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Traverse City Game Thread: Rangers vs Stars

The kids are back in action for the second time in two days

Today the New York Rangers prospects are in action for the second time in two days for the team’s second game of the 2019 Traverse City Prospect Tournament. This time around the future of the organization — along with some interesting free agent invites — will cross their sticks with the prospects of the Dallas Stars.

Tonight’s game begins at 7:00 p.m. ET.

Stars

The Stars’ farm system came in ranked at 24th in Corey Pronman’s offseason series for The Athletic. If you’re looking for a player to watch for Dallas, your eyes should be glued to defenseman Thomas Harley, the 18th overall pick of the 2019 Draft.

Harley was ranked as the 11th best North American skater by NHL Central Scouting and the 17th best prospect by Bob McKenzie prior to the draft. He put up 58 points — 11 of which were goals — in 68 games with the Mississauga Steelheads (OHL) last season and is a fantastic skater with a bright future in the NHL.

Interestingly enough, Harley will be joined on the blue line by 25-year-old free agent signing Emil Djuse. Djuse had 22 points in 49 games in the SHL with Skellefteå AIK last season. It’s not very common to see a skater as old as Djuse participate in Traverse City, so there’s a good chance that he could stand out in today’s game.

A few other big name prospects to keep track of on the opposing team include Ty Dellandrea (13th overall, 2018 Draft), Jason Robertson (39th overall, 2017 Draft), and goaltender Jake Oettinger (26th overall, 2017 Draft).

Dellandrea is a natural center with a right-handed shot who the Stars picked ahead of where he was projected to go in the 2018 Draft. He made his professional debut last season with the Texas Stars and picked up three points in his first 11 games in the AHL. Before that, he had 146 points in 184 career OHL regular season games.

Robertson, a left winger, led the OHL in scoring last season, despite being traded, with 117 points in 62 game. He also had seven points in seven games at the 2019 U20 World Juniors, which was tied for second on Team USA with Alexander Chmelevski. Due in part to the headlines he grabbed last year, Robertson finished as Pronman’s second-best Stars prospect in his

Oettinger, 20, appeared in six games with the Texas Stars after finishing his junior season at Boston University last season. He finished his collegiate career with a .923 save percentage while facing an average of 30.24 SA60. Before the Florida Panthers selected Spencer Knight with the 13th pick of the 2019 Draft, Oettinger was the highest-picked goalie in recent draft history.

Player to Watch: Adam Fox

Given the fact that the Stars have weapons like Robertson and Dellandrea, it will be worth keeping a close eye on Fox and the rest of the Rangers defense handles the opposition’s attack. One has to imagine that the Rangers are counting on Fox to look and play like he’s comfortable at this level given his age and the brilliance he displayed during his collegiate career.

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