Daily 2018 Draft Prospect Updates

Oct. 10, 2017

PROSPECT-UPDATE ARCHIVE

There weren't a lot of games, but there were some very strong performances by 2018 draft-eligible prospects on Tuesday. Most of the day's action was in Europe, where three players emerged to make this list of stars. The WHL had a slate of five games, featuring some lopsided scores, but even prospects on losing teams Tuesday put up some good numbers.

Not quite enough action to get 10 stars from the night, but finding five was no problem. Will all of these guys get drafted in June? Well, the first two are locks, with one likely to go No. 1 overall. The three others Tuesday played at a level that scouts can't ignore:

Stars of the Night

CALEN ADDISON -- The Lethbridge defenseman has caught fire in the WHL with two goals and four assists in his last four games. Tuesday night was his best performance to date, even though the Hurricanes fell 6-2 at Swift Current. Addison finished with a power-play goal, a power-play assist, and an eye-popping 10 shots on goal. Prior to that, he had not had more than three shots in any game this season. He started his power-play eruption with the primary assist on a goal that tied the score 1-1 at 17:24 of the opening period. He then scored on the power play for a 2-1 lead at 5:46 of the second. Unfortunately, that was as good as it got for Lethbridge, which went on to allow five unanswered goals.

RASMUS DAHLIN -- There's a reason this player will go No. 1 in June even though he's a defenseman. It's because he's spending this season in a men's league and playing against some of the best talent in Europe. On Tuesday, he more than held his own in Champions League play, helping Gothenburg to a 3-1 win over France's Gap. Dahlin scored a goal in a whopping 20:39 of icetime -- the most he has had in a Champions League game this year. His goal, at 6:16 of the second period for a 1-1 tie, was also his first Champions League point. (Note: Third appearance on this list in 2017-18)

NIKOLAI KOVALENKO -- Remember Andrei Kovalenko? He who scored 379 points in more than 600 NHL games. Meet his son Nikolai. On Tuesday, Nikolai scored twice in Yaroslavl's 6-0 NHL win at Beijing (the Chinese entry in the Russia-based MHL). His goals were the first two of the game, coming at 0:34 and 8:54 of the first period. Basically, Kovalenko needed only 34 seconds to put this one away. He now has three goals in ihs last two games after scoring only once in his first 15.

RILEY STOTTS -- Last season, Stotts caught a terrible break when another player stepped on the rising Swift Current star's foot in a World Under-17 locker-room mishap. That caused Stotts to miss a big chunk of the season. Now, in his draft year, he is showing his skill, as he did in the Broncos' 6-2 win over Lethbridge on Tuesday. Stotts scored the game-winner on a power play to give his team a 3-2 lead at 5:48 of the third period. He then assisted on the next goal just under two minutes later at 7:38.

BOGDAN ZHILYAKOV -- A defenseman who plays for the MHL's St. Petersburg Dynamo SPB team, Zhilyakov notched his second multi-point game of the season with two assistsin SPB's 5-0 win over Khabarovsk on Tuesday He had the primary assist on the winning goal for a 1-0 lead at 14:30 of the first period. He had another primary assist to make it 2-0 at 12:33 of the second. In addition, he recorded a season-high 21:34 of icetime. If here were a couple inches taller, he'd be a certain draftee in June, and he's making a good case for it. (Note: Second appearance on this list in 2017-18)