Daily 2018 Draft Prospect Updates

Jan. 21, 2018

PROSPECT-UPDATE ARCHIVE

What are the chances that two 2018 NHL draft prospects named Riley would end up on this top-performances list, particularly when only five players made the cut? Well, it happened. So we'll just call Sunday the "Life of Riley" Day.

You know it's a deep draft pool when there are multiple Rileys who could go in the first few rounds. And the depth of the pool means it's time for NHL teams with limited Stanley Cup hopes to start thinking about what's more important -- making the playoffs to go out in the first round or getting a potential All-Star with just about any of this year's first-round picks. The team selecting 31st in this draft will be better off than the team that went 10th in 2017. This is the year to load up on picks.

Both Rileys come from the major-junior ranks. They are joined by two fellow CHL players and one from Russia. Check them out:

Stars of the Night

RYAN McLEOD -- McLeod picked up two goals and an assist for the second consecutive game on Sunday, as Mississauga crushed Kingston 6-2. The game's No. 1 star scored at 14:27 of the first period to put the Steelheads up 2-0. Later in the period, he picked up the primary assist on the game-winner at 18:02, making it 3-0. His second goal, at 15:41 of the middle period, stretched the lead to 5-2. McLeod now has 15 goals and 50 points in 45 OHL games. Sunday gave him back-to-back first-star selections as well as points in four of his last five games. (Note: Ninth appearance on this list in 2017-18)

ADAM McMASTER -- McMaster had his best game of the season on Sunday, scoring two goals on five shots in North Bay's 4-3 OT win over Saginaw. He earned No. 1 star honors after scoring at 15:41 of the second period for a 2-1 lead and notching the game-winner just 23 seconds into overtime. McMaster, a 5-foot-10 center, has only eight goals on the season, but five of them have come in the past five games.

AMIR MIFTAKHOV -- The best Russian goaltender in the 2018 draft pool continued to rule the MHL on Sunday, making 37 stops for his first shutout of the season in a 1-0 win at Orenburg. Miftakhov was 13-for-13 in the first period and 12-for-12 in both the second and third. Over three straight wins, he has stopped a totall 118 of 122 shots (.967 save percentage). Russia has put some great goalies into the NHL, and Miftakhov looks like he wants to one day be mentioned alongside those others. (Note: Eighth appearance on this list in 2017-18)

RILEY STOTTS -- No stranger to this list of late, Stotts continued to shine as the No. 1 star of Calgary's 4-3 OT win over Prince Albert on Sunday. He had a goal, an assist, and won 11 of 18 face-offs to pace the Hitmen to a comeback victory. His goal, at 16:39 of the second period, cut the Raiders' lead to 2-1. At 16:59 of the third, he got the lone assist on a shorthanded goal to pull within one at 3-2. Since being traded to Calgary from Swift Current, Stotts has turned his season around with 23 points in his last 22 WHL games, including points in five of the past six. (Note: Fifth appearance on this list in 2017-18)

RILEY SUTTER -- When you are 6-foot-3 and a member of the Sutter family, you know you're going to get drafted. Riley, a right wing, has all the tools and pedigree to be an impact player in the NHL, and he reminded scouts of that on Sunday with a goal and assist in Everett's 4-1 win over Swift Current. He assisted on the game's opening goal at 3:33 of the first period and later scored his 20th goal of the season to make it 3-1 at 4:04 of the second. Sutter has posted multiple points in two of the past three games and has 37 points in 45 WHL games this season. He has matched last season's goals total and is within two points of the 39 he scored in 67 games in 2016-17. (Note: Sixth appearance on this list in 2017-18)