TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — At the same time as Blackhawks prospects were dropping like flies in the climax of the Traverse City tournament Tuesday, their names were being officially released alongside the likes of Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews on the Hawks’ 2019 training camp roster.
Fortunately, it sounds like they’ll be able to make it to camp after all.
The Hawks announced on Tuesday their 55-man roster for training camp, which begins with off-ice testing Thursday and the first on-ice sessions Friday.
Although many of the 55 won’t last long — a significant number of prospects and AHL-bound depth pieces are included on the list as a formality only — they’ll likely survive at least through next Wednesday.
The Hawks will likely divide up their roster liberally between the scrimmage at training camp festival Sunday, the Monday preseason opener in Washington, a Tuesday game in Detroit, and a Wednesday home contest against the Red Wings.
Nevertheless, a significantly higher number than the 20 players who will eventually make the NHL roster will enter camp believing they have a shot. General manager Stan Bowman focused on increasing depth and competition with his summer moves, and as a result, as many as 19 forwards, nine defensemen and three goaltenders could conceivably fight their way onto the Hawks.
Here’s a glance at the potential roster battles:
Forwards
Locks (6): Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Alex DeBrincat, Dylan Strome, Brandon Saad, Andrew Shaw
Likely (4): Zack Smith, Dominik Kubalik, Brendan Perlini, Drake Caggiula
Possible (6): Ryan Carpenter, David Kampf, Anton Wedin, Alex Nylander, Dylan Sikura, John Quenneville
Longshots (5): Kirby Dach, Aleksi Saarela, Alexandre Fortin, Jacob Nilsson, Matthew Highmore
Defensemen
Locks (5): Duncan Keith, Erik Gustafsson, Connor Murphy, Calvin de Haan, Olli Maatta
Likely (1): Brent Seabrook
Possible (2): Slater Koekkoek, Carl Dahlstrom
Longshots (3): Adam Boqvist, Philip Holm, Dennis Gilbert
Goaltenders
Locks (2): Corey Crawford, Robin Lehner
Possible (1): Collin Delia
