2024/25 regular season in the CHL begins tonight with more than 16 games on the schedule
With 17 games on the schedule, including nine in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) and eight in the Western Hockey League (WHL), the 2024-25 regular season in the CHL officially begins tonight at 6 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. PT on CHL TV.
* The action gets started with all six QMJHL clubs from Atlantic Canada facing off against one another, including a game between the Saint John Sea Dogs and the No.4-ranked Moncton Wildcats, who will see 2022 Memorial Cup Champion Gardiner MacDougall make his debut as Moncton’s new head coach.
* Among the other contests tonight in the QMJHL, the 2025 Memorial Cup host and No. 5-ranked Rimouski Océanic kick off their season at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT by travelling to Baie-Comeau to face the 2024 QMJHL finalist Drakkar, while at the same time, the Drummondville Voltigeurs will raise their QMJHL Championship banner in front of their fans before taking on the Sherbrooke Phoenix.
* The WHL will also usher in a new season tonight, starting with the reigning WHL champion Moose Jaw Warriors heading to Manitoba for a showdown against the Brandon Wheat Kings at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. Among the other seven WHL games, the No. 7-ranked Prince George Cougars will look to begin another strong campaign when they host the Spokane Chiefs in their home opener tonight at 10:05 p.m. ET / 7:05 p.m. PT.
* Tomorrow at 9:05 p.m. ET / 6:05 p.m. PT, 15-year-old defenceman and exceptional status player Landon DuPont will make his much-anticipated WHL debut when the Everett Silvertips are home to the Vancouver Giants.
* 2023-24 CHL Rookie of the Year Gavin McKenna and the No.1-ranked Medicine Hat Tigers will get started tomorrow at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT as well as they open their season at home against the Edmonton Oil Kings.
* Prior to their game against the Victoriaville Tigres tomorrow at 4 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. PT, the Québec Remparts will officially retire the No. 18 of Jonathan Marchessault. The 2023 Stanley Cup Champion and current Nashville Predators forward played four seasons for the Remparts from 2007 to 2010. With 239 career points, Marchessault currently sits seventh among the Remparts’ all-time scorers since the club’s return to Québec City in 1997.
* The Saginaw Spirit will mark the beginning of the latest Ontario Hockey League (OHL) regular season by raising their 2024 Memorial Cup Championship banner before hosting the Windsor Spitfires and the first-overall pick of the 2024 OHL Priority Selection Ethan Belchetz next Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. ET / 4:05 p.m. PT.
* The reigning OHL champions, the No.3-ranked Knights, begin their title defence in London on Friday, September 27 at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT against the Flint Firebirds, while that same night the new-look No. 2-ranked Steelheads will play their first-ever game in Brampton when they face the No. 9-ranked Brantford Bulldogs at the CAA Centre.
* All of these games can be seen live on CHL TV, along with 2,000+ regular season and playoff games from the WHL, OHL, and QMJHL throughout the 2024-25 campaign. Available to viewers from every corner of the globe, CHL TV is accessible on the CHL mobile app, in addition to Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire, and online at watch.chl.ca. For more details on CHL TV packages and pricing, please click on the following link.
NHL PROSPECTS IN NEW PLACES
* In the lead-up to the 2025 Memorial Cup, the host and No. 5-ranked Rimouski Océanic traded for the 2023-24 QMJHL MVP and Vegas Golden Knights prospect Mathieu Cataford into their lineup. A CHL Third-Team All-Star selection last season, Cataford was one of only two players in the QMJHL to register 40+ goals and 50+ assists in 2023-24.
* Elsewhere on the East Coast, the No.4-ranked Moncton Wildcats bolstered their roster during the offseason, thanks in part to the acquisition of Nashville Predators prospect Dylan MacKinnon and St. Louis Blues prospect Juraj Pekarcik. A former first-round pick in the QMJHL, MacKinnon grew up just outside of Moncton (Riverview, N.B.). Meanwhile, Pekarcik placed second in the USHL last season with 50 assists.
* Among the biggest moves this offseason were the No.1-ranked Medicine Hat Tigers adding Minnesota Wild prospect Ryder Ritchie to their lineup. Ritchie tallied 44 points (19G-25A) in 47 games with the Raiders last season, finishing second on the team with an average of 0.97 points per game.
* The Prince Albert Raiders were busy bringing in plenty of NHL talent with the addition of St. Louis Blues prospect Tomas Mrsic, Buffalo Sabres prospect Norwin Panocha, and Seattle Kraken prospect Lukas Dragicevic this offseason. In 2023-24, Dragicevic posted a second consecutive 50-point campaign, Mrsic nearly tripled his production over one season by tallying 62 points (23G-39A) in 63 games, while Panocha registered 15 assists in 52 games in Chicoutimi.
* In the OHL, the No.2-ranked Brampton Steelheads made a splash by acquiring Seattle Kraken prospect Carson Rehkopf from the Kitchener Rangers. A CHL Third-Team All-Star selection in 2023-24, Rehkopf recorded 16 power-play goals, which were tied for the most in the OHL last season, while his 52 goals ranked second in the OHL.
