Hockey fans in North America can get a tantalizing taste of talent that’s on the way when they tune into the Champions Hockey League in 2018-19.

Last season, Vancouver Canucks prospect Elias Pettersson had six goals and nine points in 11 games as his Växjö Lakers reached the CHL final. Pettersson’s breakout season also included the SHL championship, silver at World Juniors and gold at the World Championship before he signed with the Canucks on 25 May. The 19-year-old is expected to make the jump straight into the NHL this fall.

Who’s the next Pettersson? Keep an eye on these six players as the new CHL season gets underway on Thursday:

Kaapo Kakko (FW, TPS Turku) - 2019 Draft Eligible

Many early projections list smooth-skating winger Kaapo Kakko right behind Jack Hughes as the second-best prospect for the 2019 NHL draft.

Kakko tied for his team’s scoring lead when Finland captured gold at the 2018 World U18 Championship last April, then jumped up a level to play top-line minutes in this month’s World Junior Summer Showcase in Kamloops, Canada. With good size, strong playmaking skills and outstanding hockey sense, Kakko’s next appearance in North America should come as a 17-year-old at the 2019 World Junior Championship.

Anttoni Honka (JYP Jyväskylä, DE) - 2019 Draft Eligible

The youngest of four hockey-playing brothers, Anttoni Honka is tracking to be the best of the bunch. Five years after his brother Julius was selected 14th overall by the Dallas Stars, Anttoni could be picked even higher next June.

The siblings are both right-shot defenders. They’re strong skaters who play similar styles but Anttoni considers himself to be more of a set-up man, while Julius likes to shoot. Anttoni is also further ahead in his development: he got a taste of Liiga action last season and appeared in five Champions Hockey League games, helping JYP become the first non-Swedish team ever to lift the CHL trophy.

Like Kakko, Honka also won U18 gold last April and is expected to be named to the 2019 World Junior team after a solid performance at the Summer Showcase.

Rasmus Kupari (Kärpät Oulu, FW) - Drafted 20th (1st round, 2018) by Los Angles Kings

Because great teams are made down the middle, the Los Angeles Kings are building high-end organizational depth at center. In 2017, they selected big-bodied Canadian pivot Gabriel Vilardi 11th overall. This year, the Kings went for the speed-and-skill package of Rasmus Kupari in the 20th spot.

Kupari’s explosive stride is impressive, and helped him keep pace in 39 games with Liiga champion Kärpät last season. Kupari came home without a medal from the 2018 World Junior Championship but picked up gold at the U18 tournament last April in Russia. He’s expected to be Finland’s first-line center at his second World Juniors this winter.

Dominik Bokk (Växjö Lakers, FW) - Drafted 25th (1st round, 2018) by St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues were impressed enough by Germany’s Dominik Bokk that they gave the Toronto Maple Leafs a third-round pick at the NHL draft in June in order to to move up four spots and make sure they got their man.

Bokk showed well when he moved to Sweden last season from his native Germany. He quickly bounced up from Växjö’s U18 team to SuperElit, then to the pro squad. Bokk appeared in 15 games for the SHL champion Lakers and had two points in three CHL games. He’s a creative puckhandler whose playmaking abilities allow him to take over games.

St. Louis management and fans will get a look at Bokk and the rest of the team’s deep prospect pool at the eight-team 2018 NHL Prospect Tournament, which runs from 7-11 September in Traverse City, Michigan.

Lukáš Dostál (Kometa Brno, GK) - Drafted 85th (3rd round, 2018) by Anaheim Ducks

It takes patience to develop a goaltender. The Anaheim Ducks demonstrated that they know how to play the waiting game with John Gibson, who was taken 39th overall in 2011. Anaheim signed Gibson to a big eight-year contract extension this summer but he didn’t become a full-time NHL player until the 2016-17 season, when he was 23 years old.

These days, NHL teams are wary of goalies’ unpredictable development curves and are choosing them later in the draft. Last June, the sweet spot came between No. 62 and 85, where Brno’s Lukáš Dostál was one five netminders selected. Dostál needs more time to develop physically, but his fundamentals are in place. A hard worker who’s known for his good reads and strong rebound control, he has shown steady year-over-year improvement.

Dostál is one of three goalies who will suit up for the Ducks in the six-team NHL Rookie Faceoff, which runs from 8-11 September in Las Vegas.

Elvis Merzlikins (HC Lugano, GK) – Drafted 76th (3rd round, 2014) Columbus Blue Jackets

Another excellent example of patience in goalie development, Elvis Merzlikins has been a mainstay for NLA’s HC Lugano and the Latvian national team for years.

Merzlikins got Columbus Blue Jackets fans excited when he came close to triggering some major upsets at the World Championship last May. He posted a 1.50 goals-against average and .940 save percentage in the tournament, pushing Team USA to overtime and shutting out the hosts from Denmark in a must-win preliminary-round game, then losing by just one goal in the quarterfinal to the eventual gold medalists from Sweden.

Current Columbus starter Sergei Bobrovsky has just one year left on his contract before he can become an unrestricted free agent and Joonas Korpisalo is already in the organization. Merzlikins could be an attractive second option if the Blue Jackets decide to move on from the two-time Vezina winner Bobrovsky, who has been unable to get his team past the first round of the playoffs.