Top standouts from the OHL Top Prospects Game

BRANTFORD – The first ever OHL Top Prospects Game drew a sellout crowd at the Brantford and District Civic Centre, as the Eastern Conference edged the Western Conference 5-4 in overtime.

The game featured most of the OHL’s top draft-eligible prospects, most notably Matthew Schaefer, who is out with a collarbone injury. A number of top prospects were invited to show what they can do in front of scouts and fans alike.

The Eastern Conference dominated puck possession early, but it was actually the West that scored first. Luca Romano scored around five minutes in on a shot that beat David Egorov cleanly blocking side and disrupted the momentum. But just three minutes later, Shamar Moses tipped a point shot from over-goal defender Xander Velliaris to make it 1-1.

The scoring was pretty wild from there. Brady Martin, Jack Nesbitt and Adrian Misaljevic scored for the West, while Lirim Amidovski and Owen Griffin scored for the first East. As the temperature rose in the third, defenseman Xander Velliaris scored to tie the game at 4-4, forcing the first-ever showcase of its kind into overtime.

From there, the East looked stronger — and that ultimately resulted in Porter Martone, a projected top-five pick in 2025, going low on Matthew Koprowski to win the game.

Here’s a look at the top players from both teams along with their latest NHL Central Scouting ranks:

OHL East

#44 Jake O’Brien, C (8): O’Brien was the driving force in East’s first line early in this one, and that resulted in an assist on the 1-1 goal. The local Brantford product then set up the 4-4 goal before assisting Martone’s winner. He was the line’s best forechecker and was also physically engaged. He just seemed to be involved with and without the puck every time he hit the ice – something we’ve seen many times for him in Brantford, but for some reason he was lacking at points during the CHL USA Prospects Challenge.

#29 Lirim Amidovski, RW (85): Amidovski is such a hard worker so it was nice to see him rewarded with a goal. He kept driving the net and it paid off with the 2-2 marker in the first. he then plated Owen Griffin on the run to make it 3-3 for good measure. So not only was he good off the puck – he landed solid shots and chased guys around – he was also important on the score sheet.

#7 Xander Velliaris, D (N/A): Velliaris isn’t known for his offensive output, registering just two points in 32 games with Kingston over the past two seasons. But after registering assists in two of his last three games with Saginaw, Velliaris impressed with a goal and an assist to get the East back into contention. I don’t remember him being so energetic and active on offense, but the former Mississauga Charger was also one of the better defensive prospects. Velliaris is unranked, but this had to be a good showing for his draft stock.

#72 Jack Ivankovic, G (5): Ivankovic was light in the second half of the game, making up for a tough first half from Egorov. The Steelheads goalie is fresh off supporting Canada at the World Juniors, and he turned some heads with how quick his blocking hand was all game long. East struggled a bit in their own zone, but Ivankovic didn’t seem worried – he was the best goalkeeper of the four today. Performances like today will help him as he looks to overcome draft woes due to his 5-foot-11 frame.

#94 Porter Martone, RW (4): Martone continued to improve as the game progressed and was rewarded with the game-winning overtime goal. He also had an assist on the goal that also forced overtime. I really liked his ability to bump guys off the puck and get to the middle, with his off-puck play being the biggest element of his effort tonight.

OHL West

#71 Jack Nesbitt, C (16): Nesbitt was instrumental in the 2-1 West goal, creating traffic in front to clear David Egorov’s sight on Brady Martin’s power-play shot. He then scored himself on the power play and made no mistake on a 3-2 go-ahead goal. He had a few other good plays that almost paid off, but can’t blame him for the missed opportunities from his teammates. For the most part, this was one of my favorite shows from Nesbitt this year.

#44 Brady Martin, RW (17): Martin scored on the power play to give West back the lead and had an assist again later in the first. Add in a great play that almost made it 5-3 and another a few minutes later and it was great to see him back in the limelight. The hard-working winger hits hard, plays hard and shoots hard – and we saw it all tonight.

#13 Quinn Beauchesne, D (84): I’ve had my concerns with Beauchesne’s game, but I thought he was hard to beat in 1v1 situations. He got into a match, got some decent hits and kept opponents to the edge. I liked his skating and his puck movement the best. Beauchesne is still prone to making some odd gaffes with the puck, but East couldn’t do much when they got near him.

#86 Luca Romano, C (35): Romano opened the scoring and then had nearly a second early in the middle stanza. He rarely lost a battle for the puck and his speed was deadly. I usually like him around the net, but I thought he did a good job of making noise around the perimeter and in the neutral zone.

#18 Cameron Reid, D (27): While Reid wasn’t as flashy as others on this list, he still had three assists – including two primary ones. My only issue was how he struggled behind his own net under pressure, but I thought he showed good speed and generated some decent chances on the rush. Reid is great with the puck and I feel like that was one of my better personal displays of him because he was always trying to get the puck in a scoring position.

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