Tomorrow the calendar turns to September, which means that pre-season NHL hockey is just about 3 weeks away. The Jets appear to have their initial roster set, but that doesn’t mean there couldn’t be some players that are signed to tryouts prior to the beginning of training camp. The pre-season is the perfect time for players (especially prospects) to try and impress the coaching staff.

Every team plays six pre-season games, giving teams a good opportunity to test and showcase different players prior to the regular season. The Jets will play the Wild, Oilers, and Flames twice each, once at home and once away. You can tell (mostly by the eye test) that some players are looking to really make a good “first” impression in the pre-season. Here’s three (technically four) players that will be looking to make an impression during the Jets pre-season games.

It’s not much of a surprise that all of the players that will be mentioned below are 25 years or younger. It’s been talked about before, but it’s worth mentioning that the Manitoba Moose were a bottom 5 team in the AHL last season. Even without looking at the standings, Lambert’s 35 point season following his 55 point rookie AHL season was seen as a disappointment.

Lambert did get 5 games in the NHL last season, but he only managed 1 assist and didn’t look like he was fully ready to be an everyday NHLer. This pre-season will be an important step in Lambert’s development to prove to the Jets that he’s still one of their top prospects. Even though Lambert will very likely start the season in the AHL, you can bet that he’s going to do everything he can to leave an impression on the Jets management before his season begins.

Salomosson has gone from being a good prospect to a top 3 prospect in the Jets organization. Appearing in 53 games in his first pro season in the AHL, Salomonsson impressed on the Moose blue line with 27 points. There likely isn’t a spot for Salomonsson on the Jets roster this season, but this could be the season that Salomonsson appears in his 1st NHL game.

This pre-season will serve as an opportunity for Salomonsson to show management that he can be one of the top options for a call up if an injury occurs on the Jets defence. Salomonsson continues to make strides in his game, and he’ll be the player that I’m most excited to watch in the upcoming Jets pre-season. I expect Salomonsson to play in almost every pre-season game, before beginning his 2nd pro season with the hopefully improved Manitoba Moose.

I couldn’t pick between Milic and DiVicentiis, so I decided to include them both. The pre-season is a great time for teams to showcase their goalie prospects, as Hellebuyck and Comrie will likely not see any (or very little) action in the pre-season. The good thing about having as good of a goalie duo as the Jets have is that there is less pressure on the current Jets goalie prospects.

While neither goalie is considered a top 10 prospect in the Jets organization, it’s intriguing to continue to watch them develop with the Manitoba Moose or Norfolk Admirals. At this point in their careers, neither of them are projected to be a starting goalie in the NHL, but both of them have the talent to be an option for the backup goalie in a few years. Hellebuyck will be the #1 Jets goalie until he retires, but the Jets will eventually want to see what they have in Milic and DiVincentiis. Newly signed Isaac Poulter will get some starts in the Jets net this pre-season, but the other games will be likely split between Milic and DiVincentiis, giving them a chance to impress in the pre-season.

The Jets pre-season begins on September 21st at 4:00 pm CT at Canada Life Centre with a Sunday afternoon matchup against Central Division foes Minnesota Wild.