Jets prospects headed to tournament next week

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This article was published 05/09/2014 (4356 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The next wave of Winnipeg Jets swing into action next week at the Vancouver Canucks Young Stars Classic, a four-team tournament for NHL prospects in Penticton, B.C., starting Friday.

The Jets announced their rookie-tournament roster of 24 players today and it will include several names expected to prominent members of the team in the not-too-distant future.

Among the headliners will be a pair of first-round draft picks, 2013’s Josh Morrissey, the Prince Albert Raiders’ defenceman who finished last season with the AHL’s St. John’s IceCaps, and 2014’s Nikolaj Ehlers, the point-producing left-winger of the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL who signed his first NHL contract last week.

The Jets will play three games in the tournament, next Friday against Calgary, next Sunday against Edmonton and a week Monday against Vancouver.

Main camp opens Sept. 18 in Winnipeg.

Coaching the prospects at the tournament will be Keith McCambridge, coach of the AHL’s St. John’s IceCaps.

McCambridge will have two goalies who played for him briefly last season, Jussi Olkinuora and Eric Comrie, and a third who’s likely to be on his IceCaps roster this fall in rookie pro Connor Hellebuyck.

On defence, Morrissey will be joined by his late-season IceCaps’ teammate Brenden Kichton, who had 10 goals and 48 points as an AHL rookie last season.

Up front, the Jets have listed 14 forwards including right-winger Scott Kosmachuk, who turns pro this fall, J.C. Lipon and Adam Lowry, who played for McCambridge’s IceCaps last season, as well as centres Nic Petan, Chase De Leo and Axel Blomqvist, all of whom have another year of junior eligibility remaining.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca