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NHL Prospect Tournament Roster Announced |
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The team’s four most recent first-round picks in the NHL entry draft will lead the Detroit Red Wings’ roster for the club’s annual NHL Prospect Tournament, Sept. 7-11 at Centre Ice Arena in Traverse City, Mich.
The 26-player roster is comprised of recent draft picks, free agent signees and tryouts who will battle against seven other NHL prospect teams for the Matthew Wuest Memorial Cup.
That group includes recent first-round picks in right wing Filip Zadina (sixth overall, 2018), center Joe Veleno (30th overall, 2018), center Michael Rasmussen (ninth overall, 2017) and defenseman Dennis Cholowski (20th overall, 2016).
In 2017-18, Zadina led all QMJHL rookies with 82 points (44-38-82) in 57 games with Halifax of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and also scored seven goals in seven games for the Czech Republic at the IIHF World Junior Championship in Buffalo, N.Y.
Veleno, selected by Detroit with a pick acquired from Vegas for Tomas Tatar on Feb. 26, also spent last season in the QMJHL, split between the Saint John Sea Dogs and Drummondville Voltigeurs. After starting the season with 31 points (6-25-31) in 31 games as captain of the Sea Dogs, Veleno racked up 48 points (16-32-48) in 33 games with the Voltigeurs to finish 10th in the league in scoring.
Rasmussen and Cholowski are each returning to the tournament after debuting in 2017 prior to spending the 2017-18 campaign in the Western Hockey League. Rasmussen produced 59 points (31-28-59) with the Tri-City Americans in an injury-shortened 47-game regular season before amassing 33 points (16-17-33) in 14 postseason games to lead Tri-City to an appearance in the WHL’s conference finals after back-to-back upsets in the first two rounds.
Cholowski ranked among the league’s highest-scoring defensemen, combining for 66 points (14-52-66) between the Prince George Cougars and Portland Winterhawks. After Portland was eliminated from the playoffs, Cholowski made his professional postseason debut with the American Hockey League’s Grand Rapids Griffins.
Two other players who also saw action with the Griffins last season who will suit up for Detroit’s prospects are center Axel Holmstrom and defenseman Vili Saarijarvi. Holmstrom picked up 26 points (7-19-26) in 66 games with the Griffins in 2017-18. Saarijarvi notched six points (2-4-6) in 10 games for the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye prior to earning a promotion to the AHL, where he contributed 11 assists in 42 games with Grand Rapids.
Others who figure to be of interest include center Christoffer Ehn, a fourth-round pick (106th overall) in 2014 who is slated to move to North America after playing the last five seasons in the top Sweden with with Frolunda, where he helped win a championship in 2017. In goal, the Red Wings have two recent free-agent signees in Patrik Rybar and Kaden Fulcher. Rybar, 24, was signed by Detroit in May after spending four seasons playing professionally in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and representing the Slovakian national team at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Korea, and 2018 IIHF World Championship in Denmark. Fulcher was signed by Detroit after attending development camp and the NHL Prospect Tournament on a tryout prior to the 2017-18 campaign and backstopped the OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs to a championship, leading all league netminders in goals- against average (2.70) and save percentage (.905) during the postseason.
2018 Detroit Red Wings NHL Prospect Tournament Roster
Goal
Justin Fazio-x; Kaden Fulcher; Patrik Rybar.
Defense
Dennis Cholowski; Marcus Crawford; Cole Fraser; Trevor Hamilton; Jared McIsaac; Alec Regula; Vili Saarijarvi; Reilly Webb.
Forwards
Christoffer Ehn C; Zach Gallant C; Brady Gilmour C; Pavel Gogolev RW-x; Maxim Golod LW-x; Nicolas Guay C-x; Axel Holmstrom C; David Pope LW; Michael Rasmussen C; Givani Smith RW; Jordan Topping LW; Joe Veleno C; Trevor Yates C; Lane Zablocki RW; Filip Zadina RW.
X- indicates free-agent invite.
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