YOUNG STARS CLASSIC PREVIEW

[bigoljetairliner]

YOUNG STARS CLASSIC PREVIEW



The puck is ever so close to being dropped on the NHL's 2023 season, as the teams throughout the NHL are starting up their prospect tournaments in different locations around North America. Really, only 27 franchises are taking advantage of these tournaments, with the Seattle Kraken, New York Islanders, Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers, and New York Rangers not participating.

There are six different round-robin tournaments scheduled between September 14th to 18th, 2023:


NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, Michigan - Sept 14th to 17th

Detroit Red Wings, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, and Toronto Maple Leafs



Prospects Challenge in Buffalo, New York - Sept 14th to 17th

Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Ottawa Senators.



Rookie FaceOff in Nevada - Sept 15th to 18th

Vegas Golden Knights, Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, Colorado Avalanche, San Jose Sharks, and Arizona Coyotes.



Southeast Rookie Showcase in Fort Myers, Florida - Sept 15th to 18th

Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Nashville Predators.



Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase in St. Paul, Minnesota - Sept 15th to 17th

Minnesota Wild, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues.



Young Stars Classic in Penticton, British Columbia - Sept 15th to 18th

Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, and Winnipeg Jets.


2023 Young Stars Classic Schedule:

1) Winnipeg vs Edmonton - Fri, Sept. 15 - 6:00 p.m.

2) Calgary vs Vancouver - Fri, Sept. 15 - 9:30 p.m.

3) Calgary vs Edmonton - Sat, Sept. 16 - 9:30 p.m.

4) Vancouver vs Winnipeg - Sun, Sept. 17 - 4:00 p.m.

5) Winnipeg vs Calgary - Mon, Sept. 18 - 1:00 p.m.

6) Vancouver vs Edmonton - Mon, Sept. 18 - 4:30 p.m.




While most eyes will probably be on potential impact scorers like Lambert, Lucius, and Barlow, it also will be the first time Winnipeg fans get to see young Swedish defender Salmomonsson in a Jets uniform. Some people will be excited to see how the young goaltenders do at the tournament, with both Milic and DiVincentiis winning the Goaltender of the Year awards in their respective leagues last season (WHL & OHL).

Personally, I am intrigued to see Zhilkin and Chibrikov lace up the skates to get a glimpse of what the Moose can expect to see from the duo in 2023-24. Another interesting player is the last minute addition of McLennan to the Winnipeg Jets roster. The former Winnipeg Ice star was drafted in the 6th round by the Philadelphia Flyers in 2020, but they did not offer him a contract, resulting in the 21 yr old forward becoming an unrestricted free agent. The diminutive (5'8") right winger produced very well in Juniors (173 pts in his last 126 WHL games), but his size might make it difficult to excel in the AHL or NHL. Currently, McLennon has a contract with the independent AHL Chicago Wolves, but if Winnipeg is impressed by his performance at the Young Stars Classic they could trump that with an NHL contract to bring him into the organization (likely with the Manitoba Moose).



Here is the complete list of Winnipeg Jets invitees:


Forwards are C/RW Brad Lambert, LW Colby Barlow, C Chaz Lucius, C Henri Nikkanen, C Danny Zhilkin, RW/LW Daniel Torgersson, RW/LW Nikita Chibrikov, C/LW Jacob Julien, RW/C Parker Ford, RW Connor Levis, LW Carson Golder*, LW Thomas Caron*, RW Connor McLennan*, and C/LW Mark Liwiski*.


Defence are RD Elias Salmomonsson, RD Simon Lundmark, RD Tyrel Bauer, LD Dmitry Kuzmin, LD Artemi Kniazev, RD Jordan Tourigny*, RD Simon Kubiceck* and LD Wyatt Wilson*.

The goalie tandem will be made up of the pair of Thomas Milic and Dominic DiVincentiis.


