A Look at Which NHL Prospects Playing in the Champions Hockey League Tournament

A new era of European hockey is upon us. The European Champions League Hockey Tournament is up and rolling. This tournament takes the best teams of the many European leagues and pits them against each other to see who is the best team in Europe. It is very similar to, if not exactly the same as, the Champions League soccer (or futbal). There was an attempt in 2008 to establish a Champions Hockey League, and the first season was somewhat of a success. However, the IIHF (the governing body of international hockey) was forced to shut down the tournament due to financial concerns. But it is 2014, and two days of tournament play has already happened, featuring 11 "divisional" groups with 4 teams in each. So there are 44 teams from leagues all around Europe: Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Norway, England, France, Italy, Denmark, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Austria. This international tournament gives a great spotlight on up-and-coming talent as well as a window to view NHL prospect development through. I have compiled a list of NHL prospects playing in the tournament. There are 28 draft picks from the 2014 draft, 10 picks from the 2013 draft, 8 picks from the 2012 draft, 2 picks from the 2010 draft, and a free agent signing that are the NHL prospects playing in the tournament. I've compiled a list of all the prospects I researched were playing (yes, through HTML) into the table below.

Year	Player	Position	Round	Overall	NHL Team	CHL Team	Country	Nationality
2014	Kevin Fiala	L	1	11	Nashville	HV71 Jönköping	Sweden	Switzerland
2014	Jakub Vrána	L/R	1	13	Washington	Linköping HC	Sweden	Sweden
2014	Kasperi Kapanen	R	1	22	Pittsburgh	KalPa Kuopio	Finland	Finland
2014	Marcus Pettersson	R	2	38	Anaheim	Skellefteå AIK	Sweden	Sweden
2014	Vítek Vaněček	G	2	39	Washington	Bílí Tygři Liberec	Czech Republic	Czech Republic
2014	Andreas Englund	D	2	40	Ottawa	Djurgården Stockholm	Sweden	Sweden
2014	Julius Bergman	D	2	46	San Jose	Frölunda Gothenburg	Sweden	sweden
2014	Noah Rod	R	2	53	San Jose	Genève-Servette	Switzerland	Switzerland
2014	Anton Karlsson	R	3	87	Arizona	Frölunda Gothenburg	Sweden	Sweden
2014	William Lagesson	D	4	91	Edmonton	Frölunda Gothenburg	Sweden	Sweden
2014	Ville Husso	G	4	94	St. Louis	IFK Helsinki	Finland	Finland
2014	Linus Söderström	G	4	95	New York Islanders	Djurgården Stockholm	Sweden	Sweden
2014	Lucas Wallmark	C	4	97	Carolina	Luleå Hockey	Sweden	Sweden
2014	Christoffer Ehn	C	4	106	Detroit	Frölunda Gothenburg	Sweden	Sweden
2014	Viktor Arvidsson	L	4	112	Nashville	Skellefteå AIK	Sweden	Sweden
2014	Gustav Forsling	D	5	126	Vancouver	Linköping HC	Sweden	Sweden
2014	Joonas Lyytinen	D	5	132	Nashville	KalPa Kuopio	Finland	Finland
2014	Anton Lindholm	D	5	144	Colorado	Skellefteå AIK	Sweden	Sweden
2014	Andreas Söderberg	D	5	148	Chicago	Skellefteå AIK	Sweden	Sweden
2014	John Nyberg	L	6	165	Dallas	Frölunda Gothenburg	Sweden	Sweden
2014	Julius Vahatalo	L	6	166	Detroit	TPS Turku	Finland	Finland
2014	Adam Ollas Mattsson	D	6	175	Calgary	Djurgården Stockholm	Sweden	Sweden
2014	Hugo Fagerblom	G	7	182	Florida	Frölunda Gothenburg	Sweden	Sweden
2014	Pierre Engvall	L	7	188	Toronto	Frölunda Gothenburg	Sweden	Sweden
2014	Kevin Elgestal	R	7	194	Washington	Frölunda Gothenburg	Sweden	Sweden
2014	Axel Holmström	C	7	196	Detroit	Skellefteå AIK	Sweden	Sweden
2014	Jesper Pettersson	D	7	198	Philadelphia	Linköping HC	Sweden	Sweden
2014	Emil Johansson	D	7	206	Boston	HV71 Jönköping	Sweden	Sweden
2013>	Carl Dahlstrom	D	2	51	Chicago	Linköping HC	Sweden	Sweden
2013	Artturi Lehkonen	L	2	55	Montreal	Frölunda Gothenburg	Sweden	Finland
2013	Linus Arnesson	D	2	60	Boston	Djurgården Stockholm	Sweden	Sweden
2013	Marcus Hogberg	G	3	78	Ottawa	Linköping HC	Sweden	Sweden
2013	Peter Cehlarik	L	3	90	Boston	Luleå Hockey	Sweden	Slovakia
2013	Felix Girard	C	4	95	Nashville	Genève-Servette	Switzerland	Canada
2013	Robin Norell	D	4	111	Chicago	Linköping HC	Sweden	Sweden
2013	Saku Maenalanen	R	5	125	Nashville	Karpat Oulu	Finland	Finland
2013	Anton Blidh	L	6	180	Boston	Frölunda Gothenburg	Sweden	Sweden
2013	Andreas Johnson	R	7	202	Toronto	Frölunda Gothenburg	Sweden	Sweden
2012	Oskar Sundqvist	C	3	81	Pittsburgh	Skellefteå AIK	Sweden	Sweden
2012	Erik Gustafsson	D	4	93	Edmonton	Skellefteå AIK	Sweden	Sweden
2012	Erik Karlsson	C	4	99	Carolina	Frölunda Gothenburg	Sweden	Sweden
2012	Calle Andersson	D	4	119	New York Rangers	EV Zug	Switzerland	Sweden
2012	Daniel Zaar	R	6	152	Columbus	Luleå Hockey	Sweden	Sweden
2012	Christoph Bertschy	C	6	158	Minnesota	SC Bern	Switzerland	Switzerland
2012	Max Gortz	R	6	172	Nashville	Frölunda Gothenburg	Sweden	Sweden
2012	Mikael Wikstrand	D	7	196	Ottawa	Frölunda Gothenburg	Sweden	Sweden
2010	Tim Heed	D	5	132	Anaheim	Skellefteå AIK	Sweden	Sweden
FA	Bjorn Krupp	D	FA	FA	Minnesota	Kolner Haie	Germany	Canada

So there are 27 teams represented through prospects in the tournament this year. The 3 teams who don't have prospects to watch are New Jersey, Los Angeles, and Winnipeg. That's not to say the tournament shouldn't be watched by those fanbases, as there are many potential draft-ready prospects as well, such as Oliver Kylington, the defenseman from the Swedish team, Farjestad BK, Erik Cernak, the Slovakian defenseman on the HC Kosice team, and many others.

Note that this table does not include the multiple draft picks that did not pan out over the years. It's interesting to note that as of today, the leading scorer for the tournament is Maple Leafs' prospect Andreas Johnson (2013 7th round, 202 overall), with 9 points in 2 games (2G, 7A).

Am I missing anybody from the table? Let me know!

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