398 CHL Graduates named to NHL Opening Night rosters ahead of 2023-24 season

As the National Hockey League (NHL) kicks off its 2023-24 season tonight, a total of 398 Canadian Hockey League (CHL) graduates from its three member leagues (WHL, OHL & QMJHL) were among those named to the NHL’s Opening Night rosters. The 398 CHL alumni, which represent just over 50% of the players on the NHL’s 32 teams, mark the most of any development hockey league in the world.

In total, there were 197 graduates hailing from the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), 122 from the Western Hockey League (WHL), and 79 from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).

59 of the CHL’s 60 clubs have at least one graduate on an NHL roster. Headlining the list are 18 recent alumni who competed in the CHL last season — a group that features Connor Bedard (Regina Pats/Chicago Blackhawks), Zach Benson (Wenatchee Wild/Buffalo Sabres), Matthew Poitras (Guelph Storm/Boston Bruins), Kevin Korchinski (Seattle Thunderbirds/Chicago Blackhawks), Pavel Mintyukov (Ottawa 67’s/Anaheim Ducks), Tristan Luneau (Gatineau Olympiques/Anaheim Ducks), Fraser Minten (Kamloops Blazers/Toronto Maple Leafs), and Jakub Demek (Kamloops Blazers/Vegas Golden Knights).

All 32 NHL clubs feature at least one former CHL player on their Opening Night roster (see complete list of players on all 32 NHL clubs below), with the defending Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights and the Chicago Blackhawks leading the way with 20 CHL graduates. Right behind them is the Tampa Bay Lightning who have 18, followed by the Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers who each have 16 CHL alumni on their roster.

With over 390 graduates competing in the NHL for the fourth straight season, the CHL continues to be the number one supplier of talent to the NHL.

Stories To Follow:

• Heading into this new NHL season, 27 CHL alumni are looking to make their NHL debuts including Blackhawks forward Connor Bedard (Regina Pats), Sabres forward Zach Benson (Wenatchee Wild), Bruins forward Matthew Poitras (Guelph Storm), & Ducks defenceman Tristan Luneau (Gatineau Olympiques)
• 12 CHL alumni are chasing their 1,000th NHL career game including Predators forward Ryan O’Reilly (Erie Otters), Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck (Oshawa Generals), Stars forward Matt Duchene (Brampton Battalion), Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (Niagara IceDogs), Bruins forward Brad Marchand (Moncton Wildcats), Kraken forward Jordan Eberle (Regina Pats), Predators defenceman Luke Schenn (Kelowna Rockets), Sabres forward Jeff Skinner (Kitchener Rangers), Capitals defenceman John Carlson (London Knights), Sharks forward Logan Couture (Ottawa 67’s), Canucks defenceman Tyler Myers (Kelowna Rockets) & Wild goaltender Marc-André Fleury (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles)
• Bedard will be aiming to become the 12th No.1 overall pick in NHL history to win the Calder Memorial Trophy. Of the previous 11 who have achieved the feat, nine of them were CHL alumni: Aaron Ekblad (Barrie Colts), Nathan MacKinnon (Halifax Mooseheads), Patrick Kane (London Knights), Bryan Berard (Detroit Junior Red Wings), Mario Lemieux (Laval Voisins), Dale Hawerchuk (Cornwall Royals), Bobby Smith (Ottawa 67’s), Denis Potvin (Ottawa 67’s), and Gilbert Perreault (Montreal Jr. Canadiens)
• Oilers forward Connor McDavid (Erie Otters) could join fellow CHL alumni Mario Lemieux (Laval Voisins) and Phil Esposito (St. Catharines Teepees) as just the third player in NHL history to reach the 900- and 1000-point milestones in the same season. McDavid currently sits 50 points shy of 900 in his career and 150 shy of 1,000.
• Wild goaltender Marc-André Fleury (Cape Breton Screaming Eagles) enters this new season at 544 wins, just eight shy of surpassing fellow CHL alumnus Patrick Roy (Granby Bisons) for second-most by a netminder in NHL history, behind only Martin Brodeur (Saint-Hyacinthe Laser) who has 691 wins

News & Notes:

