Maple Leafs Rookie Tournament!

The Maple Leafs rookie tournament kicks off on Saturday. The Maple Leaf rookies will be battling Pittsburgh’s, Ottawa’s and Chicago’s rookie teams.

Here’s how the competition breaks down (bolded are player who played 10+ games in the ECHL/):

Ottawa:

Lehner, Robin

Machovsky, Matej

Borowiecki, Mark

Cowen, Jared
Fransoo, Jordan
Godfrey, Josh
Gryba, Eric
Rundblad, David
Wiercioch, Patrick

Caporusso, Louie
Cowick, Corey
Culek, Jakub
Da Costa, Stephane
Grant, Derek

Hamilton, Wacey
Kramer, Darren
Noesen, Stefan
Pageau, Jean-Gabriel
Petersson, Andre
Prince, Shane
Puempel, Matt
Stone, Mark
Zibanejad, Mika

Looking at the list, you can’t help, but be impressed by Ottawa’s list of prospects. They have a strong mix of veterans who were apart of the Calder Cup Champion Binghamton Senators, and a great influx of youth that they just added this past summer.

Pittsburgh:

Killeen, Patrick
Lagace, Maxime

Bortuzzo, Robert
Despres, Simon
Grant, Alex
Harrington, Scott
McNeill, Reid
Morrow, Joseph
Rogalski, Joe
Samuelsson, Philip
Sneep, Carl
Strait, Brian

Astles, Jessey
DeFazio, Brandon
Fournier, Stefan
Gibbons, Brian
Kuhnhackl, Tom
Petersen, Nick

Sill, Zach

Street, Ben
Tangradi, Eric
Tarasov, Daniil
Thompson, Paul
Uher, Dominik
Veilleux, Keven
Watters, Ian

Pittsburgh always seems to bring a veteran team with a lot of players who have played many AHL games and some NHL games. So the competition should be tough against them as they tend to bring a more relaxed and composed game.

Chicago:

Carruth, Mac
Matisson, Jonah

Panis-Pepin, Simon
Lalonde, Shawn

Lavin, Joe
Manning, Neil
Olsen, Dylan

Stanton, Ryan
Youds, Ben

Danault, Phillip
Didomenico, Christopher
Flick, Rob
Froese, Byron
Gilbert, David
Hayes, Jimmy
LeBlanc, Peter

McNeill, Mark
Morin, Jeremy

Paradis, Philippe
Rensfeldt, Ludvig
Saad, Brandon
Shaw, Andrew
Zanette, Paul

Another team with its fair share of veterans, the Blackhawks may prove to be one of the temas that stack up best against the Maple Leafs roster. They have no stars in net, although their strength on the back-end may make up for it.

There is no doubt the Maple Leafs will have their work cut out for them this weekend. The competition is stiff, but it’s also a good chance to see the cream rise to the top. It’s also important for a few players looking for contracts to make a good first impression on their season. The likes of Sam Carrick, Brad Ross, and Josh Nicholls from the 2010 draft will look to earn their entry-level deals and it all starts here.

Players to keep an eye on should be those looking for contracts, but also the likes of:

Jerry D’Amigo:  needs a good start after a shaky season last year.

Mark Owuya: looking to challenge for a spot with the Marlies.

Greg McKegg: one of the more talented forwards in the Maple Leafs system will look to be the go-to player this tournament.

Kenny Ryan: like Owuya, looking to make a strong impression on Maple Leafs brass for a position with the Marlies.

There are the obvious names Matt Frattin and Sondre Olden, aswell as a number of UFA invites.

It all gets underway tonight at 7:00pm on Rogers. The games are also being streamed on a 30 minute delay on mapleleafs.com.