Eric Florchuk will be thrust into a huge spotlight in just under six weeks.
The six-foot-one, 173-pound Victoria Royals forward is one of 40 players from across the Canadian Hockey League selected to compete in the 2018 Sherwin-Williams CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game at the Sleeman Centre in Guelph, Ont., on Jan. 25.
NHL scouts and general managers will zero in on the top draft-eligible prospects from the Western, Ontario and Quebec major-junior leagues. The 40 players were chosen by all 31 NHL clubs and then divided into teams by NHL Central Scouting.
It’s a great opportunity that only so many players enjoy every season with coaches Don Cherry and Bobby Orr behind the benches for the annual affair.
“I’m looking forward to it. It’ll be a really neat experience,” said the 17-year-old Florchuk. “I’ll be a little nervous, but at the same time I’m excited for it.
“It should be a good game, but it’s the overall experience that’s pretty cool,” added Florchuk, who found out from his coaches after Tuesday’s 5-4 loss in Prince George. “I kept quiet about it. I told my dad [Steve] and he’s the only person I told.”
The exposure will do the Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., native a lot of good, suggests his general manager.
“We seem like, way out here on the West Coast, that sometimes our guys don’t get out in front of as many people as they can unless they get into one of these games or series,” said Cam Hope.
“He’s been great. He’s a thoroughbred — a highly talented player with natural skating ability that doesn’t come along very often,” he added of his first-round, 13th overall WHL bantam draft selection from 2015.
This season, Florchuk has six goals and 19 assists in 34 games. Two goals have come on the power play while one was short-handed and he’s also plus-11 in the plus/minus department. Last year he finished with just three goals and six assists in 51 games and was minus-14.
The Top Prospects Game has been a fixture since 1996, said CHL president David Branch.
“It’s a truly special experience for the players assembled from across the CHL who have the opportunity to showcase their skills before hundreds of NHL scouts and general managers in attendance in addition to the passionate hockey fans in Guelph and for a nationwide audience watching live on Sportsnet and TVA Sports,” said Branch.
Team Cherry and Team Orr will be assigned at a later date with coaching staffs along with captains and alternates still to be announced.
Among the WHL representatives to compete are defencemen Calen Addison (Lethbridge Hurricanes), Ty Smith (Spokane Chiefs), Alexander Alexeyev (Red Deer Rebels) and Jett Woo (Moose Jaw Warriors), while the forwards include Florchuk, Luka Burzan (Moose Jaw Warriors), Cole Fonstad (Prince Albert Raiders), Milos Roman (Vancouver Giants) and Riley Sutter (Everett Silvertips). Moose Jaw is the only WHL club with two representatives.
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