* After a strong campaign with the Steelheads, goaltender and Buffalo Sabres prospect Ryerson Leenders is set to play for the No. 9-ranked Brantford Bulldogs in 2024-25. Last season, Leenders led the OHL with a .909 SV% in 46 games, while his three shutouts were one shy of the league leaders.
* The Barrie Colts added a trio of Dallas Stars prospects to their roster this summer. In addition to bringing in Finnish forward Emil Hemming, the Colts acquired defenceman Tristan Bertucci and centre Brad Gardiner in a pair of trades. Bertucci has registered 10+ goals and 40+ points in consecutive seasons with the Firebirds, while Gardiner tallied 49 points in 67 games with the 67’s last season.
THE PATH TO THE 2025 NHL DRAFT
* Scheduled for November 26 in London and November 27 in Oshawa, the 2024 CHL USA Prospects Challenge will feature the top first-year NHL Draft-eligible prospects from the CHL’s Member Leagues – WHL, OHL & QMJHL – face-off against those from the U.S. National Under-18 Team in a two-game series.
* Ahead of the 2025 NHL Draft, plenty of eyes will be on the OHL’s Brampton Steelheads, who feature a pair of promising NHL prospects in right winger Porter Martone and goaltender Jack Ivankovic. Martone led the Steelheads with 33 goals last season, while Ivankovic registered a 2.72 GAA, which was the best among any OHL rookie in 2023-24.
* There will also be lots of attention on a pair of prospects in Erie, Pennsylvania, as projected 2025 NHL Draft first-round picks Matthew Schaefer and Malcolm Spence of the Erie Otters appear set for big seasons in the OHL. Spence finished second on the Otters in scoring with 62 points (19G-43A) in 66 games during the 2023-24 campaign. Schaefer, an OHL All-Rookie First Team member last season, played an important role in Canada’s gold-medal victories at the 2023 World U17 Hockey Challenge, 2024 IIHF U18 World Championship, and 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
* On the heels of winning the Memorial Cup in 2024, left winger Michael Misa (Saginaw Spirit) will look to build on what was a special 2023-24 season. One of just six OHL players to have ever been granted exceptional status, Misa tallied 75 points last season – which was the most ever by a Spirit player in their 16-year-old season.
* Among some of the other notable 2025 NHL Draft prospects to follow in the OHL include Filip Ekberg (Ottawa 67’s), Kashawn Aitcheson (Barrie Colts), Brady Martin (Soo Greyhounds), and Jake O’Brien (Brantford Bulldogs), who is the reigning OHL Rookie of the Year. After setting rookie records for points (64) and assists (51) for the Bulldogs in 2023-24, O’Brien was selected to the CHL’s All-Rookie Team.
* Out west in the WHL, a lot of focus ahead of the 2025 NHL Draft will be on centremen Roger McQueen (Brandon Wheat Kings) and Cole Reschny (Victoria Royals), who are among a group of WHL skaters projected to be taken in the first round. McQueen set personal bests in goals (21) and assists (30) in 2023-24, while Reschny ranked within the top five among WHL rookies for both assists (38) and scoring (59 points) last season.
* Prince George Cougars netminder Joshua Ravensbergen will be looking to build upon what was a remarkable rookie campaign in the WHL. The 17-year-old registered a 26-4-1-1 record, 2.46 GAA, .907 SV% and six shutouts in 2023-24. His six clean sheets matched a WHL record for shutouts by a rookie in a single season. He also became the first goaltender in Cougars’ history to record shutouts in back-to-back WHL playoff games.
* Some of the other notable 2025 NHL Draft prospects in the WHL include Cameron Schmidt (Vancouver Giants), Braeden Cootes (Seattle Thunderbirds), Jackson Smith (Tri-City Americans), and Blake Fiddler (Edmonton Oil Kings). All four of these skaters participated in the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, with Schmidt, Cootes and Smith coming away with a gold medal with Team Canada.
* It is set to be a strong year for the QMJHL as they have several players projected as first-round picks for the 2025 NHL Draft, highlighted by centreman Caleb Desnoyers (Moncton Wildcats). Named to the QMJHL’s 2023-24 Rookie All-Star team, Desnoyers finished third in the QMJHL in rookie scoring with 56 points last season. Along with Schaefer and Ivankovic, Desnoyers also helped Canada win gold at the 2023 World U17 Hockey Challenge, the 2024 IIHF U18 World Championship, and the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
* In the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of Québec, the Chicoutimi Saguenéens will be a QMJHL club that is closely followed thanks in part to their group of promising group of 2025 NHL Draft prospects, which are highlighted by left winger Émile Guité and defenceman Alex Huang. Both were named to the QMJHL’s Rookie All-Star team last season. Guité was also named the QMJHL Rookie of the Year after finishing second among QMJHL rookies in both goals (25) and points (57).
* In addition to this trio, Justin Carbonneau (Blainville-Boisbriand Armada) and Bill Zonnon (Rouyn-Noranda Huskies) are among some of the other talented QMJHL prospects to watch ahead of the 2025 NHL Draft. Carbonneau scored 31 goals and 59 points in his first full season in the QMJHL in 2023-24, while Zonnon recorded 40 assists to go along with 58 points.
