A dominating night by St. Louis Blues forward prospect Dalibor Dvorsky was among the highlights of the 2025 American Hockey League All-Star Skills Challenge, at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, California, on Sunday.
The Eastern Conference (Atlantic and North divisions) won the AHL Skills Challenge 19-13 against the Western Conference (Central and Pacific divisions) in the first event of the festivities. The 2025 AHL All-Star Game, a round-robin, 3-on-3 competition between the four divisions, is Monday (9 p.m. ET; NHLN).
Dvorsky, playing for Springfield in the Eastern Conference, had the best performance in the accuracy shooting contest with four goals on six shots. The 19-year-old also scored in the breakaway relay, and his group went 3-for-3 in the pass-and-score event.
Dvorsky, who has 29 points (13 goals, 16 assists) in 38 AHL games this season, was chosen in the first round (No. 10) by the Blues in the 2023 NHL Draft. It continues a fantastic season for the forward, who also led Slovakia with nine points (four goals, five assists) in five games at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship, which ended Jan. 5.
"It was great to be with all of these guys and meeting new guys from the other teams," Dvorsky said.
For those looking for the next wave of potential NHL stars, Acrisure Arena was the place to be Sunday.
A heavy contingent of recent first- and second-round NHL draft picks were among those competing in the event.
The recent first-round selections included goalies Yaroslav Askarov (San Jose, San Jose Sharks) and Sebastian Cossa (Grand Rapids, Detroit Red Wings), along with defensemen Kevin Korchinski (Rockford, Chicago Blackhawks), Simon Nemec (Utica, New Jersey Devils), Owen Pickering (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pittsburgh Penguins).
Defenseman Logan Mailloux (Laval, Montreal Canadiens) was a late scratch.
Askarov had been playing for the Sharks but was sent down to take part in the all-star festivities. The 22-year-old is 4-6-2 with a 3.10 goals-against average and .896 save percentage in 13 NHL games. He played in eight of the Sharks' 14 games in January, starting seven of them. He is 9-4-1 with a 2.00 GAA, .938 save percentage and three shutouts in 14 AHL games.
Participating forwards who were recent first-round picks are Joakim Kemell (Milwaukee, Nashville Predators), Isak Rosen (Rochester, Buffalo Sabres), and Matt Savoie (Bakersfield, Edmonton Oilers).
Rosen is second in the AHL with 23 goals in 40 games, and his 39 points are tied for ninth.
Savoie won the fastest skater competition with a time of 13.654 seconds. Charlotte (Florida Panthers) defenseman Trevor Carrick won the hardest shot event with a shot of 100.9 miles per hour. Goalies Michael DiPietro (Providence, Boston Bruins) and Dennis Hildeby (Toronto, Toronto Maple Leafs) each had 15 saves in the three goaltending events to tie for the lead.
"It was fun," said Savoie, who is tied for third among AHL rookies with 31 points (12 goals, 19 assists) in 40 games. "I think [skating] has always been a strength of mine … to create a little bit of separation. I'm just looking to continue building on my speed."
Coachella Valley (Seattle Kraken) forward Jani Nyman, whose 17 goals in 44 games leads AHL rookies, represented the host team. He was selected by Seattle in the second round (No. 49) of the 2022 NHL Draft.
Undrafted forward Justin Hryckowian of Texas (Dallas Stars) also made his AHL All-Star debut. Signed as a free agent by Dallas on March 20, Hryckowian is second among AHL rookies with 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists) in 37 games. He also made his NHL debut, against Chicago on Dec. 29, and has one assist in five NHL games.
Hosted by Coachella Valley, which finished as the runner-up to Hershey (Washington Capitals) in last season's Calder Cup playoffs, the annual event has at least one player from all 32 NHL teams representing its respective AHL affiliate.
Rockford will host next season's event, from Feb. 10-11, 2026.