What to Watch for at the 2019 Traverse City Prospect Tournament
Stan Bowman and Jeremy Colliton have both repeatedly stated that they do not put a ton of value on what they see at development camp in July, it is more of a chance for the development staff to impart wisdom both on and off the ice for the young, impressionable players.
In mid-July, many players are recovering from injuries, coming back from vacations, and just getting to the on-ice portion of their summer routine. By September, everyone is on the same page, everyone is in shape and ready to go for the training camps that will quickly follow. That being said, what can we expect from the Blackhawks’ roster in 2019?
Big players make big plays
It is no secret that the two most talked about and watched prospects in the organization are Kirby Dach and Adam Boqvist. We have seen these two steal the show both on and off the ice since late June, and there is no reason to think that will stop now. This will be the biggest measuring stick for the two future pillars of this franchise to date in their young careers.
Development camp definitely went well on both accounts, but the problem is, at any given prospect camp there are really only three or four players of their caliber on any given team. When they suit up in Traverse City this weekend they will be facing players like Kaapo Kakko, Vitali Kravtsov, Adam Fox, Klim Kostin, Ty Dellandrea, and Liam Foudy among many other top prospects.
Everyone already knows the skating and offensive abilities of Adam Boqvist, and the hockey IQ and playmaking abilities of Kirby Dach are not up for question. What remains to be seen is how they handle the pressure of playing against pro-caliber players. How will Dach fare at the faceoff dot? How will Bovist hold up in his own zone? How will the two future superstars respond to the responsibility, structure, and complexity during their first real glimpse of the professional game.
Who is this years’ Alex Debrincat?
In 2017, Alex Debrincat did not have a solid showing at development camp, the undersized forward that was not an elite skater unsurprisingly was underwhelming in the individual drill show that is development camp. When September rolled around, he kicked it into high gear, showing the other 30 teams why he was a top-10 talent, even at a generous 5’7. Debrincat battled for pucks, found open areas, and made those around him better. Everyone knows how that store unfolds as Debrincat went on to lead the Blackhawks in goals as a rookie that season, and put up 41 more goals in his “sophomore slump” year.
The two obvious candidates for this are going to be Philipp Kurashev and MacKenzie Entwistle who has been talked about quite a bit since being acquired by the Blackhawks in the past year or so. Kurashev already has some pro experience and impressed Derek King during his short stint in Rockford. The undersized forward possesses the offensive abilities that made him one of the top-5 forwards at this year’s world juniors, and a player that held his own at the Men’s IIHF World Championships.
MacKenzie Entwistle is a little bit of a different story, although he does have a lot of offensive upside and talent, he is more of a heart and soul guy that really embraces his role. It has been noted that he is aware he will be a bottom-6 player in the NHL, and he seems excited about that, which is something you can’t teach. Entwistle has a big frame for a 20-year-old, and is extremely responsible in his own end, both 5v5 and on the penalty kill.
Entwistle was also the captain of the Hamilton Bull Dogs where he when an OHL championship in 2018 before being traded to the Guelph Storm on his way to another OHL title in 2019. In a recent poll by the Hamilton Bulldogs Entwistle was actually named the all-time favorite player in franchise history.
The less talked about choice is Tim Soderlund, another undersized forward that was drafted in the 4th round of the 2017 NHL draft. We haven’t seen Soderlund in a while due to the Visa issues that kept him out of development camp, but there is a lot to love about the 163 lbs. spark plug.
Soderlund is a small, but a feisty player with some upside that will instantly remind fans of a young Andrew Shaw or Dave Bolland, I also see stylistic comparisons to Tyler Bertuzzi, the young winger for the Detroit Red Wings. It is also worthy to note that at only 21 years old Soderlund has already played parts of four seasons in the SHL, widely regarded as the third-best professional league in the world. Soderlund’s teams have made the playoffs all four seasons, and although he has not been a massive point producer, he has been a valuable role player and gained valuable experience along the way.
The scouting report on Tim Soderlund is that he is a small, speedy winger that plays at a high intensity and isn’t afraid to forecheck or go to the dirty areas of the ice, he could make it interesting as a bubble player in the next few years.
Brandon Hagel is another player that could make a push, he is a bit older but possesses the size and the ability to play in front of the net. Couple that with the fact that he put up 102 points in juniors last year, and you have a dangerous player that could be a midseason call up from Rockford.
Nicolas Beaudin will also draw a lot of attention, he has decided to turn pro this year and has the offensive upside to potentially replace Erik Gustafsson if he is traded or unable to be re-signed.
A couple of other prospects that are a few years away but could be fun to watch or get a call up include Alexis Gravel, Mikael Hakkarainen, and Dylan McLaughlin who was a Hobey Baker finalist at Canisius last year.
Can this team compete?
It is always kind of like blindly throwing darts at a dartboard to pick a winner out of a bunch of teams of 18-22-year-old kids with no practice time together, but there are obviously going to be favorites. This year the talk of the town is the New York Rangers with their star-studded pool of prospects, and rightfully so. Chicago was able to pull off a surprising tournament win in 2017, but for the most part, there really is no correlation from year to year. The roster this year is pretty deep and looks to take a run at another tournament title before heading to the main camp.
The tournament is broken down into two separate divisions of four teams. Each team plays three games against their divisional opponents with one crossover game to decide the final standings. Every game will be important as Chicago will play their round-robin against Detroit, Toronto, and St. Louis for their right to face the winner of the division containing New York, Minnesota, Dallas, and Columbus.
The tournament schedule can be found below, with links to watch the game on the Blackhawks’ website
Other thoughts
The prospect tournament is really the last chance for young players to springboard into their respective training camps, there will be several free agent invitees looking to make a name for themselves along the way. If you play extremely well at this tournament, history shows that you have a pretty good shot at making some sort of run in the NHL.
Older players that could still be considered prospects including Alex Nylander and Dylan Sikura will not be participating in the tournament, so we will get a taste of where their development stands come training camp on September 12th. It is also worth noting that NCAA prospects will not be participating as they have started back up at their respective Universities, this list includes Evan Barrett, Ian Mitchell, Alex Vlasic, and Jake Wise.
I am also really excited to watch Chad Krys and see where he stands after a good finish to the season in Rockford in 2018-19, he is definitely on the outside looking in with Boqvist and Beaudin ahead of him but he could make some noise. Michael Teply and Reese Johnson will be fun players to watch as well, Teply, the big playmaking Czech winger will be taking his talents to the Winnipeg Ice of the CHL while Johnson will play his first professional season in Rockford this year.
If you want to take a closer look at some of Chicago’s top prospects, check out Daniel Tiffany’s recent article ranking the Hawks’ top 10 prospects, or check out which young players could make the roster out of camp, and why that could help Chicago contend again!
All in all there is a lot of reason to be excited to be a Chicago Blackhawks fan again, which is a message that has been portrayed throughout every personnel change this summer.
There is no reason to squash that optimism now as Stan Bowman will be sending an outstanding group of prospects to Traverse City with first-year head coach Derek King.
Featured Image: Second City Hockey
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