NHL Draft Watch: Meier unstoppable for Mooseheads
NHL Draft Watch is your guide for eligible players worth keeping an eye on leading up to June's draft.
Rising/Falling
Rising: Timo Meier, RW, Halifax (QMJHL)
Timo Meier hasn't slowed down since November. The Swiss winger has been held off the scoresheet once in 19 QMJHL games since Nov. 2, recording 18 goals and 20 assists in that span.
Meier's run was interrupted by the World Junior Championship, where he had six points in six games for Switzerland before returning to Halifax and picking up where he left off. He has 10 points in four games since the tournament.
Meier's shot has a quick, accurate release and he creates his own chances through good positioning in the offensive zone. He also isn't afraid to play the physical game or stand up for teammates.
Rising: Filip Chlapik, C, Charlottetown (QMJHL)
Filip Chlapik's transition to North America could not have gone much better.
Chlapik scored at a point-per-game pace in the Czech under-20 league last season and made the move after being drafted by Charlottetown in the 2014 import draft. He shares the team lead in scoring with Daniel Sprong and the two draft-eligible forwards have the Islanders battling for a home playoff spot.
Chlapik was cut from the Czech Republic World Junior roster but appears to be using that setback as motivation. He is on a six-game scoring streak (six goals, four assists) and plays a strong two-way game that should endear him to NHL teams regardless of his offensive production.
Falling: Ryan Pilon, D, Brandon (WHL)
Ryan Pilon is having a very good season, but not as good as his teammate.
Pilon looked like Brandon's next top defenseman when he arrived in a trade last season, but he has taken a back seat to Ivan Provorov, who runs the Wheat Kings' offense from the blue line. As a result, Provorov is 10th on NHL Central Scouting's midterm rankings for North American skaters, while Pilon is 31st.
Second fiddle was not the role Pilon envisioned with Brandon, but playing alongside Provorov seems like a good problem to have. Pilon can still climb back into the first-round conversation with another month like October, when he recorded 12 points.
Spotlight
CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game
The top draft-eligible prospects playing Canadian junior hockey will meet in St. Catharines, Ont., Thursday for the annual CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.
The event is a chance for players to showcase their talent against others projected to be high draft picks in June. The rosters read like an All-Star squad of sorts, but unlike most professional All-Star games, these players have a reason to try.
Connor McDavid and Anthony Beauvillier are the captains of Team Orr and Team Cherry, respectively. Team Orr appears to have a size advantage at forward with hulking wingers Paul Bittner and Lawson Crouse, while projected first-round picks like Provorov and Jeremy Roy patrol the blue line.
Beauvillier leads a Team Cherry roster with plenty to prove. Mitch Marner and Dylan Strome have an opportunity to upstage McDavid, who looms over them on a daily basis in the OHL, while 6-foot-3 Evgeny Svechnikov and 6-foot-5 Brandon Carlo will try to answer the physicality of Bittner and Crouse.