Boston Bruins: Three prospects will be on show this week

We’re very much in the dull days of summer, where there’s no hockey and limited Boston Bruins activity given we unfortunately don’t have a trophy to parade.

However, there is the odd bright spot here and there; the latest being that three Boston Bruins prospects will be in action this week at the 2019 World Junior Summer Showcase. Even in late July, there is still hockey to be found, in the Northern Hemisphere no less (Australia and New Zealand are nearing play-off season!!).

Not only will there be prospects playing, but if you have access to the NHL Network, you’ll be able to watch:

"USA Hockey has announced that National Hockey League (NHL) Network will televise live the final three days of games at the upcoming World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth.The event, due to take place at USA Hockey Arena from Friday (July 26) to August 3,  will include 11 international competitions and the best under-20 players from four nations – the United States, Canada, Finland and Sweden. (Inside The Games)"

As noted, there are three Boston Bruins prospects that are going to be on show:

More from Prospects

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• Bruins release Prospects Challenge roster, schedule Tuesday
• Report: Bruins reportedly interested in young Ottawa center
• This Bruins prospect has a chance to make the roster
• Bruins are better set up at this position than any other team

John Beecher

The latest first round pick (30th overall) by the Boston Bruins organisation will be turning out, though Team USA has a bloated 44-man group until the end of the month, prior to trimming it down on July 30th. We expect that John Beecher will quite easily make the cut, but he’s facing some stiff competition.

Over half the players that are in the 44-man group have, per Inside The Games, skated at least one full season with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Programme.

John Beecher will no doubt see this as yet another chance to make himself known to the Boston Bruins and hopefully knock off a few of the other centers that limited his ice time the past few seasons.

Curtis Hall

In all honesty, we expect Curtis Hall will likely be cut from the final Team USA roster. There are far too many centers ahead of him including John Beecher. Given plenty of the other centers have first-round pedigree from the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, whilst Hall was a fourth rounder (119th overall) in 2018, it seems highly unlikely he can make an impact.

If you can watch the team scrimmages, you’ll get a decent chance at seeing him but in all relaity, the best chance of watching Curtis Hall will be at Yale University next year. He tallied 11 points in 24 NCAA games last year; hopefully we see continued progress as he could undoubtedly be a useful fit with the Providence Bruins in a year or two.

Axel Andersson

The second round pick (57th overall) by the Boston Bruins at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft will also be on-show, lining up on the Swedish blue-line, alongside bigger name prospects Victor Soderstrom, Tobias Bjornfot and Philip Broberg of Arizona, Los Anegles and Edmonton respectively.

Given the Swedish propensity for solid defensive skill, it’ll be great to see Axel Andersson, hopefully on ice alongside one of these hotter prospects to get a real comparison on the skills he possesses versus the so-called top tier of current young Swedish talent.

Whether the hockey itself is actually anything halfway decent or not doesn’t really matter too much. It’s a chance to see some players that have ties to the Boston Bruins on the ice this summer!