The annual Traverse City Prospect Tournament gets underway this Friday. The Jackets took their time getting this group together and were the last team to announce their roster for the event.
.@18Dubois, @ZachWerenski & @27SMiLano will represent #CBJ in Traverse City.
— ColumbusBlueJackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) September 12, 2016
ROSTER: https://t.co/KjOQimI5ie pic.twitter.com/SfrIRiL089
Puck-rakers: #CBJ release Traverse City roster: pic.twitter.com/1eEo0ayjk7
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) September 12, 2016
The Blue Jackets have a very strong team and will be looking to win their third straight title. Leading the way for this group will be the three first round picks. Pierre-Luc Dubois, Zach Werenski and Sonny Milano all have lots of skill and should rack up a ton of points. Sonny should dominate this tournament as he's far more experienced than every player there, playing in three NHL games. This is not an event for players with NHL time so it was a little weird to see Sonny on the roster. That is the reason Oliver Bjorkstrand isn’t here. He’s played in the NHL and is far too developed for this event.
One player to keep an eye on is Vitali Abramov. He was the steal of the draft for the Blue Jackets, and he has the skill to play alongside a Milano or Dubois. Him with Dubois would be a great look into the future for Jacket fans.
It is always interesting to see what players are brought in as free agents to help fill out the roster. Last year Dante Salituro was the big name, he had a strong showing in Traverse City, leading to an invite to NHL training camp. He ultimately wasn’t signed, but made enough of an impression for the Blue Jackets to keep tabs on him this past season and eventually sign him to a contract in the summer.
There isn’t a player like that on this year’s roster but what is interesting is of the six free agent invites five are from the OHL. Goaltender Jeremy Brodeur of the Oshawa Generals and defencemen Frank Hora of the Kitchener Rangers are both returning players from last year’s team. They are both 1996 born players and will be entering their overage year in the OHL. They are CHL undrafted free agents and can be signed at any point, though it seems unlikely. Neither have been that good in the OHL in their careers. Joining them on the roster will be Darby Llewellyn, Stephen Gibson, Lucas Peressini and Francis Beauviller.
Llewellyn is a teammate of Hora in Kitchener. He’s a winger who scored 38 points in 68 games last season. Gibson is a defencemen for the Mississauga Steelheads. He brings good size to the table standing 6’3, 212lbs, but his offensive game is a work in progress. He only scored 16 points last season playing in all 68 games. He’s the typical big shutdown defencemen the Blue Jackets front office love. He's a 97 born player and will have two more seasons in the OHL, if he shows improvement this season he may be a player that goes down that Salituro route.
Beauvillier was a sixth round pick by the Panthers back in 2012. He played eight games in the AHL in 2012-13 but wasn’t able to stick in pro hockey. He's spent the past two seasons playing for the University of New Brunswick in the CIS. Peressini is also off to play in the CIS. He finished up his OHL career last season with the Kingston Frontenacs, recording a .906 save percentage in 47 games. He’s mostly here because the Jackets were unable to bring any of their current goalie prospects.
Both Joonas Korpisalo and Anton Forsberg are far too good to be here. Oskar Dansk and Elvis Merzlikins have already started their seasons in Europe. Peter Thome is an NCAA commit and thus not able to participate in any NHL activities like this one. It’s for those same reasons why Ryan Collins and Andrew Peeke are not here.
This is always a fun tournament but unfortunately the games are unable to be broadcasted. Keep to Twitter for updates, particularly to @CBJProspects who be in attendance and does a good job keeping everyone informed on the Blue Jackets prospects.
You can follow me on Twitter @PaulBerthelot