The NHL draft is barely behind us and yet the next scouting season for the 2017 NHL Entry Draft is about to begin. The first major tournament is the Ivan Hlinka, which is held in the Czech Republic each year. This year the tournament is scheduled to run from August 8^th to the 13^th, with two exhibition games to be played on August 6^th. The first exhibition game features the Czechs and Canada from Breclav and the other is Slovakia vs USA from Piestany. Both games are available to watch online at onlajny.com

The top eight international teams compete in the U18 tournament and are divided into two groups.

Group A, Břeclav: Czech Republic, Finland, Switzerland, USA.
Group B, Bratislava: Slovakia, Canada, Sweden, Russia.

Tournament Schedule

Canada will look to extend their impressive streak of eight consecutive Gold Medal finishes after winning again last year.

Follow the results of the tournament on the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament web site here

Follow the Ivan Hlinka Twitter account at @HlinkaMemorial

Not all of the teams have announced their official line ups as of yet, but here is what I was able to find.

Team USA announced their full roster. All players on the American roster are eligible for the 2017 NHL draft.

Sweden announced their roster, and it includes three players who will not be NHL draft eligible until 2018. Defenceman Rasmus Dahlin, and forwards Isac Lundestrom and Lukas Wernblom all have late birthdays making them ineligible for the 2017 draft.

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sweden Names Roster for 2016 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament <a href="https://t.co/oFDdBu1BWo">https://t.co/oFDdBu1BWo</a></p>&mdash; Dominic Tiano (@dominictiano) <a href="https://twitter.com/dominictiano/status/757215450237403136">July 24, 2016</a></blockquote>

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Two players of note so far for Sweden are center Elias Pettersson, and defenceman Timothy Liljegren . The North Bay Battalion selected defenceman Adam Tilander 38^th overall at the CHL import draft, and he was not named to the roster.

The Swiss have also announced their roster. The most notable prospect from their roster is Nico Hischier, who was selected by the Halifax Mooseheads at the CHL import draft with the 6^th overall pick.

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Swiss <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IvanHlinka?src=hash">#IvanHlinka</a> lineup, Eggenberger and Hischier are big names <a href="https://t.co/ywTmiIb1xi">pic.twitter.com/ywTmiIb1xi</a></p>&mdash; Brayden Sullivan (@SullyDraftGeek) <a href="https://twitter.com/SullyDraftGeek/status/756550800898424833">July 22, 2016</a></blockquote>

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Canada, Finland, Russia, Czech Republic and Slovakia have either not named their teams, or I can't find it posted anywhere.

Russia has announced the list of players on their preliminary roster. Klim Kostin, who was the first overall pick from the CHL import draft by Kootenany Ice headlines a potent offensive group which also includes Andrey Svechnikov, Kirill Slepets and goalie Danil Tarasov and defenceman Dmitri Samorukov, a Guelph Storm first round pick,

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">RUS Ivan Hlinka training roster posted by <a href="https://twitter.com/RUSProspects">@RUSProspects</a>… Deadly up front with Kostin, Slepets, Svechnikov <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Hlinka?src=hash">#Hlinka</a> <a href="https://t.co/35JyQhpsDS">pic.twitter.com/35JyQhpsDS</a></p>&mdash; Brayden Sullivan (@SullyDraftGeek) <a href="https://twitter.com/SullyDraftGeek/status/753319112265261056">July 13, 2016</a></blockquote>

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Slovakia has also announced their preliminary roster. One player to watch will be Adam Ruzicka, who could potentially be a first round selection in the 2017 draft. The 6-4 can play both center and wing and has some skill to go along with his size and skating.

{source} <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="no" dir="ltr">Slovaks unveil their preliminary roster for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IvanHlinka?src=hash">#IvanHlinka</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/HlinkaMemorial">@hlinkamemorial</a>: <a href="https://t.co/MTxr1H4Eud">https://t.co/MTxr1H4Eud</a> <a href="https://t.co/CpzqyznHhk">pic.twitter.com/CpzqyznHhk</a></p>&mdash; Jakub Homoľa (@Jakub_Homola) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jakub_Homola/status/753117575865831424">July 13, 2016</a></blockquote>

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As the defending champions, Canada will look to some top prospects for the 2017 draft in forwards Gabriel Vilardi, Owen Tippett, Maxime Comtois, And defencemen Jacob Paquette and Nicholas Hague. Head Coach Paul McFarland of the Kingston Frontenacs is a young and up and coming Coach who has enjoyed early success with the Fronts and has had a hand in developing prospects such as Sam Bennett, Lawson Crouse and Roland McKeown.

Here is the list of all the players at their selection camp

Name

Finland dominated the 2016 draft with Patrik Laine, Jesse Puljujarvi and Olli Juolevi being top picks, and Finland could have two more top prospects in the draft with Eeli Tolvanen and Kristian Vasalainen

The host nation Czech Republic also has not announced any players for their roster but they could ice a trio of prospects eligible for the 2018 NHL draft. Filip Zadina is a 6-0 winger who may sound familiar already as he has represented the Czechs at the World Juniors, U17 and U18 already. He projects as a goal scoring power forward that could challenge for the first overall in 2018. Two other Czech players to watch are Jachyn Kondelik, a forward who was selected by Sudbury in the first round at the CHL import draft, and Michal Steinocher, a defenceman picked by the Flint firebirds with their first round import pick.