Wild announce roster for prospect showcase

The hockey season is approaching. Teams all over the NHL are tying up loose ends, inviting veterans to training camp on try-outs, signing depth players, and now, finalizing rosters for their respective rookie tournaments.

For the Minnesota Wild, this will be the second consecutive year where their rookie tournament is just labelled as a prospect showcase that is just two games against the prospects of the Chicago Blackhawks.

There will be two games — both in Chicago. The first on this Friday, Sept. 16 at 7:00 p.m. CT and the second on the Sunday, Sept. 18 at 1:00 p.m. CT.

As for what players will be representing Minnesota’s future at this little pre-preseason duet of exhibition action, there are some star-studded prospects ready to get in some early matches.

Roster

Forwards

Marco Rossi, Hunter Haight, Adam Beckman, Sam Hentges, Mikey Milne, Vladislav Firstov, Damien Giroux, Nick Swaney, Sammy Walker, Caedan Bankier, Servac Petrovsky, Josh Pillar, Kevin Conley (invite), Aidan Castle (invite)

Defensemen

Simon Johansson, Ryan O’Rourke, Daemon Hunt (will not play), Carson Lambos, Kyle Masters, David Spacek, Benjamin Finkelstein (invite), Justin Wells (invite)

Goaltenders

Jesper Wallstedt, Thomas Milic (invite), Hunter Jones

Obviously, the Wild are one of the top prospect pools in the entire league, so even when they’re missing the European talents like Liam Ohgren, Danila Yurov, and Marat Khusnutdinov, there are plenty of players that will be must-watch — even if it’s against lesser competition.

Rossi will make fools out of Blackhawks defenders; newcomers like Milne, Haight, and Walker will get extra attention; Lambos and O’Rourke will look to impress after a disappointing World Juniors; and Wallstedt will be Wallstedt.

In just a couple days we will be watching Wild hockey (kind of).