicine Hat Tigers head coach Willie Desjardins who saw McKenna and fellow forwards Ryder Ritchie and Cayden Lindstrom leave the defending Ed Chynoweth Cup champions for the NCAA route.
Desjardins, coaching Team CHL in the two-game series that started Tuesday in Calgary, spoke Monday about the new era of junior hockey after the CHL’s lone practice of the week.
“There’s lots of high-end guys that would be here that aren’t here, so that’s a definite change,” Desjardins said. “How that works out, nobody knows yet. It’ll be another year, maybe two years, before everybody figures out exactly what the fit’s going to be between everybody. There’s a lot of different dynamics going on right now, so I think we all just have to wait and see. I do think it’s good for players though, and I think they have choice. That’s always nice for a player to have a choice.”
The Tigers have also benefited from the rule changes, bringing in U.S.-born forwards Kade Stengrim, Noah Davidson, Gavin Kor, defenceman Kyle Heger and goaltender Carter Casey. As much as Desjardins likes players having the ability to make choices with their future, he believes the NCAA transfer portal has hurt the college level and sees a smilier trend of movement in the WHL.
“If players didn’t like it, they didn’t have to fight through and get better, they just went someplace else, and that’s a little bit with our league now, too,” Desjardins said. “If there’s something they don’t think is perfect, rather than having to fight through, they can just go somewhere else. So I think that hurts both leagues a little bit, but I do think choice is good.”
Hurlbert spoke about his move, leaving the USHL and the U.S. National team for the CHL, citing a better opportunity in the WHL.
“It’s one of the best leagues to produce NHL talent and you see that with all the guys that are here,” Hurlbert said. “Just the opportunity, and the Kamloops Blazers are such a great organization, it is great to be there.”
Boettiger had a similar answer, pointing to the development opportunity the WHL provides him, leaving the USHL for the 2026 Memorial Cup host Rockets.
“It’s a development league and that’s a place where I can go and play however many years I want until I’m 20 and really enjoy what it has to offer,” Boettiger said. “The pro life schedule and all the development with coaches and practice.”
The Team CHL roster has three other U.S.-born players and two who hail from outside North America. At first glance, Desjardins says the series provokes a Canada against the U.S. sentiment. In reality, it’s about the CHL’s best showcasing the continuation of talent development that’s sustained the league for 50 seasons now.
“Being a Canadian, I try to bring in the Canadian flavour a little bit, but we have Europeans, we have Americans on our team, so it’s kind of a little bit of a different thing,” Desjardins said. “We’re really proud of our league. We’re really proud of the CHL. We believe it’s a great development league and we want to showcase that.”
The inaugural edition of the CHL USA Prospects Challenge, held last November in London and Oshawa, Ont., saw 16 of the 22 players on Team CHL selected in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft.
The second game of the 2025 series goes tonight in Lethbridge, puck drop is at 6 p.m. and can be viewed on TSN.
