It’s time for the NHL’s newest faces to step into the spotlight.
This week, 33 of the league’s most marketable young stars hit the ice at the MedStar Capitals IcePlex in Arlington, Va. for the 2024 NHLPA Rookie Showcase, to be photographed for their rookie cards by Upper Deck.
Next week, the attention will turn to a handful of prospect tournaments scattered across North America.
Participants will include high-end draft picks, new pros out of college and unsigned players on tryout agreements, so the star power is all over the map. The two groups that are not represented are current NCAA players, who are already with their college teams, and prospects who will be playing in Europe this year.
Several teams, including the Vegas Golden Knights and the Utah Hockey Club, have already released their prospect tournament rosters.
Rookie Camp ready. 🙌
Our 2024 Rookie Camp kicks off this week, followed by the Rookie Faceoff in LA from September 13-16.
Here’s who to watch ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/2KBZRTl4aE
— Utah Hockey Club (@utahhockeyclub) September 3, 2024
In all cases, rosters can be subject to change as a result of injuries or other issues.
The Traverse City tournament in Michigan is the granddaddy of them all — the brainchild of Ken Holland when he was GM of the Detroit Red Wings back in 1997. This year, that event is down to just two teams — the Red Wings and the Dallas Stars.
All told, at least 30 of the NHL’s 32 teams are set to take part in seven different events across North America next week.
Here’s the breakdown:
2024 Rookie Faceoff: Sept. 13 to 16 at Toyota Sports Performance Center, El Segundo, Calif.
This year’s biggest prospect tournament is also arguably the most star-studded. The Los Angeles Kings are hosting a 10-game, four-day event at their practice facility, with seven teams taking part.
- Anaheim Ducks
- Colorado Avalanche
- Los Angeles Kings
- San Jose Sharks
- Seattle Kraken
- Utah Hockey Club
- Vegas Golden Knights
The on-ice talent is expected to include Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith for the Sharks, Cutter Gauthier and Beckett Sennecke for the Ducks, Tij Iginla and Cole Beaudoin for Utah, Berkly Catton and Jagger Firkus for Seattle and Calum Ritchie from Colorado.
The #SJSharks rookie faceoff roster pic.twitter.com/FON0h3U9Jx
— Max Miller (@Real_Max_Miller) September 4, 2024
No ticket information is available, but games will be live-streamed for fans in each market.
2024 Prospects Challenge: Sept. 13 to 16 at LECOM Harborcenter, Buffalo, N.Y.
This is the Sabres’ ninth time hosting their prospects tournament at their training facility. This year, the Columbus Blue Jackets join the six-team field, and nine games will be played over three days.
- Boston Bruins
- Buffalo Sabres
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- New Jersey Devils
- Ottawa Senators
- Pittsburgh Penguins
The prospect lineup should include newly acquired Penguin Rutger McGroarty along with New Jersey’s Seamus Casey, Buffalo’s Noah Ostlund and Ottawa’s Zack Ostapchuk and Carter Yakemchuk. Columbus 2024 first-rounder Cayden Lindstrom has been ruled out as he continues to deal with a lingering back injury.
NEW: The kids are going to Buffalo for the Prospects Challenge. #CBJ #letsgobuffalo #NHLBruins #NJDevils #GoSensGo #LetsGoPens @TheHockeyNews
Check it out 🔽🔽🔽https://t.co/tTex8O6lXe
— The Hockey News-Columbus (@F1RETHECANNON) July 30, 2024
Tickets are available, but streaming information has not yet been announced.
2024 Young Stars Classic: Sept. 13 to 16 at South Okanagan Events Centre, Penticton, B.C.
This is the 11th edition of Young Stars, hosted by the Vancouver Canucks. It takes place at the first-class dual-rink facility in the beautiful Okanagan that’s home to the Penticton Vees of the BCHL.
After fading out in the late 2010s, the tournament was revived in 2022, bringing together Canada’s four Western Conference teams:
- Calgary Flames
- Edmonton Oilers
- Vancouver Canucks
- Winnipeg Jets
This year’s tournament should feature Winnipeg’s newly acquired forward prospect Brayden Yager along with Colby Barlow and Nikita Chibrikov, Calgary’s Zayne Parekh and Samuel Honzek, newly acquired Oiler Matt Savoie and Vancouver’s Swedish duo of Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Elias Pettersson — the 20-year-old defenseman, not the superstar forward.
#Canucks Announce Schedule For 2024 Young Stars Classic@TheHockeyNews https://t.co/PE0j9gFGAb
— Adam Kierszenblat (@Adamkblat) July 22, 2024
Tickets are available. Streaming information has yet to be announced.
2024 Rookie Showcase: Sept. 13 to 16 at Ford Ice Center Bellevue, Nashville, Tenn.
The Nashville Predators will be hosting their fourth rookie tournament in 2024, and their first since 2019. Four teams will take part in a six-game schedule, spread over three days.