• Bedard will make his much-anticipated NHL debut with the Blackhawks against Sidney Crosby and the Penguins tonight – a contest that will feature three No. 1 picks who each originated from one of the CHL’s three member leagues: Bedard (WHL – Regina Pats), Crosby (QMJHL – Rimouski Océanic) and first-year Chicago forward Taylor Hall (OHL – Windsor Spitfires)
• 12 of the NHL’s 32 head coaches were previously bench bosses in the CHL including Ryan Huska (Calgary Flames), Pascal Vincent (Columbus Blue Jackets), and Spencer Carbery (Washington Capitals) who will be making NHL head coaching debuts this week. At the same time, outside of that dozen, seven additional NHL head coaches played in the CHL including Jared Bednar (Colorado Avalanche), Andrew Brunette (Nashville Predators), and Rick Bowness (Winnipeg Jets)
• Entering the 2023-24 season, 17 CHL alumni are set to lead their clubs as captains, including Jets forward Adam Lowry (Swift Current Broncos), Blues forward Brayden Schenn (Brandon Wheat Kings), Bruins forward Brad Marchand (Halifax Mooseheads) and Flames forward Mikael Backlund (Kelowna Rockets) who are among the group of five new captains in the NHL

Complete list of CHL Alumni on NHL Opening Night rosters

Players are listed alongside the CHL club they’ve played the most games with

* denotes player who is injured and/or non-roster

Anaheim Ducks (15)

Sam Carrick (Brampton), Chase De Leo (Portland)*, Jamie Drysdale (Erie), Cam Fowler (Windsor), John Gibson (Kitchener), Benoit-Olivier Groulx (Halifax), Radko Gudas (Everett), Adam Henrique (Windsor), Max Jones (London), Brett Leason (Prince Albert), Tristan Luneau (Gatineau), Brock McGinn (Guelph), Mason McTavish (Peterborough), Pavel Mintyukov (Saginaw), Ryan Strome (Niagara).

Arizona Coyotes (14)

Josh Brown (Oshawa), Michael Carcone (Drummondville), Lawson Crouse (Kingston), Travis Dermott (Erie), Matt Dumba (Red Deer), Sean Durzi (Owen Sound), Barrett Hayton (Soo), Connor Ingram (Kamloops), Bryan Little (Barrie)*, Liam O’Brien (Rouyn-Noranda), Anson Thornton (Barrie)*, Juuso Valimaki (Tri-City), Jakub Voracek (Halifax)*, Shea Weber (Kelowna)*.

Boston Bruins (9)

Brandon Carlo (Tri-City), Charlie Coyle (Saint John), Jake DeBrusk (Swift Current), Morgan Geekie (Tri-City), Jakub Lauko (Rouyn-Noranda), Milan Lucic (Vancouver), Brad Marchand (Moncton), Matthew Poitras (Guelph), Pavel Zacha (Sarnia).

Buffalo Sabres (9)

Zach Benson (Winnipeg), Eric Comrie (Tri-City), Dylan Cozens (Lethbridge), Henri Jokiharju (Portland), Peyton Krebs (Kootenay), Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Sudbury), Jack Quinn (Ottawa)*, Matthew Savoie (Winnipeg)*, Jeff Skinner (Kitchener).

Calgary Flames (12)

Rasmus Andersson (Barrie), Mikael Backlund (Kelowna), Dillon Dubé (Kelowna), A.J. Greer (Rouyn-Noranda), Jonathan Huberdeau (Saint John), Dryden Hunt (Regina), Nazem Kadri (Kitchener), Andrew Mangiapane (Barrie), Jakob Pelletier (Moncton)*, Adam Ruzicka (Sudbury), MacKenzie Weegar (Halifax), Nikita Zadorov (London).

Carolina Hurricanes (12)

Michael Bunting (Soo), Brent Burns (Brampton), Jalen Chatfield (Windsor), Tony DeAngelo (Sarnia), Seth Jarvis (Portland), Brendan Lemieux (Barrie), Jordan Martinook (Vancouver), Stefan Noesen (Plymouth), Vasily Ponomarev (Shawinigan)*, Jordan Staal (Peterborough), Ryan Suzuki (Barrie)*, Andrei Svechnikov (Barrie)*.

