NHL's Traverse City Tournament to Feature Rangers' Top Prospects

NHL hockey is almost here. It has seemed like an incredibly long summer that will never end. However, if you are itching for some fresh hockey action, you are in luck.

Tomorrow, the Traverse City prospects tournament starts and it will feature some great prospects. This tournament will feature several NHL teams and their prospects. The list of teams include the Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues.

Tomorrow night, the New York Rangers will square off against the St. Louis Blues at 7:00 EST on MSG Network for those in the Tri-state area and NHL Network for everyone else in North America. This will be the first time that the tournament will be broadcast on national television.

This tournament will showcase some of the premier prospects in all hockey. Rangers fans will be especially anxious to see some of their shining stars showcase their skills in the tournament. Last year, Derek Stepan impressed many people during the tournament. He would continue to show his skills during training camp and he eventually made the Rangers out of training camp.

There are a few players that will participate in the tournament that fans hope can make the team this year.

Here are the predicted line combinations for the tournament courtesy of Steve Zipay:

Shane McColgan/Ryan Bourque/Christian Thomas

Carl Hagelin/JT Miller/Randy McNaught

Jason Wilson/Jon Audy-Marchessault/Tommy Grant

Jordan Hickmott/Michael St. Croix/ChristianThomas (double shifted)

Kale Kerbashian/Andrew Yogan/Tayler Jordan

Defense

Jyri Niemi-Dylan McIlrath

Tim Erixon-Blake Parlett

Collin Bowman-Petr Ceresnak

Lee Baldwin-Samuel Noreau

Goaltending

Scott Stajcer and Jason Missiaen will each get two starts a piece.

Zipay noted that these lines could definitely change but these were the lines that coaches went with during practice.

The players to watch out for in this tournament are Christian Thomas, Carl Hagelin, Tim Erixon, Ryan Bourque, JT Miller and Andrew Yogan.

Thomas is a talented goal scoring winger who could make the team if he has an impressive tournament and training camp. It is considered a long shot, but Thomas will most likely sport a New York Rangers jersey by 2012-13.

Hagelin and Erixon are the most likely to make the team out of training camp. Hagelin has been described as a great two-way defender who is proficient on the PK. Hagelin is also a money player and has a high hockey IQ.

Erixon was the Calgary Flames' top prospect before he was traded before the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. He has Blueshirt blood in him as his father Jan spent some time with the New York Rangers. If Erixon can impress during this tournament, he could beat Michael Del Zotto out for a roster spot.

All the other players I mentioned like Bourque, Yogan, McColgan, Miller and McIlrath are players that still have some developing to do. They are talented prospects who you should keep an eye out for. It seems like yesterday that players like Ryan Callahan and Derek Stepan skated in this tournament.

Here is the official roster including the jersey number each player will wear so you can spot him on the ice courtesy of the Rangers official website.

2011 NY RANGERS TRAVERSE CITY PROSPECTS TOURNAMENT ROSTER
Forwards
No.	Player	POS.	HT	WT	Age	2010-11 Team (League)	Joined Team
84	Jonathan Audy-Marchessault	C	5-9	175	20	Quebec (QMJHL)	AHL Contract
60	Ryan Bourque	F	5-9	170	20	Quebec (QMJHL)	2009 Draft (Rd. 3, No. 80)
59	Tommy Grant	LW	6-2	194	25	UAA (WCHA), Con. (AHL)	Signed March 29, 2011
62	Carl Hagelin	LW	5-11	176	23	Mich. (CCHA), Con. (AHL)	2007 Draft (Rd. 6, No. 168)
64	Jordan Hickmott	C	6-1	183	21	Edmonton (WHL)	Tryout Invitee
61	Tayler Jordan	LW	6-0	195	21	Portland (WHL)	Tryout Invitee
70	Kale Kerbashian	C	5-11	165	21	Sarnia (OHL), Con. (AHL)	AHL Contract
83	Shane McColgan	RW	5-9	165	18	Kelowna (WHL)	2011 Draft (Rd. 5, No. 134)
76	Randy McNaught	RW	6-4	217	21	Vancouver (WHL)	2010 Draft (Rd. 7, No. 190)
47	J.T. Miller	F	6-1	200	18	U.S. Under-18 Team	2011 Draft (Rd. 1, No. 15)
78	Matt Rust	C	5-9	192	22	Michigan (CCHA)	Tryout Invitee
57	Michael St. Croix	C	5-11	179	18	Edmonton (WHL)	2011 Draft (Rd. 4, No. 106)
58	Christian Thomas	RW	5-9	170	19	Oshawa (OHL)	2010 Draft (Rd. 2, No. 40)
48	Jason Wilson	LW	6-2	205	21	Niagara (OHL)	2010 Draft (Rd. 5, No. 130)
49	Andrew Yogan	F	6-3	201	19	Erie (OHL), Conn. (AHL)	2010 Draft (Rd. 4, No. 100)
Defensemen
63	Lee Baldwin	D	6-3	200	23	Con. (AHL), G'ville (ECHL)	Signed March 22, 2010
85	Collin Bowman	D	6-0	200	20	Moose Jaw (WHL)	Tryout Invitee
87	Peter Ceresnak	D	6-3	209	18	Trencin (Slovak Jr.)	2011 Draft (Rd. 6, No. 172)
53	Tim Erixon	D	6-2	190	20	Skelleftea (Sweden)	2011 Trade with CGY
73	Dylan McIlrath	D	6-5	215	19	MJ (WHL), Conn. (AHL)	2010 Draft (Rd. 1, No. 10)
75	Jyri Niemi	D	6-2	203	21	Connecticut (AHL)	2010 Trade with NYI
79	Samuel Noreau	D	6-5	215	18	Baie-Comeau (QMJHL)	2011 Draft (Rd. 5, No. 136)
89	Blake Parlett	D	6-1	205	22	G'ville (ECHL), Con. (AHL)	Signed June 2, 2011
Goaltenders
98	Jason Missiaen	G	6-8	220	21	Baie-Comeau (QMJHL)	Signed March 24, 2011
96	Scott Stajcer	G	6-3	195	20	Owen Sound (OHL)	2009 Draft (Rd. 5, No. 140

This tournament really has me excited because it will give me a good look at the future stars for this hockey team. Don't forget to tune in to MSG tomorrow night at 7:00 for some good old-fashioned hockey!

Tom Urtz is an NHL Featured Columnist, a New York Rangers Featured Columnist, a WWE Featured Columnist and a lifelong sports fanatic.

Tom can be found on Twitter by clicking the button below.