Rookie Camp is an exciting time in the NHL, as it is the unofficial start of the new season. While most of the prospects and camp invites may never get a chance to don the uniform in a regular season game, fans will still get invested in the players who will get a chance to wear the Boston Bruins sweater this weekend when the team faces off against the Buffalo Sabres.
While the games this weekend may be a bit overblown, there are still going to be some players who steal the spotlight and increase their chances to making noise at the NHL level with a good camp. With shortened preseasons starting this year, these games will become even more crucial for those prospects who are on the bubble.
How will James Hagens look against Sabres' prospects?
In the grand scheme of things, the Rookie Camp games don't mean a whole lot when it comes to a player's future outlook. Two bad games from Hagens isn't going to mean he is a bust, and it also doesn't necessarily mean that he won't make the NHL roster out of camp. However, a quiet showing isn't going to do anything to eliminate the noise surrounding him entering training camp.
It doesn't take long to go back in history and think of a player who was dominant in Rookie Camp, and it put his training camp in motion to earn a spot on the opening night roster. Fraser Minten looked like he was already much better than the prospects at last year's tournament, and he would go on to play a massive role for the Bruins and play all 82 games. That is the type of performance fans want to see out of Hagens on Sunday and Monday.
Will Dans Locmelis come out of nowhere and convince the front office he is ready?
A lot of people are undervaluing Dans Locmelis' place in the organization, while the Latvian center has done nothing but impress at every level. He has just half a season under his belt in the AHL, but he is a veteran who has played against the world's best after all his World Championship and Olympic appearances. A shoulder injury slowed his progress last season, but if Locemlis shows up to camp healthy and has a similar rookie camp to Fraser Minten last season, it'd be hard to argue that he deserves a spot on the team.
Minten, Pavel Zacha, Casey Mittelstadt, Elias Lindholm, and Sean Kuraly are all obstacles in Locmelis' way of making the team out of camp, but he can certainly turn some heads this weekend and give the front office something to think about. It's hard to see him make the team out of camp, but he can put his name at the top of the list of potential call ups.
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