- Carolina Hurricanes
- Florida Panthers
- Nashville Predators
- Tampa Bay Lightning
Names to note include Carolina’s Bradly Nadeau and a plethora of Predators, including Zachary L’Heureux, Tanner Molendyk, Joakim Kemell and Fedor Svechkov. Nashville has released its full roster, and the rookies will practice on Sept. 11 and 12 before the event formally gets underway.
Rookie camp roster is out, #Preds hockey is almost back!@TheHockeyNews https://t.co/E3p4gSH6Lq
— Emma Lingan (@emma_lingan) August 28, 2024
Ticketing and streaming information is to be announced.
Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase 2024: Sept. 13 to 15 at Centene Community Ice Center, Maryland Heights, Mo.
This is the fourth annual Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase. This time around, the St. Louis Blues are hosting this three-game, three-team event at their practice facility.
All practices and games are free and open to the public, with no ticketing or registration required.
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Minnesota Wild
- St. Louis Blues
The Blues have released their roster for the event, which includes first-rounders Zach Dean, Zack Bolduc and Dalibor Dvorsky. The Wild’s roster includes first-round picks Liam Ohgren and Carson Lambos, and the Blackhawks will be bringing newly minted second-overall pick Artyom Levshunov as well as 2022 first-round pick Frank Nazar and three of their top four selections from 2021: Nolan Allan, Colton Dach and Ethan Del Mastro.
No streaming information is available yet.
2024 Traverse City Prospects Tournament: Sept. 14 to 15 at Centre Ice Arena, Traverse City, Mich.
Tickets are now on sale for the pair of games between the Red Wings and the Stars. Detroit’s roster has been released and will include their top picks from the last two drafts, 2024’s Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and 2023’s Nate Danielson. The Stars have not yet released their roster, but 2020 first-round pick Mavrik Bourque and 2022’s Lian Bichsel should be part of the proceedings.
Kasper, Mazur, Berggren, Danielson, Johansson. Many young players are vying for NHL roster spots in #LGRW training camp. That has DET coach Derek Lalonde excited.
“There's something unique about the energy of youth”
More for @TheHockeyNews: https://t.co/MNN0oT0ltd
— Connor Earegood (@ConnorEaregood) August 19, 2024
Games will be live-streamed on DetroitRedWings.com and the Wings’ Facebook and YouTube pages.
2024 Prospect Showdown: Sept. 14 to 15 at Bell Centre, Montreal, Que.
With plenty of prospects in their organization, the Montreal Canadiens are going big with their first-ever Prospect Showdown. They’re hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs in a pair of games at their NHL rink, with tickets now on sale.
Montreal’s roster has not been officially announced, but an article on the team’s website teases Lane Hutson, Owen Beck, Logan Mailloux, Florian Xhekaj and David Reinbacher as potential names to watch. Since they’ve been in win-now mode, the Leafs’ prospect pool is not as deep, but their lineup could include familiar names like Fraser Minten, Easton Cowan and 2024 first-round pick Ben Danford.
No streaming information has been released to date.
2024 Rookie Series: Sept. 13 to 14 at PPL Center, Allentown, Pa.
The Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers will continue what they’ve done in past seasons by playing rookie showcase games against each other.
Goalie Ivan Fedotov and red-hot rookie Matvei Michkov are representing the Flyers at the NHLPA Rookie Showcase in Virginia, while Matt Rempe will be on hand for the Rangers. Whether they will appear at the prospect matchups on Sept. 13 and 14 remains to be announced, but tickets are available.
The Rest
While the Washington Capitals’ practice facility is serving as host rink for the NHLPA event, the team will be holding its own rookie camp alone, and at a different venue.
The camp will take place from Sept. 13 to 16 at McMullen Ice Arena in Annapolis, Md. A full roster has not been released.
The NHL's top prospects took over MedStar Capitals Iceplex on Wednesday, as Macklin Celebrini, Matt Rempe, Matvei Michkov, Ivan Miroshnichenko, Rutger McGroarty and more took part in the NHLPA Rookie Showcase.
Scenes from the day:https://t.co/tDMu0CpLaG
— Sammi Silber 🏒 (@sammisilber) September 4, 2024
Finally, we have the New York Islanders. Unlike most teams, they do not hold a development camp after the draft but have typically held a rookie camp before their main training camp opens in September.
As is typical of the Islanders’ cone-of-silence approach to doing business, no details for the 2024 event have been announced to date.
Get the latest news and trending stories right to your inbox by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or by visiting our forum.
Related: NHL Prospect Pool Overview 2024-25: Catching Up on All 32 Teams
Related: Five NHL Teams That Will Get the Biggest Boost from Rookies: Canadiens, Sharks and More
Related: Calgary Flames Pick Trevor Hoskin is One of the Best Stories of the 2024 NHL Draft
News Summary:
- 2024 NHL Prospect Tournaments Rundown: Who's Where and How to Watch
- Check all news and articles from the latest NHL updates.