Red Deer Rebels forward Oleg Zaytsev will have a familiar face behind the bench at the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.
The CHL and NHL Central Scouting announced the rosters for the Jan. 23 showdown and Zaytsev will play for Team Cherry, whose assistant coach is Rebels bench boss Brent Sutter. The head coach for Team Cherry is Red Deer native Ron MacLean.
Zaytsev, 18, is a ‘B’ rated prospect on the NHL Central Scouting players to watch list for the 2019 NHL Draft and has 24 points (7 goals, 17 assists) in 36 games with the Rebels this year. He was the 17th overall selection in the CHL Import Draft this summer.
Seven other WHL players will suit up for Team Cherry, including goalies, Taylor Gauthier (Prince George Cougars) and Mads Sogaard (Medicine Hat Tigers). Defencemen for Team Cherry are Bowen Byram (Vancouver Giants) and Matthew Robertson (Edmonton Oil Kings) and forwards include Dylan Cozens (Lethbridge Hurricanes), Nolan Foote (Kelowna Rockets) and Peyton Krebs (Kootenay ICE).
Team Orr, coached by Kelly Hrudey with Robyn Regehr and Marc Habscheid will also include seven WHL players. The list has projected top 10 2019 NHL Draft pick Kirby Dach (Saskatoon Blades), as well as Kaedan Korczak (Kelowna Rockets) Jake Lee (Seattle Thunderbirds), Lassi Thomson (Kelowna Rockets), Brett Leason (Prince Albert Raiders), Sasha Mutala (Tri-City Americans) and Josh Williams (Medicine Hat Tigers).
The game features the top 40 players from across the OHL, QMJHL and WHL and will be played on Jan. 23 at the Centrium at 7 p.m.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
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