After the first year of play, it's already starting to show that success in the Champions Hockey League can translate into individual recognition for players. A high proportion of players from European clubs that have been invited to NHL camps this year come from teams that were successful in the CHL.

by Derek O'Brien

One of the things about the Champions Hockey League that is a benefit to players is a bigger stage on which to display their skills. Several young players took advantage of that in the 2014–15 season, to the extent that seven of the competition's top 10 scorers have been offered NHL try-outs for this summer and autumn. Another is headed to the KHL.

During last month's World Championship, we followed the story of Karpat Oulu linemates Joonas Donskoi and Joonas Kemppainen. Not initially expected to be top-liners on the roster of the Finnish champs, they surpassed everybody's expectations by making the Finnish national team and excelling in an environment that contained some of the best players in the world.

“I think it was amazing, this whole tournament was well run and the hockey was great – playing against some of the best players in the world,” Kemppainen said after his team's last game.

Donskoi added, “My goal is to play in North America – I hope I can play there some day.”

It appears that he's getting his wish. Within days of the end of the World Championship, Donskoi signed with the San Jose Sharks and Kemppainen with the Boston Bruins. However, Donskoi and Kemppainen aren't the only ones.

Donskoi believes that getting the chance to play in a high-level competition like the CHL was good preparation for the intensity of the World Championship, saying the European club competition is “a little bit faster than the Finnish league, which is more tactical and defensive.”

As part of its long-term strategy, the Champions Hockey League wants to become a competition that players and teams see as vital to development, thereby giving players more incentive to remain in Europe longer. The success of Donskoi and Kemppainen show what a useful tool it can be.

The Finnish forwards finished with 12 points in 12 CHL games each, tying them for 10th in scoring and helping Karpat reach the semi-finals. Not surprisingly, most of their other contemporaries in the top 10 also went far in the competition – and also attracted attention from overseas.

Almost immediately after their season was over, several top performers from CHL champion Lulea Hockey's roster were approached by NHL clubs. Their leading scorer, 21-year-old right winger Daniel Zaar with 14 points in 13 games, is on his way to the Columbus Blue Jackets. 19-year-old centre Lucas Wallmark, who was just outside the CHL's top 10 with 11 points (5 + 6) in 13 games, will get a chance with the Carolina Hurricanes. Additionally, arguably the team's top two defenceman are also going overseas – 21-year-old Dean Kukan will join Zaar at Columbus's camp, while 24-year-old Kristian Nakyva is headed to the Nashville Predators. Nakyva was an offensive spark from the back end with 12 points (4 + 8) in 13 games and, while Kukan put up only three points (1 + 2), two of those came in the Final game against Frolunda Gothenburg, in which he was named game MVP.

“It's amazing. We came back, and it's a great feeling to be champions of the CHL,” Kukan said in the wake of his big game. “We said before the tournament that our goal was to win it, so it's really important for us!”

One of the striking things about the scoring leaders of the CHL is their ages, which surely plays a role in NHL interest. Only three of the top 10 scorers are over 27 years of age – the exceptions being 33-year-old Nicklas Fogstrom, who's moving from Lulea to Linkoping this summer, Matt D'Agostini, Geneve-Servette's 28-year-old with lots of NHL experience, and of course, 28-year-old Mathis Olimb, the CHL's Cramo Top Scorer and NordicBet MVP.

Five years ago Olimb took his shot at North America and played one season in the AHL. He recorded 32 points in 60 games but found his style of play was better suited to Europe. This time he's on his way to Jokerit Helsinki of the KHL.

Olimb (8 + 18 = 26) and 20-year-old linemate Andreas Johnsson (11 + 14 = 25) were neck-and-neck all season for the CHL scoring lead, with Olimb finishing one point higher. Johnsson is going to the Toronto Maple Leafs rookie camp in July, but at the moment it appears he will be back in Sweden in time for the start of the CHL and SHL schedules.

The third and fourth scorers were also Indians – defenceman Erik Gustafsson and right winger Max Gortz. Both will try to crack the lineups of NHL teams this September – Gustafsson with the Stanley Cup-champion Chicago Blackhawks and Gortz with the Nashville Predators. As well, 22-year-old centre Mattias Janmark will attend the rookie camp of the Dallas Stars and 20-year-old winger Anton Blidh will try out for Boston.

So there you have nine players from the CHL final getting invites to NHL camps. Add to that two from each semi-finalist – the aforementioned Donskoi and Kemppainen from Karpat as well as Marcus Pettersson (Anaheim Ducks) and Axel Holmstrom (Detroit Red Wings) from Skelleftea AIK – and you have 13 players from the final four teams.

For anyone worrying that these teams will be crippled by the loss of some of their top players, keep in mind that one of the main reasons they're among the best clubs in Europe is their ability to develop their own talent. Karpat were already the favourite in Finland before Donskoi and Kemppainen were expected to be their top forwards. After winning back-to-back Swedish titles, Skelleftea were stripped of many of their best players in the summer of 2014, only to come back strong this past season to finish first in the SHL regular season and make a third-straight trip to the league finals. This season former captain Jimmie Ericsson is returning to the fold.

Frolunda have replenished some of the players they may lose this coming season by bringing in returning goaltender Johan Gustafsson and forwards Johan Sundstrom and Spencer Abbott from North America. Furthermore, Lulea has a penchant for attracting young talent from Central Europe – Kukan is an example of this and there are more players in their system as well ready to take on larger roles with the club.

Jakub Vrana is another Central European playing in Sweden and he's also another CHLer going to an NHL camp. Last summer he attended the rookie camp of the 19-year-old Czech winger attended the rookie camp of the Washington Capitals. This season he'll go to their main camp. Vrana took his experience from the NHL camp to Linkoping HC in the CHL and SHL.

“I gained a lot of new experiences there,” Vrana said about last year's camp. “I learned something more about the physical game and so on. It was really useful.”

“Certainly it's good for the players to have that target in front of them,” said SHL general manager and new CHL board member Jorgen Lindgren. “We have a good youth system in Sweden, so that if we lose a player or two, there are a couple of players waiting for the chance to replace them. It's been that way for several years.”

As the Swedish teams had the most success in the first CHL season, it stands to reason they got the most attention. And in Finland, besides the players from Karpat, 22-year-old JYP Jyvaskyla left winger Markus Hannikainen will join Zaar and Kukan at the Columbus camp. As well, Czech defenceman Jakub Nakladal, who played last season with TPS Turku, will take a shot at cracking the Calgary Flames' lineup.

But that's not to say that players on CHL clubs based in Central Europe didn't attract attention as well. Mathias Plachta of German champions Adler Mannheim will try out with the Arizona Coyotes, Christoph Bertschy of Swiss champions SC Bern will try to catch on with the Minnesota Wild and Christian Marti of Geneve-Servette will attend the camp of the Philadelphia Flyers. As Central European clubs start to have more success in the competition, it will likely mean opportunities for their players in greater numbers as well.

That makes 19 players at this point who played in the 2014–15 Champions Hockey League who have been invited to NHL camps for the coming season. Some might stick in the top North American circuit or the second-tier AHL, while others will surely be back for another season in Europe and the CHL. And of course, others have made impressions that will show at this weekend's NHL Entry Draft.

Without question, the top players in the world have their eyes on the National Hockey League. Top European leagues, like the ones in Sweden and Finland, have long been considered good stepping stones. Now the CHL gives those players a larger stage in Europe to display their talents and gain recognition. Several took advantage in year one, with a definite correlation between team success in the CHL and individual recognition by NHL clubs.