Hockey: 8 Forwards to Watch at Traverse City Prospects Tournament

Since 1998, NHL prospects have traveled to Traverse City, Mich., each September for the annual Traverse City Prospects Tournament.

This year prospect teams representing the Red Wings, Blues, Rangers, Sabres, Wild, Hurricanes, Blue Jackets and Stars will participate in the four-day event, which has given the NHL and its fans an early look at tomorrow's superstars.

In its brief history, the tournament has featured names like Ilya Kovalchuk, Dany Heatley, Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Alexander Semin, Brent Burns, Niklas Kronwall and Kari Lehtonen, just to name a few.

Over the next eight slides, we'll look at the key forwards to watch for each participating club, the first in a three-part series previewing the tournament.  

RW Tomas Jurco, Detroit Red Wings

Starting with the home team, YouTube sensation Tomas Jurco will come to Traverse City looking to pick up where he left off this past spring with St. John in the QMJHL, where the 19-year-old Slovak helped the Sea Dogs capture their first Memorial Cup with an outstanding regular season (31 goals, 25 assists in 60 games) and an even better playoffs (six goals and 12 assists in 19 games).

To most of the hockey world, Jurco is known for his incredible shootout moves, and a quick video search will return plenty of examples of Jurco's stickhandling mastery.

Detroit's second-round selection (35th overall) in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, Jurco can use Traverse City as a good showcase for not just his skills, but his overall game. He can show people he's not just another Robbie Schremp sideshow act.

C Zack Phillips, Minnesota Wild

The Wild's second selection (28th overall) this past June, Zack Phillips will look to build upon his 95-point sophomore campaign with Saint John. The second Sea Dog to appear on this list, Phillips will in some respects have to elevate his personal game, as he no longer has 105-point scorer and Panthers' third overall draft pick Jonathan Huberdeau by his side, a big reason he tallied 57 assists last year on their way to the Memorial Cup.

In fact all the members of that unbelievable club will have proving to do once they graduate to minor pro or the NHL, as skeptics will say they were simply part of a good team and its success, which is something that comes up every time there is a super power in juniors.  

Regardless, the Wild have to be excited about their first look at Phillips in Wild green and red, and hold high hopes that he'll be the one to break a long run of first-round busts for the organization. Not since the Brent Burns pick in 2003 has a first-rounder made any kind of impact for the big club.

RW Christian Thomas, New York Rangers

Drafted in the second round (40th overall) by the Rangers in 2010, Christian Thomas was coming off a 41-goal, 66-point season for Oshawa of the Ontario Hockey League. His third season of major junior exceeded everyone's expectations as Thomas scored an amazing 54 goals and added 45 assists for 99 points in just 66 games. Thomas immediately jumped to the top of the Rangers' prospect depth chart and may be that big-time goal scorer the team has coveted for so long.

Like his father, Steve "Stumpy" Thomas, who enjoyed a long NHL career with the Blackhawks, Islanders, Devils, Maple Leafs, Mighty Ducks and Red Wings in which he tallied 933 points in the process, Christian knows how to put up points even though questions about his size will always follow him. At just 5'9" Thomas will have to beat opponents with speed and vision, but today's NHL certainly is a better place for players of his stature.

This past March, Steve and Christian became the OHL's first father-son duo to score 50 goals in a season, as the younger Thomas broke the mark in dramatic fashion, scoring a hat trick against Kingston.

The 2011 tournament will be Thomas' second appearance at Traverse City, and this time around he'll be the go-to guy to lead the offense.

C Ryan Johansen, Columbus Blue Jackets

Competing in his second Traverse City tournament, 2010 first-round pick Ryan Johansen of the Portland Winterhawks will be looked upon to lead the offense for the Blue Jackets squad after a huge sophomore year of junior.

Johansen scored 40 goals and added 52 assists to lead the Winterhawks in scoring, and had a fantastic playoffs, with another 13 goals and 15 assists in 21 games before Portland was eliminated in the WHL finals by Kamloops.

Much like Zack Phillips to the Wild, Johansen represents a great chance to buck the trend of first-round busts for the Blue Jackets, who really haven't drafted an impact player since Rick Nash all the way back in 2002. The list of players who didn't pan out—Nikolai Zherdev, Alexandre Picard, Nikita Filatov, Gilbert Brule, the list goes on—could be easily forgotten if Johansen can have the same kind of success as Nash has in Columbus.

