The Minnesota Wild prospects opened the Traverse City tournament on Friday with a 5-2 win against the New York Rangers. After trailing 1-0 through the first period, the Wild scored five unanswered-goals, and outshot the Rangers 22-8 over the game's final 40 minutes. The Wild didn't wait long to tie the game in the second period, scoring 78 seconds in when forward Jack Walker found the back of the net. The Wild also got goals from Christoph Bertschy, Carter Rigby, Sam Warning, and Chase Lang. Mike Reilly also chipped in with two assists. One of the challenges this tournament presents, according to Flahr, is getting a group of primarily unfamiliar players to gel, and also to stay within their games and not do too much in a setting where they want to impress management.
The tournament has featured many prominent NHL players. Current Wild players to have participated in the tournament include Marco Scandella, Jared Spurgeon, Matt Dumba, and Christian Folin. This years Wild players to pay attention to at the 2015 tournament:
Defensemen Mike Reilly – One of the premiere prospects on the Wild's roster, this is the beginning of Reilly's audition when it comes to making the opening day NHL roster. A polished, puck-moving defenseman with a ton of offensive skill, Reilly loves to jump into the rush and create havoc up ice. A key for Reilly will be his play in the Wild's defensive zone. His offensive game is NHL-ready, but Reilly needs to show he can play at each end of the rink before he's entrusted with NHL minutes. Gustav Olofsson – After playing in just one AHL game in 2014-15 due to shoulder surgery, Olofsson is back to skating in game-situations. He is a physical player, and at 6-foot-3, has the size to back it up. At 20 years old, Olofsson is still young and developing, especially for a defenseman, and is looking to reestablish himself as a force with a clean bill of health.
Forwards Reid Duke – An impressive performance at Development Camp in July not only showed off Duke's exciting puck skills, but also showed displayed how far he's come in the other areas of his game. Duke was much stronger below his own blue line, something that caught the attention of Wild Director of Player Development Brad Bombardir. Grayson Downing – One of the hottest scorers when the college hockey season ended in 2015, Downing used his senior season at the University of New Hampshire to springboard him as to a free- agent signing. Downing played in one of the top college conferences in Hockey East, and nearly willed his team into the NCAA Tournament last season. He scored eight goals over his final eight games, and had 13 points in his final 10 games. He turned in this impressive shootout goal during Development Camp, and is a pure scorer. Sam Warning – A University of Minnesota teammate of Reilly's, Warning was brought into Development Camp on a tryout and likewise will be at Traverse City. Warning's biggest asset is his skating ability, and he's hard to catch once he gets a full head of steam. With 81 points in 107 games over the last three seasons of his college career, Warning is no stranger to the score sheet, and will be asked to play that role on this Traverse City team.
Goalies
Brody Hoffman – Finishing his collegiate career with two seasons with a .922 save percentage or higher, Hoffman was stellar for the University Vermont despite a difficult Hockey East schedule. At 6-foot-4, Hoffman has good size and can cover much of the lower parts of the net. It allows him to take advantage of angles and take away real estate for shooters.
Stephen Michalek – The battle for Iowa's starting goalie job kicks off with Michalek and Hoffman at Traverse City. Michalek was a workhorse in his senior season at Harvard, breaking a school record by starting 37 games, and also setting a program record with 1,029 saves. Of those, 63 came in a record-breaking performance against Boston University in the Beanpot tournament.
Michalek is no stranger to seeing a lot of shots, and handled the workload very well in his final season for the Crimson with a .924 save percentage.
Grouped into two divisions, a four-team round robin takes place from Friday to Monday, and on Tuesday, there are crossover games between the first, second, third, and fourth place teams from the respective divisions playing a final game.
The Wild are grouped in the Ted Lindsay Division with the New York Rangers, the St. Louis Blues, and the 2014 Traverse City champion Columbus Blue Jackets. Some players to watch from Minnesota's opponents:
New York Rangers
Brady Skjei (defenseman) – A former Golden Gopher teammate of Mike Reilly, Skjei finds himself in a similar situation this offseason of trying to push into New York's top-six defensemen. Skjei is very sound defensively in his own zone, and excels at winning the puck back and making a quick, precise first pass to springboard the rush.
Brandon Halverson (goalie) – The 19-year-old might be the odds-on favorite to start for the United States at the 2016 World Junior Championship. With Henrik Lundqvist firmly in the Rangers crease, Halverson has plenty of time to continue to develop. Halverson led the Ontario Hockey League last season in wins, and was third in goals-against average.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Oliver Bjorkstrand – One of the most dynamic prospects at the tournament, Bjorkstrand is simply fun to watch. He's creative and elusive on the puck, and has scored 113 goals and recorded 227 points in his past 128 Western Hockey League games.
Sonny Milano – Like Bjorkstrand, Milano is very inventive with the puck on his stick. Milano was injured during last year's Traverse City tournament, but ended the 2015 season in the American Hockey League and could challenge for an NHL spot on a deep Columbus team.
St. Louis Blues
Robby Fabbri – Taken 21st by the Blues in the 2014 Draft, Fabbri spent last season in the OHL where he scored 25 goals and recorded 51 points in 30 games. Fabbri is another player looking to earn his way onto an NHL roster.
Ivan Barbashev – No stranger to scoring goals, Barbashev has 70 of them over his past 105 games in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Besides his scoring touch, Barbashev is a solid playmaker and is also effective defensively.
Prospects Tournament's Trophy Gets New Name
Matthew Wuest's passion for hockey was always evident. Wuest, who developed the popular NHL salary cap website CapGeek.com, devoted much of his time to making unique information available online, and adding to the conversation about hockey. Wuest also helped gather statistics for the NHL Prospects Tournament when it got a new director and was in need of former results, who had played in the tournament, and the history of the tournament. Wuest died in March 2015 at the age of 35 after a two-year battle with colon cancer. To honor Wuest, and the work he did, the NHL Prospects Tournament trophy has been renamed the Matthew Wuest Memorial Cup. According to a release announcing the name change on the Detroit Red Wings website: "The Matthew Wuest Memorial Cup recognizes his significant behind-the-scenes contributions to the growth and development of the NHL Prospect Tournament, along with his overall impact on the hockey community."
Minnesota Wild Roster:
http://wild.nhl.com/v2/ext/WilddotcomPDFs/2015%20Traverse%20City%20Roster.pdf
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