Top prospects Alex DeBrincat, Nick Schmaltz and Gustav Forsling lead the Chicago Blackhawks‘ roster for the upcoming NHL Rookie Tournament in Traverse City, Mich. This will be another crucial opportunity for the team’s young players to try to impress team officials before the start of the upcoming season.
The Hawks announced their full 23-man roster for the tournament Thursday. The big names include DeBrincat, Schmaltz and Forsling, who were all named to ESPN’s Top 120 NHL prospects list earlier this week. Fans in Traverse City will also be able to see other prospects like Tyler Motte, Carl Dahlstrom and Robin Norell, as well as Alexandre Fortin, the prospect camp star who’s still trying to earn a contract offer.
The eight-team tournament includes the Blackhawks, Red Wings, Hurricanes, Blue Jackets, Stars, Wild, Rangers and Blues. They’re split into two divisions, then play a round robin format to determine who reaches the Matthew Wuest Memorial Cup title game. The championship is named after Wuest, the CapGeek founder who died in 2015 after an extended battle with cancer.
With top prospects like DeBrincat, Schmaltz, Forsling, Motte, Dahlstrom and Norell, this should be a great chance for fans to get an early glimpse at some guys who should play big roles in the future. Possibly even the very near future. We’ll have to hope the word coming out of this tourney is good.
Hawks 2016 Roster Tournament roster
Forwards
Radovan Bondra
Bryn Chyzyk
John Dahlstrom
Alex DeBrincat
Alexandre Fortin
Luke Johnson
Graham Knott
Trevor Mingoia
Tyler Motte
Ivan Nikolishin
Nathan Noel
Roy Radke
Nick Schmaltz
Hayden Verbeek
Defensemen
Carl Dahlstrom
Gustav Forsling
Jeff King
Justin Lemcke
Robin Norell
Dmitry Osipov
Travis Walsh
Goaltenders
Jake Hildebrand
Brent Moran