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The Toronto Maple Leafs announced their roster for the 2017 Rookie Tournament that takes place at Ricoh Coliseum from Friday, September 8 - Sunday, September 10.
The Leafs roster of 15 forwards, nine defensemen and two goaltenders (which includes 17 of their own draft picks), led by Toronto Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe, assistant coaches Rob Davison and A.J. MacLean, and goaltending coach Piero Greco will take on prospects from the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators.
The Maple Leafs have announced the club's 26-man Rookie Tournament roster comprised of 15 forwards, 9 defencemen and 2 goaltenders. #TMLtalk pic.twitter.com/mI1boo5Abc
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) August 28, 2017
Pierre Engvall (7th round - 2014), Jesper Lindgren (4th round - 2015), Yegor Korshkov (2nd round - 2016), Nikolai Chebykin (7th round - 2016) and Vladislav Kara (4th round - 2017) will not attend because of conflicts with their European/Russian clubs.
NCAA prospects Dakota Joshua (5th round - 2014), Nolan Vesey (6th round - 2014), Joseph Woll (3rd round - 2016) and JD Greenway (3rd round - 2016) also will not attend.
2015 seventh round pick Nikita Korostelev and 2016 second round pick Carl Grundstrom were invited but missed the club’s Rookie Development camp last month, but will be in attendance at Ricoh Coliseum next month.
The Leafs negotiating rights for Korostelev expired in June when they did not offer the 20-year-old winger an entry-level NHL contract, but the invitation to camp may be an indication that Toronto may have interest in offering an AHL contract, as both Martins Dzierkals and JJ Piccinich signed this off-season.
Grundstrom excelled in a brief stint with the AHL Marlies during the Calder Cup Playoffs and signed a three-year deal in April, but has been playing exhibition games with Frolunda. It is likely that the Leafs will send the 19-year-old winger back to Sweden following the tournament or at some point during training camp (as they did with William Nylander three years ago), so that he will not count against the club’s 50 professional contracts.
The roster also includes forwards Kristian Pospisil, Jean Dupuy (signed to an AHL contracts) and Cole Coskey, and defensemen Marc-Olivier Duquette and Jonathan Smart.
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Another who will participate in the tournament is rookie Jeremy Bracco. The 20-year-old winger did see any action at Development Camp due to contracting mononucleosis, but says he is ready to go.
“I had a little hiccup coming off mono, but the last two months have been really good.… Bracco said at the NHLPA Rookie Showcase at Mattamy Athletic Centre on Monday. “I’ve been able to train and workout and I’m getting a lot of good feedback from upper management.…
#Leafs prospect Jeremy Bracco on the ice at the #NHLPARookieShowcase in Toronto. pic.twitter.com/fFlHqSAjLR
— Michael Augello (@MikeInBuffalo) August 28, 2017
Bracco had a spectacular 2017, winning gold with Team USA at the 2017 World Junior and a Memorial Cup with Windsor, but is now looking towards making his mark in the AHL this season and challenging for a job in the NHL in the near future. One of the things that the Long Island native is looking forward to is playing with Auston Matthews, who Bracco knows well from the US National Development Program.
“Auston’s a great player and a great guy and (is) a friend of the bunch of us who have played together,… Bracco said. “It would be great to play alongside him and hopefully we’ll see in years to come.…
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