*free agent invite



The Winnipeg Jets will have three 1st rounders at the Young Stars Classic, five 2nd rounders, two 3rd round selections, one 4th, two 5th rounders, a 6th round pick, and two 7th round selections. The top end talent for the Jets should help them shine in their three games, as they will likely be one of the best teams at the Classic. In the contrasting position, the Edmonton Oilers only have one 1st and one 2nd rounder playing for them.

If you don't want to take my word for it, here is a link to an article from a Vancouver Canucks' fansite ranking the teams at this year's Young Stars Classic:

www.msn.com/en-ca/sports/nhl/power-rankings-x-factors-and-players-to-watch-for-each-team-at-the-2023-young-stars-classic/ar-AA1gIvon



Here is a link to another article (from the Winnipeg Sun) discussing the Jets' top 10 players to watch at the Classic:

www.msn.com/en-ca/sports/nhl/ten-players-to-watch-at-winnipeg-jets-rookie-camp/ar-AA1gCZHj#image=1.

[honeybadger]

All jets prospects are good but if our coaches allow perfetti to play with his face towards the boards as a winger, our coaching staff are the wing nuts?

[2b9]

Thanks for the great write up BOJA😃👍.

[Ric O.]

Ok BOJA...that flicked the switch, hockey season is here!
So few chances to see some of these prospects, anxious to see the kids in action.

Fun tourney to be at live but I couldn't make it this year. I think it's been streamed in the past...Jets TV I think. Hopefully they do this year.

[manilow78]

Man. That is one anemic power play the Jets are displaying. May want to practice that a bit before the next game.

[2b9]

Sept 15, 2023 18:56:14 GMT -6 manilow78 said:

Man. That is one anemic power play the Jets are displaying. May want to practice that a bit before the next game.

It’s just the rookies.

[bigoljetairliner]

Fairly ugly first game as the Winnipeg Jets young stars dropped their opener 3-1 to the Edmonton Oilers.

Almost half the game was spent on special teams, with the Oiler going 1 for 8 and the Jets striking out on 6 attempts. This definitely disrupted the flow of things for players like Barlow/Lambert that were not involved in the penalty kill.

Winnipeg's lone goal came when Zhilkin drove down the left wing and started looking like he was going to skate behind the net. However he spotted Connor Levis driving to the net with an Oiler defensemen a step behind and passed the puck to the front of the net, where Levis chipped it by the Edmonton goalie to give the Jets a 1-0 lead after the first period (despite being short-handed for the majority).
The Oilers were able to tie the game with a deflection goal early in the 2nd, then followed that up with a 5 on 3 PP tally, and the final marker came on a scramble in front of DiVincentiis when the puck popped out to an Oiler at the side of the net for an easy tap in.

DiVincentiis was the only reason this game was even close, stopping 33 shots as Winnipeg was heavily outshot (can't seem to find the numbers, but I believe shots were around 36-14). The reigning OHL Goalie of the Year made some spectacular robberies and was by far the Jets Star of the Game.

I didn't catch the entire game and the feed made it difficult to make out players at times, but here is what I believe the forward unit looked like for what little 5 on 5 time there was:

Barlow/Lucius/Torgersson
Chibrikov/Lambert/Ford*
Golder*/Zhilkin/Levis
Julien/Nikkanen/Caron*


BOJA Recon:


* I would say that the 1st and 3rd lines probably played the best for the Jets.
* Torgersson had a couple prime opportunities to score.
* Chibrikov is definitely tiny but didn't seem to shy away from body contact and sometimes initiated it.
* The 4th line were big (all over 6'2") and Nikkanen seemed to be taking the majority of d-zone face offs.
* Lambert looked quick but didn't have much space to work with. Made a big play on a backcheck to help break up a 3 on 1 late in the 3rd.
* Can't say I noticed Barlow a whole lot, but that could be due to the feed since the 1st line did create some of Winnipeg's rare offensive chances and he was likely involved.
* RD Salmonsson stepped into the high slot to receive a pass and hammered his shot off the post/crossbar. Seemed to be a good skater, but sometimes his jersey number (57) & play with the puck brought back memories of Tyler Myers. He is young and at least a year away from North American hockey, so hopefully he can surpass that particular ceiling.
* Bauer probably would have lit up an Oiler with a huge hit at center ice, but the play happened right by the Edmonton bench and the player's teammates' warnings allowed him to avoid the worst of the bodycheck.
* Both Zhilkin and Levis showed some promise as potential bottom 6 NHLers, defensively responsible with a touch of offense.
* The powerplays from the Jets/Oilers were not very effective, but at least Edmonton managed a fair amount of offensive zone time (they did have two 5 on 3s). Winnipeg struggled to gain the zone on the rush or via dump in, so a lot of seconds were killed skating back into their own zone to pick up the puck. Winnipeg definitely looked like a bunch of players not used to playing together and not really knowing how to implement the PP systems.