Chicago Blackhawks (20)

Andreas Athanasiou (Barrie), Connor Bedard (Regina), Colton Dach (Saskatoon)*, Jason Dickinson (Guelph), MacKenzie Entwistle (Hamilton), Nick Foligno (Sudbury), Taylor Hall (Windsor), Reese Johnson (Red Deer), Tyler Johnson (Spokane), Seth Jones (Portland), Boris Katchouk (Soo), Kevin Korchinski (Seattle), Philipp Kurashev (Québec)*, Petr Mrazek (Ottawa), Connor Murphy (Sarnia), Corey Perry (London), Luke Philp (Kootenay)*, Taylor Raddysh (Erie), Samuel Savoie (Gatineau)*, Jarred Tinordi (London).

Colorado Avalanche (10)

Alex Beaucage (Rouyn-Noranda)*, Bowen Byram (Vancouver), Jonathan Drouin (Halifax), Jean-Luc Foudy (Windsor)*, Samuel Girard (Shawinigan), Ryan Johansen (Portland), Gabriel Landeskog (Kitchener)*, Kurtis MacDermid (Owen Sound), Nathan MacKinnon (Halifax), Ivan Prosvetov (Saginaw).

Columbus Blue Jackets (12)

Jake Bean (Tri-City), Adam Boqvist (London), Cameron Butler (Oshawa)*, Jordan Dumais (Halifax)*, Liam Foudy (London), Erik Gudbranson (Kingston), Boone Jenner (Oshawa), Spencer Martin (Mississauga), Mathieu Olivier (Shawinigan)*, Ivan Provorov (Brandon), Damon Severson (Kelowna), Cole Sillinger (Medicine Hat).

Dallas Stars (12)

Jamie Benn (Kelowna), Ty Dellandrea (Flint), Matt Duchene (Brampton), Radek Faksa (Kitchener), Thomas Harley (Mississauga), Wyatt Johnston (Windsor), Mason Marchment (Erie), Jason Robertson (Kingston), Tyler Seguin (Plymouth), Sam Steel (Regina), Scott Wedgewood (Plymouth), Chase Wheatcroft (Lethbridge)*.

Detroit Red Wings (11)

Ben Chiarot (Guelph), Alex DeBrincat (Erie), Robby Fabbri (Guelph), Christian Fischer (Windsor), Matt Luff (Hamilton)*, Olli Maatta (London), David Perron (Lewiston), Michael Rasmussen (Tri-City), James Reimer (Red Deer), Daniel Sprong (Charlottetown), Joe Veleno (Saint John).

Edmonton Oilers (16)

Evan Bouchard (London), Connor Brown (Erie), Jack Campbell (Windsor), Cody Ceci (Ottawa), Leon Draisaitl (Prince Albert), Warren Foegele (Kingston), Evander Kane (Vancouver), Brett Kulak (Vancouver), Connor McDavid (Erie), Ryan McLeod (Mississauga), Markus Niemelainen (Saginaw), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Red Deer), Darnell Nurse (Soo), Derek Ryan (Spokane), Brady Stonehouse (Ottawa)*, Stuart Skinner (Lethbridge).

Florida Panthers (10)

Sam Bennett (Kingston), Nick Cousins (Soo), Aaron Ekblad (Barrie)*, Dmitry Kulikov (Drummondville), Steven Lorentz (Peterborough), Josh Mahura (Regina), Sam Reinhart (Kootenay), Anthony Stolarz (London), Matthew Tkachuk (London), Carter Verhaeghe (Niagara).

Los Angeles Kings (5)

Quinton Byfield (Sudbury), Phillip Danault (Victoriaville), Drew Doughty (Guelph), Pierre-Luc Dubois (Cape Breton), Trevor Lewis (Owen Sound).

Minnesota Wild (12)

Calen Addison (Lethbridge), Caeden Bankier (Kamloops)*, Connor Dewar (Everett), Marc-Andre Fleury (Cape Breton), Marcus Foligno (Sudbury), Frederick Gaudreau (Shawinigan), Ryan Hartman (Plymouth), Pat Maroon (London), Michael Milne (Winnipeg)*, Jacob Middleton (Ottawa), Marco Rossi (Ottawa), Jared Spurgeon (Spokane).