STATS & FACTS
* Before arriving in Moncton as the Wildcats’ new head coach, Gardiner MacDougall went undefeated over the 2023-24 season, holding a perfect 56-0 record behind the bench during the 2023-24 season between coaching the University of New Brunswick (UNB) and Team Canada to gold at the 2024 IIHF U18 World Championship (including exhibition & pre-tournament games). Although he won a Memorial Cup in 2022 as the Saint John Sea Dogs’ head coach, tonight’s Wildcats game will mark the first-ever regular season game that MacDougall coaches in the QMJHL.
* Justin Poirier put together an incredible 2023-24 campaign in the QMJHL, becoming the first 17-year-old in the QMJHL to hit the 50-goal plateau since Sidney Crosby. By leading the QMJHL in goals during the regular season (51 goals) and playoffs (18 goals), Poirier became just the 11th skater in QMJHL history to accomplish the feat and the first since Anthony Mantha did it in 2014. The Carolina Hurricanes prospect will now aim in 2024-25 to become the first QMJHL player to lead the league in goals over consecutive seasons since Mantha did it in 2014.
* As he prepares for his WHL debut on Saturday night, 15-year-old Landon DuPont (Everett Silvertips) has already made history as the first defenceman and second player in WHL history (after Connor Bedard) to be granted Exceptional Player Status by Hockey Canada. Including DuPont, only three CHL defencemen have ever been granted exceptional status (Aaron Ekblad & Sean Day were the others). DuPont is also just the ninth player in the history of the CHL to compete as an exceptional status player.
* 2026 NHL Draft prospect Gavin McKenna (Medicine Hat Tigers) put together a special 2023-24 campaign, becoming one of only nine 16-year-old skaters in the CHL to record 90-plus points in a single season over the last 25 years (WHL: McKenna & Connor Bedard; OHL: Patrick O’Sullivan, Steven Stamkos, John Tavares & Connor McDavid; QMJHL: Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Sidney Crosby & Angelo Esposito).
* In 2023-24, Zayne Parekh (Calgary Flames) of the Saginaw Spirit & Carter Yakemchuk (Ottawa Senators) of the Calgary Hitmen became one of eight draft-eligible blueliners to break the 30-goal plateau in CHL history. This season, both will endeavour to repeat as 30-goal scorers, which is something only five defencemen in CHL history have accomplished (QMJHL: David Ezard & Jonathan Gauthier; OHL: Bobby Orr; WHL: Greg Hawgood & Paul Buczkowski).
* London Knights head coach Dale Hunter enters the 2024-25 season having accrued 951 career coaching wins. If the Knights can put together a similar kind of campaign as they did a year ago, Hunter could become just the second coach after Brian Kilrea (1,194 career wins) in CHL history to reach 1,000 victories behind the bench.
* Repeating as a league champion is no easy feat, but the London Knights are going to endeavour to do something that no CHL club has been able to do in 12 years. The last CHL team to win their league title in back-to-back season was the Knights in 2013. With respect to the other Member Leagues, the Saint John Sea Dogs last repeated as champions in the QMJHL in 2012, while no WHL club has won the Ed Chynoweth Cup in consecutive years since the Kamloops Blazers achieved the feat in 1995.
BY THE NUMBERS
2,004 – The number of regular-season games that will be played across the CHL, which includes a new 64-game schedule for each QMJHL team. Fans can catch any of these 2,004 contests live on CHL TV throughout the 2024-25 season.
245 – The number of days until the puck drops at the 2025 Memorial Cup in Rimouski – an event that will mark the return of the CHL’s championship event to the province of Québec for what will be the first time in 10 years.
222 – The number of NHL prospects who are eligible to play in the CHL during the 2024-25 season, which includes representation from all 32 NHL clubs.
99 – The number of CHL players selected in the 2024 NHL Draft who are expected to play in the CHL this season, a group that includes Cayden Lindstrom (Medicine Hat Tigers / Columbus Blue Jackets), Zayne Parehk (Saginaw Spirit / Calgary Flames), and Spencer Gill (Rimouski Océanic / Philadelphia Flyers).
67 – The number of days until the first game of the 2024 CHL USA Prospects Challenge presented by Kubota Canada, which will trigger the start of the inaugural edition of this new two-game series between the U.S. National Under-18 Team and the top 2025 NHL Draft prospects from the CHL.
55 – The number of signed imports from the 2024 CHL Import Draft who are set to play in CHL this season, including 11 players who were selected in the 2024 NHL Draft last June.
16 – The number of first-round picks from the 2024 NHL Draft who are expected to play in the CHL during the 2024-25 season, which represents 50% of the players chosen in the first round last June.
13 – The number of head coaches who will be making their debuts with a new CHL club this season, a group that includes Brad Lauer (Spokane Chiefs), Cory Stillman (Guelph Storm), and Gardiner MacDougall (Moncton Wildcats).
QUICK CLICKS
CHL Top-10 Rankings: 2024 Preseason Edition
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