It's a big day for invites in Chicago, as the cap-strapped Blackhawks have very little space to play with and a number of roster spots still to fill. By my count on Wednesday, they roughly have three forward and one defenseman spots to fill this week, not taking into account some younger players, like Artemi Panarin, Marko Dano, Viktor Tikhonov and/or Corey Tropp.The Blackhawks went ahead and brought a number of players to camp, trying to increase the competition for spots and possibly hope that if these guys did play well enough, they would take bottom dollar to keep this team competitive. Tomas Kopecky and Jeremy Morin highlighting the forwards that were invited to camp, while Lubomir Visnovsky and Michal Rozsival were added to the back end to possibly give a boost.
Looks like camp in Chicago is going to be fun this weekend.
Around the same time the Devils announced the Jiri Tlusty signing, they were adding a couple more names to their training camp roster. Forwards Tyler Kennedy and Lee Stempniak were the two names announced on Wednesday afternoon and they are expected to be ready for the start of camp on Thursday.
Kennedy, 29, last played with the Islanders, appearing in 38 games, scoring 6 goals and 14 points, not really making a name for himself as a full-time player. With the Devils, there is a chance that he could jump into this lineup with a good camp and possibly put up some points.
Stempniak, 32, is a little bit more of a grinding forward, but can also work his way to the net and pick up some goals. Last season, between Pittsburgh and Winnipeg, he scored 15 goals and 28 points in 71 games, not too far from actually being pool worthy. A new contract and some regular ice-time could really help his cause.
No comments:
Post a Comment