At 19 years of age, Johansen could make the Jackets this fall, and a good tournament would certainly help his chances. Hopefully whatever decision the Blue Jackets make is the right one and Johansen doesn't get added to the list of failures.

C Scott Glennie, Dallas Stars

The eighth overall pick of the Dallas Stars in 2009, Scott Glennie wrapped up a phenomenal four-year junior career this past spring with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL. Showing improvement each season, Glennie finished 2010/11 with 121 goals and 187 assists over his four years in Brandon.

He got his first taste of professional hockey following the Wheat Kings' elimination in six games to Medicine Hat in the WHL's Eastern Conference quarterfinal. Glennie appeared in four regular-season games for the AHL's Texas Stars, going scoreless and another six postseason games where he scored his first AHL goal before the Stars were knocked out of the playoffs by the Milwaukee Admirals.

Glennie will be participating in his third Traverse City tournament for the Stars this year and will look to improve on two subpar showings, especially for a first-round pick. In the 2010 tournament he had one goal in four games and in 2009 he notched just one assist in four games and suffered a groin injury that kept him out of most of his first NHL training camp. Glennie will be taking his first serious crack at the NHL this fall and it all starts at Traverse City.

RW Zack Kassian, Buffalo Sabres

In an organization that relies on speedy, undersized forwards and puck-moving, two-way defensemen, one may wonder why the Sabres picked Peterborough's Zack Kassian 13th overall in 2009.

The 6'4" winger has showed up on news clips and highlight reels for massive, dangerous and controversial hits over the course of his junior career that have skewed the public's point of view of a player who put up 77 points in his final year of junior, won a Memorial Cup with Windsor and was named to Team Canada for the 2010 World Juniors.

Buffalo will be entering their first Traverse City tournament with one of their deepest prospect pools ever, and Kassian will be one of many looking to make an impact heading into NHL camp. Kassian debuted with then-Sabres AHL affiliate Portland last spring, going pointless in three playoff games with the Pirates and is likely bound for some seasoning in Rochester.

It will be interesting to see if the Sabres brass reins Kassian in or lets him play the way that got him drafted.

RW Ty Rattie, St. Louis Blues

A junior teammate of Ryan Johansen, forward Ty Rattie was St. Louis' first pick (32nd overall) in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Having just completed his second full season of major junior, the Blues liked what they saw in the 18-year-old winger, who proved he can both set up plays and finish them, finishing third on the Winterhawks with 28 goals and 51 assists in 2010/11. Come playoffs, he kept his game at a high level, adding another 22 points in 21 WHL playoff games before their eventual elimination by Kamloops.

The Blues have a rich history at Traverse City, having won the tournament more times than any other team (1999-2001, 2004) and will look to add their fifth title this year. Rattie is the highest Blues draft selection on the roster and will certainly look to impress the Blues brass despite almost certainly being Portland-bound for a third season of junior.

Rattie has responded to pressure before as seen in 2010, when the then-16 year old Rattie slammed home the overtime game and series-winning goal against Spokane in the WHL playoffs.

C Victor Rask, Carolina Hurricanes

Swedish center Victor Rask comes to Traverse City from Leksands IF of Sweden's first division. Rask was chosen by the Hurricanes with their second round pick (42nd overall) after the Canes opted to take puck-moving blueliner Ryan Murphy in the first round.

With last year's top forward selection Jeff Skinner already making an impact for Carolina, the Hurricanes brass will want to get a good look at Rask, who doesn't have the gaudy numbers like the prospects coming out of junior. But at just 17 years of age last season, he was playing with and against players ranging from their late teens to late 30s and still managed 11 points in 37 games.

Playing against players his age in the 2010 IIHF World Junior Championships, Rask had six points in five games and has enjoyed similar success at other various international contests with Sweden.

This fall Rask will continue his hockey journey in the WHL, as he will suit up for the Calgary Hitmen and look to use his good hands and hockey sense to find success in what can be a very physical league.

Tournament Starts September 10th

The 2011 Traverse City Prospects Tournament gets underway September 10th and can be followed on the eight participating teams' websites, as well as on Pointstreak.

The championship game will be September 14th to crown the 14th Traverse City champion. Last year's champion, the Tampa Bay Lightning, will not be back to defend their title after a 16-round shootout victory over the host Detroit Red Wings in 2010.

In the coming days I will preview the eight defensemen/goalies to watch for each club as well as the top fighters for each squad who will certainly be looking to get noticed.