Montreal Canadiens (16)

Jake Allen (Montreal), Josh Anderson (London), Justin Barron (Halifax), Kirby Dach (Saskatoon), Christian Dvorak (London)*, Brendan Gallagher (Vancouver), Kaiden Guhle (Prince Albert), Rafael Harvey-Pinard (Rouyn-Noranda), Sean Monahan (Ottawa), Sam Montembeault (Blainville-Boisbriand), Tanner Pearson (Barrie), Michael Pezzetta (Sudbury), Carey Price* (Tri-City), David Savard (Moncton), Nick Suzuki (Owen Sound), Arber Xhekaj (Kitchener).

Nashville Predators (12)

Egor Afanasyev (Windsor)*, Tyson Barrie (Kelowna), Alexandre Carrier (Gatineau), Luke Evangelista (London), Cody Glass (Portland), Jeremy Lauzon (Rouyn-Noranda), Michael McCarron (London), Ryan O’Reilly (Erie), Luke Schenn (Kelowna), Colton Sissons (Kelowna), Philip Tomasino (Niagara), Yakov Trenin (Gatineau).

New Jersey Devils (15)

Kevin Bahl (Ottawa), Nathan Bastian (Mississauga), Nico Daws (Guelph)*, Nolan Foote (Kelowna)*, Dougie Hamilton (Niagara), Nico Hischier (Halifax), Curtis Lazar (Edmonton), Michael McLeod (Mississauga), Timo Meier (Halifax), Dawson Mercer (Drummondville), Colin Miller (Soo), Ondrej Palat (Drummondville), Akira Schmid (Lethbridge), Chris Tierney (London), Tyler Toffoli (Ottawa).

New York Islanders (13)

Mathew Barzal (Seattle), Samuel Bolduc (Blainville-Boisbriand), Casey Cizikas (Mississauga), Cal Clutterbuck (Oshawa), Noah Dobson (Acadie-Bathurst), Julian Gauthier (Val-d’Or), Bo Horvat (London), Ross Johnston (Moncton), Daylan Kuefler (Kamloops)*, Matt Martin (Sarnia), Jean-Gabriel Pageau (Gatineau), Adam Pelech (Erie), Ryan Pulock (Brandon).

New York Rangers (6)

Will Cuylle (Windsor), Barclay Goodrow (Brampton), Alexis Lafrenière (Rimouski), Tyler Pitlick (Medicine Hat), Braden Schneider (Brandon), Vincent Trocheck (Saginaw).

Ottawa Senators (12)

Drake Batherson (Cape Breton), Thomas Chabot (Saint John), Rourke Chartier (Kelowna), Jakob Chychrun (Sarnia), Claude Giroux (Gatineau), Ridley Greig (Brandon), Travis Hamonic (Moose Jaw), Mathieu Joseph (Saint John), Mark Kastelic (Calgary), Parker Kelly (Prince Albert), Dominik Kubalik (Sudbury), Zac MacEwen (Moncton).

Philadelphia Flyers (13)

J.R. Avon (Peterborough)*, Sean Couturier (Drummondville), Nicolas Deslauriers (Rouyn-Noranda), Ryan Ellis (Windsor)*, Tyson Foerster (Barrie), Morgan Frost (Soo), Carter Hart (Everett), Travis Konecny (Ottawa), Scott Laughton (Oshawa), Travis Sanheim (Calgary), Marc Staal (Sudbury), Owen Tippett (Mississauga), Egor Zamula (Calgary).

Pittsburgh Penguins (11)

Raivis Ansons (Baie-Comeau)*, Jeff Carter (Soo), Sidney Crosby (Rimouski), Ryan Graves (Charlottetown), Jansen Harkins (Prince George), Tristan Jarry (Edmonton), Pierre-Olivier Joseph (Charlottetown), Kris Letang (Val-d’Or), John Ludvig (Portland), Alex Nedeljkovic (Plymouth), Rickard Rakell (Plymouth).

San Jose Sharks (12)

Mackenzie Blackwood (Barrie), Kyle Burroughs (Regina), Logan Couture (Ottawa)*, Anthony Duclair (Québec), Mike Hoffman (Drummondville), Nikolai Knyzhov (Regina), Kevin Labanc (Barrie), Nikita Okhotiuk (Ottawa)*, Mitchell Russell (North Bay)*, Givani Smith (Guelph), Marc-Edouard Vlasic (Québec), Filip Zadina (Halifax).

