It’s become a Stanley Cup Final tradition on Hockey Night in Canada. Several of the top-ranked players heading into the 2016 NHL Draft joined Don Cherry and Ron MacLean on Coach’s Corner during the first intermission of Game 4 Monday night.

Cherry and MacLean ran through some highlights and asked Pierre-Luc Dubois, Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine, Matthew Tkachuk, and Alexander Nylander to name their favourite current National Hockey League stars.

Pierre-Luc Dubois, Central Scouting’s top-ranked North America skater, was asked to name his favourite current NHL player to watch. The 6-foot-3, 202-pound Cape Breton Screaming Eagles star pointed to a big-bodied left-handed Art Ross Trophy winner as his favourite.

“I like Jamie Benn of the Dallas Stars. He’s a go-to player for them…he can beat you with his strength or with his speed,” said Dubois.

MacLean introduced top-ranked European skater and consensus No. 1 pick Auston Matthews by calling for the attention of Toronto Maple Leafs fans. The Phoenix, Arizona native scored his share of big goals over the last couple years playing with the United States in a pair of world junior tournaments and in this spring’s World Championship.

When asked to single out which of three markers highlighted by MacLean stood out as his personal favourite, Matthews said it was his first professional goal as a member of the Zurich Lions of the Swiss League. “It was my first game, so I was pretty excited for that one. It was nice to get that goal early in that game,” Matthews said.

No. 2 ranked European skater Patrik Laine has drawn comparisons to Alex Ovechkin thanks to his ability to fire the puck as a right-handed shot. Unsurprisingly, Laine admitted he spent much of his youth in Finland working on his shot. “I was training mostly my shot…my ability to score goals. So many practices with my shot at our backyard,” Laine said.

Matthew Tkachuk boosted his draft stock with a great performance in the Memorial Cup with the champion London Knights, scoring the Cup-winning goal versus Rouyn-Noranda. Tkachuk’s father, five-time NHL all-star Keith is an obvious hero of the No. 2 ranked North American skater. Another player he looks up to: Corey Perry of the Anaheim Ducks.

“I like watching Corey Perry, just the way he gets under the other team’s skin. He’s able to score goals around the net and make good plays,” Tkachuk said of the former London Knight sniper.

Eschewing the rise of his brother William Nylander with the Toronto Maple Leafs, third-ranked North American skater Alexander Nylander singled out Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Evgeni Malkin as his current favourite NHL player.

“I’ve gotta say Evgeni Malkin. Great skilled player, very smart out there…creating chances from nothing,” Nylander said.