Well, those are my thoughts on game 1. Would like to hear what anyone else who watched saw.

[honeybadger]

Yes a very good analysis from a poor Tv feed?

[2b9]

Thanks for the great feedback and analysis on the first game for the Jets rookies👍.

[lenny]

Thanks for that analysis bigol. I could barely watch it. One period was all i managed. No superstars or hot players is my take.

[PeakyBlinders]

Don’t we always get smoked in these tournaments?

[2b9]

Sept 16, 2023 16:52:24 GMT -6 PeakyBlinders said:

Don’t we always get smoked in these tournaments?

Yes, typically we get smoked, however, 2 more games to go😉😃😃👍!

[bigoljetairliner]

Game #2: Winnipeg Jets versus Vancouver Canucks

The coaching staff decided to mix things up a bit to see if they could produce some offense. Here's what I think the forward lines ended up being:

McLennon*/Lambert/Torgersson
Barlow/Lucius/Chibrikov
Julien/Zhilkin/Ford*
Levis/Nikkanen/Golder*

This game started out much like the Edmonton game, with Winnipeg stuck in their own end for long periods. About midway through the 1st, the Canucks got their first PP of the game and capitalized when a point shot hit a body in front of the net, allowing Bains to get two whacks at the puck to make it 1-0 Vancouver. The Jets had a bit more offense than their first game, but still ended up being outshot 18-7 after one. Couple highlights from the period were a huge save from Milic on a redirect and Lucius & Barlow passing back and forth to set up a quality chance from the slot.

The 2nd period continued to see Winnipeg head to the penalty box, but the Jets did a better job of clogging up the middle of the ice and even got a mini-break away from d-man Kniasev (shot over net). The Jets at one point took 4 straight penalties in the final 10 minutes of the period. Unsurprisingly, the Canucks took advantage of another PP chance late in the 2nd when a clearing chance was stopped at the blueline. A quick cross-ice pass to a wide open Canuck allowed him to step up to the face-off dot and beat Milic with a snipe that he partially got a piece of. 2-0 Vancouver after 2 periods, outshooting Winnipeg 36-13.

My resiliency finally paid off when Winnipeg woke up in the 3rd period. They got some early PP chances and actually controlled the puck in the o-zone, creating some chances. One of the PPs was created on a nice dangle by Kuzmin along the blueline that opened up space and eventually led to a holding penalty. Lambert had a prime chance in the low slot but opted for a pass attempt to Barlow at the side of the net that was broken up. Short 5 on 3 for Winnipeg resulted in another chance for Lambo, but McLennon caught someone with a highstick (4 mins), that resulted in some 4 on 4 time before a Canuck PP. The Jets dominated 4 on 4 play and quickly killed the short-handed situation before starting to put on more offensive pressure. The effort finally paid of with 8 mins to play, when Salomonsson stepped into the slot and snapped a shot that trickled through the goalies arm & body. Julien was there in the crease to ensure the puck crossed the line by poking it into the empty cage. Vancouver up 2-1. Winnipeg drew another penalty with 6:30 to play, with the shots now 39-24 for the Canucks. Winnipeg got the puck in deep and McLennon & Torgersson won the puck battle along the end boards. Torgersson went behind the net and then backhanded a blind pass to the side he came from. Barlow was right there and made no mistake as he tied the game up at 2-2. Winnipeg continued to push and almost got the winner off a Ford deflection of a Zhilkin pass.

