DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today released their 2015 NHL Prospect Tournament roster, a group of 25 recent draft picks, free agent signees and tryouts who will compete against seven other NHL prospect teams for the Matthew Wuest Memorial Cup from Friday, Sept. 11 to Tuesday, Sept. 15 at Centre Ice Arena in Traverse City, Mich.
Highlighting Detroit’s roster are the team’s three most-recent first round draft picks in Anthony Mantha, who was the 2014 CHL Player of the Year before joining Grand Rapids last season, Dylan Larkin, the 2015 Big Ten Rookie of the Year, and Evgeny Svechnikov, the Red Wings’ top pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft who had 32 goals and 78 points as a QMJHL rookie with Cape Breton. Other standouts include Andreas Athanasiou, who led Griffins’ rookies in goals last season; Tyler Bertuzzi, a 2013 second-round pick who produced 98 points in the OHL in his final season of major junior; Joe Hicketts, who attended the camp as a free agent last year, earned an NHL contract and went on to win a gold medal with Canada at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship as the only defenseman on the roster who was not a first- or second-round draft pick; and Robbie Russo, a former New York Islanders’ draft pick signed by the Red Wings in August who was the NCAA’s second-highest scoring blueliner in 2014-15.
Twenty-two players who skated for the Red Wings during the 2014-15 campaign have participated in the tournament during its 17-year history, while 479 total players have played in the tournament and moved on to skate in at least one NHL game. Prospects from the Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues will also be competing in this year’s tournament.
Tickets are available for $10 per day and can be purchased at Centre Ice Arena or at www.centreice.org. Each ticket is good for all four games per day. Teams are divided into two divisions and will play each team within their division once during the round robin before a crossover on the final day of the tournament, with the first-place finishers in each division meeting for the championship on Tuesday, Sept. 15. For more information and a complete tournament schedule, visit www.centreice.org.
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Looks like all the expected folks are around, as well as a decent number of new invites looking to impress and potentially get an ELC before heading back to juniors (just like Joe Hicketts did last year). Looking forward to seeing these kids play. We’ll have coverage of the Prospects Tourney right here at WIIM as it gets underway.
