Boston Bruins: What to expect from the 2019 Prospects Challenge

The Boston Bruins season is about to get underway; well, at least for those young hopefuls playing in the 2019 Prospects Challenge.

The Boston Bruins opening night roster is not set in stone; Some of the players battling for their opportunity on the Bruins roster have begun their preparations for the upcoming season way before summer even officially started. Now, they have a chance to show up the results of their efforts in the 2019 Prospects Challenge.

The Boston Bruins and their core star players still have a little while of the rest after a gruelling Stanley Cup playoff run and before the game against the Dallas Stars swings around. However, there are many of the players, who know that making a roster in the opening few weeks of the regular season is going to be difficult. They have their best chances to star in September.

Mainly in training camp, which starts next week. But for many of the youngsters, their chance to shine is during the Prospects Challenge, which will take place in Buffalo this year. The Boston Bruins have already announced their roster for the 2019 Prospects Challenge. What to expect from it?

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There will be three players, who have already played in the NHL. Anders Bjork will be in action after back-to-back shoulder surgeries; for young Bjork, who enters his final year of the entry-level contract, it’s important to have a good September. Then there is Trent Frederic, a former first-round draft choice. Last season, Frederic appeared in 15 games for the Boston Bruins, however he failed to record a single point.

Not necessarily talking about the pressure on young Frederic, but the competition is tough, mainly at center; Frederic will likely need to impress a lot of people to get his chance in the NHL.

The trio is completed by the defenseman Urho Vaakanainen, who has played in only two NHL games. In his second game, in Ottawa, Mark Borowiecki concussed him and the Finnish blue-liner had to recover for a while. Now, he wants to show that he is fully healthy again. The former first-round draft pick is probably the best defensive prospect the Boston Bruins presently have.

Then, there is the second group of top-notch prospects, who still wait for their NHL debut. Those are Jakub Lauko, Oskar Steen, Axel Andersson, Jack Studnicka, Dan Vladar and Kyle Keyser. All of those players would certainly find a roster spot on any NHL team, at least for a few games during the regular season.

With the 2019 Prospects Challenge, the Boston Bruins hope that guys such as Steen, Lauko, Studnicka or Andersson will continue their progress. They all might be destined to be NHL regulars one day; the Bruins have that history of promoting when they’re ready with their prospects, for sure.

What happens if some of the aforementioned players, top Boston Bruins prospects, fail to impress or make a noise?

Pretty much nothing. For Vaakanainen or Bjork, it’s about showing that they are fully healthy again. It’s more about those unexpected to take attention.

Samuel Asselin signed with the Bruins in July alongside Robert Lantosi, as a pair of un-drafted players. Then there is a seventh-round draft choice from 2018, Pavel Shen who has impressed at the World Juniors with Russia. The defensemen Wiley Sherman or Cooper Zech were the ones talked about by the Bruins Head Coach Bruce Cassidy.

It’s a clear thing that the Boston Bruins coaches will take a close look on all three games in Buffalo. However, there is no space to fail, only a chance to shine. How important is this Prospects Challenge? Not much, one would say.

Nevertheless, take a look at last year; Karson Kuhlman was one of the best Bruins forward in that tournament. The Bruins took on the home team, the Sabres, with Rasmus Dahlin and Casey Mittelstadt, in the prime time 7PM slot on Saturday. The Bruins ended out-shot, but it was Kuhlman scoring the game-winner and later adding an empty-netter for a 3-1 win.

The speed with which Kuhlman played was eye-catching. Just be honest with where all of you had Kuhlman ranked last September? When players like Ryan Donato participated in that same Prospects Challenge, probably not as high. After all of that though, it was Kuhlman making noise with his strong and reliable play for the Bruins in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Connor Clifton was there as well. Not by luck, the Boston Bruins extended his expiring contract in 2020 by another three years. That’s those players’ chance to impress, to demonstrate their strengths, to scribe their names into the coaches’ minds.

Once, when in need, they will be rewarded for their efforts. Who will be the next season’s Kuhlman or Clifton? That’s why it’s good to keep an eye on the 2019 Prospects Challenge.