Well hockey season is right around the corner as the annual (except for last year, thank Bettman) prospect tournament in Traverse City, Michigan. I’ll be heading up there for the third time to give you live updates from the CBJ’s practices and games.
First some background. The tournament features eight teams split into two divisions. Within each division, the teams play each other once then they play the team that finished in the same position in the other division to close the tournament. The Blue Jackets are in the Ted Lindsay Division that will also feature the Carolina Hurricanes, Buffalo Sabres and the New York Rangers. The Gordie Howe Divison will feature the host Detroit Red Wings, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild and the St. Louis Blues.
The Blue Jackets team of prospects is a lot like the main club – not highly skilled but you better be ready for them as the roster is full of gritty two way players and some big boys to throw their weight around.
Let’s take a look at who rounds out the CBJ corps:
FORWARDS
The CBJ are taking 14 forwards to Traverse City and only three are under 6’0″ (with two of them at 5’11”). The smallest forward is invite/Falcon Alex Aleardi who just completed his OHL career playing with Plymouth and Windsor where he played on a line with Kerby Rychel. Aleardi scored 71 points last season including 44 assists. Aleardi and 2013 draft pick Oliver Bjorkstrand are probably the most skilled players on the roster.
Now for the big guys.
The biggest forward is invite Matej Beran who’s listed at 6’5″ 208. Beran is almost a point per game player picking up 110 in 114 games. The Jackets main goal threats will be the OHL duo of Boone Jenner and Kerby Rychel who both scored 40 plus goals last season with both not being afraid to go to the dirty areas to score. Rychel also brings a lethal shot to the equation.
For when the going gets rough, the Blue Jackets will rely on the trio of Dalton Smith, Josh Anderson and Nick Moutrey. None of these players should be considered “goons” – Moutrey and Anderson were 40+ point scorers.
An interesting duo to watch will be Michael Chaput and Lukas Sedlák. These two will be competing for ice time in Springfield for the 2nd-3rd line center position as the two are similar players: two way centers that dominate the faceoff circle.
Quickly, in the “hey we found him” file, Oliver Gabriel will return to Traverse City with the squad. It was his performance at this tournament two years ago that led to him earning his contract with the CBJ.
DEFENSE
The Jackets are bringing eight defensemen to Traverse City. The trend of bigger players continues – only 2 players are under 6’0″: invites Dakota Mermis, a skilled Dman that left Denver midseason to join London, and the more defensive minded Luke Mercer.
The group is led by 2012 2nd overall pick Ryan Murray. Murray is the highest draft pick to play in Traverse City since Ilya Kovalchuk in 2001. Helping the Jackets power play will be Gianluca Curcuruto who possesses a bomb of a shot that often leads to goals off rebounds/deflections. Dillon Heatherington and Thomas Larkin bring size to the back end with Dillon clocking in at 6’4″ 206 and Larkin at 6’5″ 221. Neither of these two are bruisers and Dillon will be a prospect I’ll be keeping a close eye on as he’s the one draft pick I’ve gotten right in my mocks.
GOALIES
For the first time in the years I’ve gone to Traverse City, the Jackets are only bringing two goalies. The goaltenders are 2011 second round pick Oscar Dansk (11-23-3) and invite Jordan DeKort (3-11-2). DeKort is a teammate of Kerby Rychel and is expected to be the Spitfires’ number one goalie this year. Looking at Oscar and Jordan’s numbers from last year, you probably made some snarky comment but neither played on very good teams. Oscar faced an average of 34 shots a night and also dealt with a young D corps/team in front of him. I see Oscar getting three of the four games at the tournament, but it could be a rotation.
As for lines, it hard to figure out with normally everyone missing at least a game and, of course (knocks on wood), injuries can occur. A line I would like to see is an “OHL line” of Boone Jenner between Josh Anderson and Kerby Rychel. Josh is a player who goes to the front of the net while Kerby shoots and Boone picks up any garbage that Josh may miss.
A D pair that would be powerful is Dillon Heatherington and Ryan Murray but, as the team’s top 2 defensemen, you probably want them on separate pairs.
Normally teams don’t name a captain and elect instead to have three players wear As in games. Players I see wearing As are Ryan Murray, Boone Jenner, Kerby Rychel and Dillon Heatherington along with Michael Chaput.
There you have it folks – my preview on the CBJ for Traverse City. As I’ve said, I’ll be there live tweeting games and practices and have regular updates from the road!
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