Chicago Blackhawks’ Rookie Tournament Roster Carries 9 IceHogs

Another preseason rookie tournament is slated this year, and the Chicago Blackhawks have released their roster for the event

The Chicago Blackhawks are one of eight NHL teams that will send youngsters to the 2017 Prospect Tournament early next month. Yesterday, the Blackhawks came out with their 24-man roster.

Other teams that will send prospects to the event are the Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild, New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues. It’s almost like an old-fashioned/new-version Central Division reunion, minus the Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets.

This event will be held Sept. 8-12 at the Centre ICE Arena in Traverse City, Mich. The eight teams will be separated into two divisions, competing in a round-robin format with the division winners facing off for the championship on Sept. 12.

The Blackhawks will be in the Gordie Howe Division along with the Hurricanes, Red Wings and Rangers. That leaves the Blue Jackets, Stars, Wild and Blues in the Ted Lindsay Division. You can check out the tournament schedule here, with ticket information also available on that website.

Who comprises Blackhawks’ roster?

Of course, fans want to know which Blackhawks prospects are going to be involved in the tournament. The first thing to know is that the Chicago team will be coached by the Rockford IceHogs’ coaching staff — new head coach Jeremy Colliton along with assistants Derek King and Sheldon Brookbank.

The AHL’s IceHogs will be well-represented in this event. Nine members of the 24-player Blackhawks roster spent at least part of the 2016-17 season in Rockford. Here is the roster, with the players’ 2016-17 playing level(s) in parentheses:

Forwards

Radovan Bondra (WHL/AHL)

Cody Caron (OHL)

Michael Cramarossa (OHL)

Alex DeBrincat (OHL)

Alexandre Fortin (QMJHL)

Matthew Highmore (QMJHL)

Matt Iacopelli (NCAA/AHL)

Luke Johnson (AHL)

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Da Windy City

David Kampf (Czech Republic)

Graham Knott (OHL)

Anthony Louis (NCAA/AHL)

Kyle Maksimovich (OHL)

Nathan Noel (QMJHL)

Will Pelletier (NCAA/AHL)

Defensemen

Carl Dahlstrom (AHL)

David Henley (QMJHL)

Joey Keane (OHL)

Robin Norell (AHL)

Robin Press (Sweden/ECHL/AHL)

Darren Raddysh (OHL)

Luc Snuggerud (NCAA/AHL)

Goaltenders

Collin Delia (NCAA)

Wouter Peeters (Finland)

Matt Tompkins (NCAA)

You’ll recognize many of the names on this list. None are bigger right now than that of DeBrincat, the reigning OHL Player of the Year and someone Blackhawks fans are expecting to make a major jump in this upcoming hockey season.

But there’s plenty of other spots for intrigue as well. Highmore, Kampf and Dellia are recent signees who will look to show the Blackhawks’ brass what they have to offer. Fortin was a standout at the Blackhawks’ 2016 training camp. And guys like Dahlstrom, Norell and Snuggerud could be fringe NHL contenders for 2017-18, given how messy Chicago’s blue line currently is.

Next: Requirements For Blackhawks' Forward Groups

There are plenty of interesting storylines in play for the Blackhawks when it comes to the near and far future. These guys definitely want to win the tournament they’re part of. But the Blackhawks will be thinking about much more than that as well.