Game went to OT where Lambert lost the opening face-off, resulting in the Canucks holding the puck for the opening half of the frame. Torgersson was able to get off after a minute & a half, but Salomonsson & Lambert were stuck on the ice for over 2 minutes as Milic continued to deny any shots that came his way. Mid-way point, a switch flipped and it was the Jets time for offense. Barlow and Lucius were sprung on a 2 on 1 and a beauty between the legs pass from Barlow found Lucius in the slot, but the shot sailed over the crossbar. Kniasev had a nice shot from the low point and then pounced on his own rebound, but couldn't solve the tender. With 45 seconds left, Chibrikov made a sweet move through his own legs forcing a defender to trip him. The PP had one great chance, a 1 timer from Lambert with Torgersson in front, but a pad save ruined any last second heroics.

On to shootout, where the first Canuck sniped a shot blocker side on Milic, while Chibrikov had the puck hop on his attempted 5 hole move and ended with a weak backhand attempt. The next Canuck whiffed on the puck when he tried to outwait Milic and lost where the puck was, while Barlow calmly skated in before slipping the puck along the ice before the goalie's right pad could seal the gap. A very nice move had Milic beat but he kept trying and robbed the Nuck player with a huge glove save while sprawling. Zhilkin had the chance to win the game and his attempt was similar to Barlow's but he found a space between the goalie's blocker & pad to give Winnipeg the OT victory.

BOJA Recon:

*The final shots at the end of 3 periods were 39-27 and I think the teams had 3 or 4 shots each in OT. So let's go with 42 to 31 in favour of Vancouver for the entire game.
*Once again a Jets' goalie was the player of the game, with Milic kicking aside 40 shots or so. He did let out some bigger rebounds, but is very calm in the net for a smaller tender. Goaltenders take a while to develop, but it looks like we have a couple good looking youngsters in the system.
*Winnipeg actually had some competition for the top 3 players of the game other than Milic, with Torgersson, Lambert, & Kniasev being the most noticeable to me.
*Chibrikov might be in the conversation too, he plays a feisty game and definitely showed what he could do with the puck on the PPs and 4 on 4/3 on 3 periods.
*Torgersson has been one of the best forwards in both games, so hopefully that bodes well for taking a stride offensively with the Moose. The big Swede had a couple good chances and made some nice passes too.
*Kniazev was everywhere this game.   He was throwing bodychecks, joining the rush, and creating offense.  He did make a couple bone-headed plays with the puck, but there was plenty of that going on.
*Whether it was solely the addition of Torgersson to Lambert's line that made the Finn prospect excel or a combination with the tiny McLennon. That line was by far the strongest at testing the opponent's defensive structures and the former Winnipeg Ice may be a good add for the Moose. Lambert was flying and created a lot of chances with his speed. The boy needs to shoot more often, as he made some passes from prime shooting locations.
*Terrible passing in the first 2 periods killed any hope at turning momentum in Winnipeg's favour.   They finally started hitting sticks with pucks in the remainder of the game.
****oops, forgot about Barlow.  He was much better in game two, being involved in some scoring chances & netting a big goal.   I also noticed Barlow was in the right spot for many more scoring chances, but the teammate didn't see him or failed to get the pass through.  Feeling much better about the young forward today.

The broadcast from the Canucks was much better than Edmonton's and fortunately they are also covering Winnipeg's Game 3 tomorrow at noon (vs Calgary). Wasn't perfect, but much more watchable.  Winnipeg's record improves to 1-1 and they can try to beat last year's 1-2 record at the Young Stars Classic in Penticton.

Anyone else suffer through a couple periods of awful hockey to see Winnipeg's come back??

[manilow78]

Sounds like Milic was solid in a 3-2 SO win for the Jets Young Stars!

[ekjet72]

BOJAs review sounds like we're getting the V 2.0 of the 2020-2022 Jets. Lots of time spent in our zone being bailed out by a very capable goaltender. Yikes and LOL at the same time.