Seattle Kraken (10)

Oliver Bjorkstrand (Portland), Andre Burakovsky (Erie), Vince Dunn (Niagara), Jordan Eberle (Regina), Yanni Gourde (Victoriaville), Philipp Grubauer (Belleville), Tye Kartye (Soo), Jared McCann (Soo), Jamie Oleksiak (Niagara), Kailer Yamamoto (Spokane).

St. Louis Blues (14)

Nikita Alexandrov (Charlottetown), Jordan Binnington (Owen Sound), Sammy Blais (Victoriaville), Robert Bortuzzo (Kitchener), Joel Hofer (Portland), Josh Jacobs (Sarnia)*, Jordan Kyrou (Sarnia), Jake Neighbours (Edmonton), Brandon Saad (Saginaw), Marco Scandella (Val-d’Or), Brayden Schenn (Brandon), Robert Thomas (London), Alexei Toropchenko (Guelph), Tyler Tucker (Barrie).

Tampa Bay Lightning (18)

Alex Barré-Boulet (Drummondville), Logan Brown (Windsor)*, Erik Cernak (Erie), Anthony Cirelli (Oshawa), Calvin de Haan (Oshawa), Jack Finley (Spokane)*, Haydn Fleury (Red Deer), Brandon Hagel (Red Deer), Tanner Jeannot (Moose Jaw), Nikita Kucherov (Rouyn-Noranda), Nicholas Paul (North Bay), Brayden Point (Moose Jaw), Darren Raddysh (Erie), Roman Schmidt (Kitchener)*, Brent Seabrook (Lethbridge)*, Mikhail Sergachev (Windsor), Steven Stamkos (Sarnia), Austin Watson (Windsor).

Toronto Maple Leafs (13)

Tyler Bertuzzi (Guelph), T.J. Brodie (Saginaw), Max Domi (London), Mark Giordano (Owen Sound), Noah Gregor (Moose Jaw), Mitchell Marner (London), Fraser Minten (Kamloops), Matt Murray (Soo)*, Jake Muzzin (Soo)*, Ryan Reaves (Brandon), Morgan Rielly (Moose Jaw), John Tavares (Oshawa), Conor Timmins (Soo)*.

Vancouver Canucks (8)

Anthony Beauvillier (Shawinigan), Guillaume Brisebois (Acadie-Bathurst), Conor Garland (Moncton), Filip Hronek (Saginaw), Noah Juulsen (Everett), J.T. Miller (Plymouth), Tyler Myers (Kelowna), Pius Suter (Guelph).

Vegas Golden Knights (20)

Michael Amadio (North Bay), Ivan Barbashev (Moncton), William Carrier (Cape Breton), Paul Cotter (London), Jakub Demek (Edmonton), Nicolas Hague (Mississauga), Adin Hill (Portland), Brett Howden (Moose Jaw), Keegan Kolesar (Seattle), Robin Lehner (Soo)*, Jonathan Marchessault (Québec), Brayden McNabb (Kootenay), Daniil Miromanov (Acadie-Bathurst)*, Brayden Pachal (Prince Albert), Alex Pietrangelo (Niagara), Nicolas Roy (Chicoutimi), Chandler Stephenson (Regina), Mark Stone (Brandon), Shea Theodore (Seattle), Logan Thompson (Brandon).

Washington Capitals (13)

Alexander Alexeyev (Red Deer), John Carlson (London), Joel Edmundson (Moose Jaw)*, Lucas Johansen (Kelowna), Darcy Kuemper (Red Deer), Beck Malenstyn (Calgary), Anthony Mantha (Val-d’Or), Sonny Milano (Plymouth), Matthew Phillips (Victoria), Rasmus Sandin (Soo), Dylan Strome (Erie), Riley Sutter (Everett), Tom Wilson (Plymouth).

Winnipeg Jets (13)

Laurent Brossoit (Edmonton), Declan Chisholm (Peterborough), Dylan DeMelo (Mississauga), Brenden Dillon (Seattle), Nikolaj Ehlers (Halifax), Adam Lowry (Swift Current), Josh Morrissey (Prince Albert), Vladislav Namestnikov (London), Nino Niederreiter (Portland), Cole Perfetti (Saginaw), Mark Scheifele (Barrie), Logan Stanley (Windsor), Gabriel Vilardi (Windsor).