Defencmen Bowen Byram has become the 13th player in the history of the Vancouver Giants to be selected to play in the Sherwin-Williams CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game.
The 24thannual showcase of the CHL’s top draft eligible prospects will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 23rdin Red Deer.
Originally selected by the Giants with the third overall pick in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft, the Cranbrook native has already accomplished many great things within his first two full seasons with the G-Men.
Currently, he sits tied among WHL defencemen for the league lead in goals with nine, and his 25 points ranks third on the Giants in scoring.
Last season Byram finished with six goals and 21 assists for 27 points and was named the Western Conference Rookie of the Year nominee. In 100 career games with the Giants he’s notched 15 goals and 37 assists for 52 points. Earlier this season he represented Team WHL in the 2019 CIBC Canada Russia Series.
Internationally Byram has represented Canada on three occasions. In August Byram helped lead Canada to a Gold Medal at the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and a few months earlier he also donned the Maple Leaf for Canada at the World Under-18’s in Russia. He also led Team Canada red to a Silver Medal during the 2017 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.
Also selected for the 2019 Top Prospects Game is former Greater Vancouver Canadians standout Sasha Mutala of the Tri-City Americans. The 17-year-old forward has 17 points in 27 games this season, including seven goals. He helped the Canadians come within a game of winning their first-ever provincial title two years ago.
The remaining players selected are:
Goaltenders: Colten Ellis (Rimouski Océanic), Taylor Gauthier (Prince George Cougars), Hunter Jones (Peterborough Petes) and Mads Sogaard (Medicine Hat Tigers).
Defencemen: Samuel Bolduc (Blainville Boisbriand Armada), Billy Constantinou (Kingston Frontenacs), Thomas Harley (Mississauga Steelheads), Artemi Kniazev (Chicoutimi Saguenéens), Vladislav Kolyachonok (Flint Firebirds), Kaedan Korczak (Kelowna Rockets), Jake Lee (Seattle Thunderbirds), Nikita Okhotyuk (Ottawa 67’s), Matthew Robertson (Edmonton Oil Kings), Lassi Thomson (Kelowna Rockets), Michael Vukojevic (Kitchener Rangers)
Forwards: Nikita Alexandrov (Charlottetown Islanders), Maxim Cajkovic (Saint John Sea Dogs), Joe Carroll (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds), Graeme Clarke (Ottawa 67’s), Dylan Cozens (Lethbridge Hurricanes), Kirby Dach (Saskatoon Blades), Nolan Foote (Kelowna Rockets), Matvey Guskov (London Knights), Dillon Hamaliuk (Seattle Thunderbirds), Arthur Kaliyev (Hamilton Bulldogs), Peyton Krebs (Kootenay ICE), Raphaël Lavoie (Halifax Mooseheads), Brett Leason (Prince Albert Raiders), Nathan Légaré (Baie-Comeau Drakkar), Connor McMichael (London Knights), Sasha Mutala (Tri-City Americans), Jakob Pelletier (Moncton Wildcats), Samuel Poulin (Sherbrooke Phoenix), Jamieson Rees (Sarnia Sting), Nick Robertson (Peterborough Petes), Ryan Suzuki (Barrie Colts), Philip Tomasino (Niagara IceDogs), Josh Williams (Medicine Hat Tigers)and Oleg Zaytsev (Red Deer Rebels)
Previous Giants to receive an invite include: Mark Fistric (2004), Gilbert Brule (2005), Jonathan Blum (2007), Michal Repik (2007), Tyson Sexsmith (2007), James Wright (2008), Evander Kane (2009), David Musil (2011), Brett Kulak (2012) and Ty Ronning (2016). Tyler Benson (2016) and Milos Roman (2018) were also both invited but did not participate because of injury.
The 40 players will be divided into Team Cherry and Team Orr by NHL Central Scouting prior to the event. Coaching staffs for both teams will also be announced at a later date.
