On Wednesday morning, the Chicago Blackhawks released their rosters for the annual Traverse City Rookie Tournament being held in Traverse City, Michigan. The tournament is set to begin on September 7 and run until September 11. Last year, the Blackhawks rookies captured the tournament championship, defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets rookie squad.
Blackhawks Rookies Defend Traverse City Tournament Championship
Led by the Rockford IceHogs coaching staff, this year’s rookie roster is highlighted by a number of recent first-round Blackhawks draft picks like Adam Boqvist, Nicolas Beaudin, and Henri Jokiharju, along with rookies fighting for roster spots like Dylan Sikura and Victor Ejdsell.
See the full rosters below:
Chicago Blackhawks Rookie Tournament Roster
Chicago Blackhawks Rookie Tournament Roster
While players like Boqvist and Beaudin will be featured players on their Canadian Junior teams this season, Jokiharju, Sikura, and Ejdsell are slated to be in the running for ice-time at the NHL level this season. Add in players such as Blake Hillman, Dennis Gilbert, and Jacob Nilsson, and the Blackhawks rookie tournament roster rounds out to have a number of intriguing players getting their first crack at making an impression on the organization early before training camp begins on September 15.
Here’s the full schedule for the Traverse City Rookie Tournament:
Traverse Cityt2018 Rookie Tournament Schedule
The Blackhawks will look to defend their 2017 tournament championship against the Columbus Blue Jackets, St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars. Detroit Red Wings, Carolina Hurricanes, Minnesota Wild, and New York Rangers.
The championship game will take place on September 11 between the winners of the Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay divisions.