Traverse City tournament gives Midwest NHL teams an early look at top prospects

Once again, all five Midwest-based NHL teams will be sending a squad to the Annual Traverse City Prospects Tournament, officially known as the 2018 Matthew Wuest Memorial Cup.

The event kicks off on Friday Sept. 7 and wraps up with crossover playoff games on Sept. 10.

Along with the Chicago Blackhawks; Columbus Blue Jackets; Detroit Red Wings; Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues from the Midwest will be teams representing the New York Rangers, Dallas Stars and Carolina Hurricanes. These eight teams have come together for this event for several seasons now.

The event will once again see teams split into two groups, the Blue Jackets, Hawks and Blues joined by the Hurricanes in the Gordie Howe Division while the Wings and Stars compete against the Rangers and Stars in the Ted Lindsay Division.

Most teams have already released a roster that will play at the tournament and with three of the five Midwest teams looking to turn around non-playoff seasons, there are plenty of names that will likely get a good look at the pro team training camps that will follow almost immediately after this event.

Future defense stars headline Hawks’ roster

The Blackhawks may not have had much to cheer about last season, but their Prospect team did capture the championship at this tournament and they have a decent shot at defending the title with some great prospects again this season.

The Hawks used a pair of first round picks this past June to land Adam Boqvist and Nicolas Beaudin, adding them to previous pick, Henri Jokiharju, last year’s first round selection.

Up front Tyler Sikura, undrafted in 2014 has worked his way to the brink of the team’s NHL roster after stops in the ECHL (Toledo) and AHL (Manchester/Rockford). Other legit prospects up front include Victor Ejdsell, who got serious about the NHL when he joined the Rockford IceHogs after collecting 20 goals in the Swedish Elite League last season and possibly Alexandre Fortin who played 53 games in his pro debut at Rockford last season as well.

Hawks Prospects First Three Games:

Friday, Sept. 7 – 4 p.m. vs. Columbus

Saturday, Sept. 8 – 3 p.m. vs. Carolina

Monday Sept. 10 – 7:30 p.m. vs. St. Louis

Young Blue Jackets first impressions.

The Blue Jackets are already among the younger NHL teams in the NHL and they always seem to be among the more competitive tournament at this event.

Last season the Jackets reached the championship game with a roster that included Pierre-Luc Dubois, now, not only a member of the Jackets, but expected to be the first line center this season.

It was a bit of a lean year for prospects as the Cleveland Monsters endured its worst campaign in a while, but there are still hopefuls out there and players to watch next week.

This summer’s first pick, Liam Foody turned in a solid performance for Team Canada at the World Junior Summer Showcase and will wrap up a busy summer at the Prospects Tournament before heading to the Blue Jackets’ training camp. He likely will suit up again for the London Knights this fall, but he is going to make that decision tough on Blue Jackets’ management.

Center Sam Vigneault has played a couple of seasons with the Monsters and is looking to slide into a spot with the Blue Jackets and a couple of Swedish forwards John Davidsson and Kevin Stenlund could turn some heads as well.

Blue Jackets Prospects First Three Games.

Friday Sept. 7 – 4 p.m. vs. Chicago

Saturday Sept. 8 – 3:30 p.m. vs. St. Louis

Monday Sept. 10 – 7 p.m. vs. Carolina

 

Rasmussen/Zadina lead Wings Prospects

The Wings used to be a team that replaced proven vets with other proven vets, but the team continues to draft extremely well and while the present is dim in Motown, the future looks mighty bright.

Leading the way into Traverse City, where the Red Wings will begin its own 2018-19 Training Camp immediately after the Prospects events, will be Michael Rasmussen who came close to landing a spot with the Wings last season.

Rasmussen is a rare find – an oversized rugged forward who has a nose for the net. Standing 6’6” and 221 lbs. this center was better than a point a game (31g, 28a in just 47 games) with the Portland Winterhawks last season and its hard to imagine anything keeping this kid off the Wings roster this time around. He simply has done all he can in junior and put into a lineup with an already talented and big Wings lineup, Rasmussen will be a great fit. I expect him to be the star of the Prospects event.

The Wings had to be pleasantly shocked when Filip Zadina was still available when their turn came up fifth in the order at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. Expected to go no lower than third, the Czech winger, who played in Halifax (QMJHL) last season looks to be close to NHL-ready as well. One of the biggest issues for the Wings this past season was putting the puck in the net and this sniper who scored 44 goals and added 38 assists in 57 games.

Both players should be dominant in Traverse City, likely playing together and both appear destined to play in Motown this fall.

Other prospects include defensemen Dennis Cholowski and Filip Hronek as well as forward Evgeny Svechnikov have legit shots at getting a long look at camp this fall.

Red Wings Prospects First Three Games.

Friday Sept. 7:30 p.m.  – vs. Minnesota

Saturday Sept. 8 – 7 p.m. vs. Dallas

Monday Sept. 10 – 4 p.m. vs. NY Rangers

 

Belpedio among top Wild prospects

The Minnesota Wild will also be in the Ted Lindsay Division with the Wings with a roster that includes a dozen of its own draft picks.

Among the top prospects to make the Wild roster is defenceman Louis Belpedio, a Third Round (80th Overall) selection in the 2014 draft who wrapped up a couple of seasons at Miami of Ohio before moving up this spring with 10 games for the Iowa Wild and one in Minnesota, his NHL debut.

Jordan Greenway, a 21-year-old forward drafted in the second round (50th overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft has also had a taste of NHL play with six games in a Wild uniform and his first NHL assist at the end of last season.

Greenway, a product of the US National Development Program, played three seasons at Boston University and has an excellent shot at sticking with the Wild this fall.

Wild Prospects First Three Games.

Friday Sept. 7:30 p.m.  – vs. Detroit  

Saturday Sept. 8 – 6:30 p.m. vs. NY Rangers

Monday Sept. 10 – 3:30 p.m. vs. Dallas

 

Thomas and Kyrou should stick

The St. Louis Blues made several off-season moves looking to get them back to the post season after last season’s disappointing finish.

But youngsters Robert Thomas, a 19-year-old forward drafted in the first round (20th Overall) in 2017 along with Jordan Kyrou, a 20-year-old forward taken in the second round (35th overall) in 2016 both should get a good look in camp this season.

Kyrou picked up 10 points for Team Canada on its way to the World U-20 Championship over the Christmas Break and he collected 109 points (30g, 79a) for the Sarnia Sting in just 56 regular season games.

Klimt Kostin is another that should get a good look. The 19-year old Russian forward had an awesome camp last season and this writer thought he deserved a chance to start in St. Louis then. Instead he made his American pro debut with the San Antonia Rampage of the AHL and collected eight points in five games for Russia at the World Juniors (U-20).

Blues Prospects First Three Games.

Friday Sept. 3:30 p.m.  – vs. Carolina  

Saturday Sept. 8 – 3:30 p.m. vs. Columbus

Monday Sept. 10 – 7:30 p.m. vs. Chicago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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