GK - Christian Heljanko, Tappara Tampere 

25-year-old Christian Heljanko is controlling the crease in his fifth CHL campaign with Tappara Tampere and sixth participation overall. He has been a fixture in the Finnish organisation and has represented the club in the CHL in his last five appearances.

Last year he helped his club to their first CHL Final and has helped Tappara again this year by getting them one step closer by securing them a place in the final 16 with his stellar performances over the course of the Group Stage. 

Heljanko was on the winning side four times over the Group Stage, only once standing on the losers' side. He's played in all but one of Tappara's games, making 115 saves and letting only six hit the back of his net, good for a Save Percentage of over 95% - by far one of the highest in the CHL so far this season!

His GAA is also one of the best we saw over the Group Stage, sitting at just 1.19!

It's been clear for many seasons now that Heljanko is one of the best goaltenders in Europe and he hasn't been taking any breaks in 2022/23 which is why he's been chosen to man the net on our Team of the Group Stage.

D - Jérémie Blain, Mountfield HK

Standing at 190 cm, Mountfield HK’s Jérémie Blain is one of the taller defencemen in the league and uses his body to take away lanes and angles in the offensive zone. His +/- of 7 is ranked fifth among blueliners and is a good representation of his solid defensive instincts. Despite his size, however, the Canadian prefers to handle the puck rather than the body and is producing at a rate of 1.40 points per game, second behind Hansson’s 1.60.

Scoring-wise, Blain’s four tucks are first at the position and tie him for twelfth league-wide, among the likes of forwards including Sparta Prague’s leading scorer Michal Řepík and Wolfsburg’s Darren Archibald. The 30-year-old currently leads all Mountfield defencemen with seven points (4G, 3A) in five games played and is second in team scoring behind Kevin Klíma in his CHL debut.

In their Game Day 5 match-up against Eisbären Berlin, Blain had a career night, leading in four of six categories including points (3), goals (2), shots (6), and plus/minus (+3) - the perfect two-way defenceman!

D - Mikko Lehtonen, ZSC Lions Zurich

The Finnish defenceman has been a rock for Swiss side ZSC Lions Zurich through the first stage of the competition, compiling one goal and six assists to go along with a +/- of 10. Mikko Lehtonen has been deployed in all situations and has logged heavy minutes because of it – out of six contests, the Finn led in TOI in three of them, and secured second in two others. Overall, his average TOI of 22:56 is good enough for ninth place league-wide.

This is Lehtonen’s third CHL campaign and could be his most productive. In his last stint in 2017/18, the 182 cm, 89 kg blueliner recorded two goals and five assists through eight games. Among defencemen, the Finn is tied for second in assists with six, and his seven points are tied for third with Mountfield HK’s Jérémie Blain.

So far through six games, Lentonen’s point total paces all Zurich players and his six helpers lead the club in that category.

Lehtonen is the perfect companion for our other defenceman of choice, adding the assists and the time on ice to high-scoring Blain. 

F - Zach Boychuk, Eisbären Berlin

Eisbären Berlin had their struggles again this season, posting a 2-4 record to match their output of last year, but improvements have been made at least on a personnel level. Last season, their highest ranked player, Matthew White, was 42nd league-wide with seven tallies for seven points. This time around, however, the German outfit had one of the league’s top scorers in Zach Boychuk.

The 33-year-old Canadian led all Berlin forwards with eight tucks and three helpers for 11 points through six contests. Boychuk’s numbers are good enough for third place in scoring. His best matches, both 4-point efforts, came against Grenoble on Game Days 1 and 4.

He followed his first showing, a two-goal and two-assist affair, with a hattrick and an assist against the French side, proving he can really put on a show when things fall into place. 

F - Brian O’Neill, EV Zug

Among the four Swiss clubs moving on to the postseason, EV Zug have been the most dominant, collecting 17 out of a possible 18 points. Of Zug’s 15 forwards, Brian O'Neill has easily been the most productive, notching 12 points (5G,7A) through six games. Teammates Dario Simion and Sven Senteler are tied for second in the scoring race with five points each.

This is the American’s first CHL season and he’s finding his footing nicely with 17 SOG and a +9. O’Neill posted a 4-point effort against TPS Turku in their Game Day 4 feature and has secured multi-point showings in three consecutive match-ups. The 34-year-old is currently ranked second behind Lasch in scoring and will have a chance to add to his totals come November.  

His combined output and two-way play make him a good player for all situations on the ice.

F - Ryan Lasch, Frölunda Gothenburg

Ryan Lasch took top honours in the scoring race last year, netting four goals and adding 18 assists to an already impressive point total in his CHL tenure.

This year, the Frölunda forward is again at the top with five goals and 11 assists for 16 points in the Group Stage. In seven previous seasons, Lasch has been at, or among, the top of the scorers’ list and has led the CHL in scoring a record four times, including the past three consecutive seasons.

The Swedes have had no problem finding the net so far in the 2022/23 campaign, and three-time CHL Champion, Liiga champion, Swiss NL champion and two-time SHL champion Lasch has been a key contributor with his best night also coming against Grenoble on their Game Day 6 fixture that saw the American produce two goals and three assists for five points to go along with five shots on net.