Nations Network at the Young Stars Tournament

 

 

Photo by Tom Lube at Wikimedia

The annual Young Stars Tournament starts today in sunny Penticton, BC featuring the prospects and young pros of the Oilers, Flames, Jets, Canucks, and Sharks. It’s a chance for teams to hold a competitive rookie camp, and a chance for us to see the quality of players and development systems we often wait years to evaluate.

So, of course, the Nations Network will be there! We’ll be bringing you player and game reports, news and analysis, and all the pictures of me in sport coats you can handle.

Have a favourite prospect you’d like us to keep an eye on? You can let us know in the comments or through twitter. Jets Nation pulled the lucky straw to attend this year, so you can follow us and chat with us on twitter here:

You can also stream the games free through the NHL.com team sites. Below is the tournament schedule as well as a teaser and links for each team’s roster.

(All times in the Pacific time zone.)

Calgary is showcasing its next generation squad at the tourney, including three 1st round picks from 2013 and the NHL-bound Sven Baertschi. Plus, we’ll get to see the Giant on Ice Keegan Kanzig. Markus Granlund, Max Reinhart, and Tyler Wotherspoon round out the top-end of maybe the best prospect team Calgary has sent to this tournament. Check out the full roster here.

You might have heard that the Oilers have some young talent already playing in the NHL. The pipeline isn’t dry just yet, with NHL-hopeful Oscar Klefbom, 1st round selection Darnell Nurse, David Musil, and the Slovak Martins (Marincin and Gernat) all on the back end for this tournament. The team is decidedly bruising, however, with Abney, Ewanyk, Kessey, and Moroz among the forward group. You can look at their roster here. (And don’t think I haven’t trademarked David Musil and the Slovak Martins as a band name already.)

Vancouver is bringing a massive roster with 28 skaters. Quantity comes with quality, in this case. Frank Corrado and Jordan Subban star on the blue line, while Brendan Gaunce, Niklas Jensen, Bo Horvat, and Hunter Shinkaruk feature among the forwards. The Canucks are looking for depth and scoring support at the NHL level, and this year’s team will showcase the most likely candidates. Full roster.

The Jets appear to have had an outstanding 2013 draft, but the Young Stars tournament will our first chance to see the quality relative to other NHL prospects. All three of the Jets’ 1st rounders will be on the squad. Mark Scheifele, Jacob Trouba, and Josh Morrissey have all had summers of high-praise and will be the stars of a rebuilding prospect system. Adam Lowry won WHL player of the year last year, and Brenden Kichton won WHL Defenceman of the year. A pair of second round, under-sized picks in Nic Petan and Eric Comrie join fan-favourite JC Lipon in rounding out a squad with a lot of hope. Full roster.

The Sharks sent a small team of just 22 skaters led by 2013 1st rounder Mirco Mueller and 2012 1st rounder Tomas Hertl. Former Oiler prospect 6’4" Kyle Bigos will see time against the big-bodied Oiler forwards with something to prove. Should be some fireworks. Have a look at their roster here.