Post by bigoljetairliner on Sept 14, 2023 12:29:21 GMT -6
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.
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.