CHL Top Draft Prospect Award

The CHL Top Draft Prospect Award is given out every year to the top eligible prospect player in the Canadian Hockey League for the annual NHL entry draft. The award was first given in 1991, but not awarded from 2003 to 2005. The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) awards the equivalent Michael Bossy Trophy, awarded to the top draft prospect in its league.^[1] There is no equivalent award in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) or Western Hockey League (WHL).

CHL Top Draft Prospect Award

Sport	Ice hockey
Awarded for	Annually to the top eligible Canadian Hockey League prospect for the NHL Entry Draft
History
First award	1991
First winner	Eric Lindros
Most recent	Matthew Schaefer

Recipients

List of recipients of the CHL Top Draft Prospect Award.^[2][3]

Season	Winner	Team	League	NHL entry draft
1990–91	Eric Lindros	Oshawa Generals	OHL	1st overall
1991–92	Todd Warriner	Windsor Spitfires	OHL	4th overall
1992–93	Alexandre Daigle	Victoriaville Tigres	QMJHL	1st overall
1993–94	Jeff O'Neill	Guelph Storm	OHL	5th overall
1994–95	Bryan Berard	Detroit Junior Red Wings	OHL	1st overall
1995–96	Chris Phillips	Prince Albert Raiders	WHL	1st overall
1996–97	Joe Thornton	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds	OHL	1st overall
1997–98	Vincent Lecavalier	Rimouski Océanic	QMJHL	1st overall
1998–99	Pavel Brendl	Calgary Hitmen	WHL	4th overall
1999–2000	Rostislav Klesla	Brampton Battalion	OHL	4th overall
2000–01	Jason Spezza	Windsor Spitfires	OHL	2nd overall
2001–02	Jay Bouwmeester	Medicine Hat Tigers	WHL	3rd overall
2002–03	not awarded
2003–04	not awarded
2004–05	not awarded
2005–06	Jordan Staal	Peterborough Petes	OHL	2nd overall
2006–07	Patrick Kane	London Knights	OHL	1st overall
2007–08	Steven Stamkos	Sarnia Sting	OHL	1st overall
2008–09	John Tavares	London Knights	OHL	1st overall
2009–10	Tyler Seguin	Plymouth Whalers	OHL	2nd overall
2010–11	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	Red Deer Rebels	WHL	1st overall
2011–12	Nail Yakupov	Sarnia Sting	OHL	1st overall
2012–13	Seth Jones	Portland Winterhawks	WHL	4th overall
2013–14	Sam Bennett	Kingston Frontenacs	OHL	4th overall
2014–15	Connor McDavid	Erie Otters	OHL	1st overall
2015–16	Pierre-Luc Dubois	Cape Breton Screaming Eagles	QMJHL	3rd overall
2016–17	Nolan Patrick	Brandon Wheat Kings	WHL	2nd overall
2017–18	Andrei Svechnikov	Barrie Colts	OHL	2nd overall
2018–19	Bowen Byram	Vancouver Giants	WHL	4th overall
2019–20	Alexis Lafrenière	Rimouski Océanic	QMJHL	1st overall
2020–21	not awarded
2021–22	Shane Wright	Kingston Frontenacs	OHL	4th overall
2022–23	Connor Bedard	Regina Pats	WHL	1st overall
2023–24	Cayden Lindstrom	Medicine Hat Tigers	WHL	4th overall
2024–25	Matthew Schaefer	Erie Otters	OHL	1st overall

See also

• List of Canadian Hockey League awards