Dallas Stars: Who To Keep An Eye On In Traverse City

The Traverse City Tournament begins this Friday and will run through Tuesday. Here are a few Dallas Stars prospects to keep an eye on.

While everyone begins to drool and obsess over the World Cup of Hockey and Dallas Stars training camp, they are forgetting one noteworthy on-ice event.

The annual Traverse City Tournament is just around the corner, and the Stars will be one of the eight NHL teams participating once again.

Though it is not necessarily an “NHL-level” event, it offers a lot to the typical Dallas Stars fan. Dallas, Chicago, New York Rangers, Carolina, Minnesota, St. Louis, Columbus, and Detroit all send a group of prospects to the tourney, which is hosted by the Red Wings each year.

It gives the Stars management an excellent opportunity to see how the Dallas prospect team plays and what kind of damage they can do. It also gives young players a chance to make an impression on the coaching staff and management.

Last season, the Dallas Stars sent a good number of “on-the-fence” prospects to the tournament, and multiple players found themselves in the NHL at one point or another due to a strong showing at the tourney. Some of these players include Stephen Johns and Mattias Janmark.

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This year, the Stars have taken a bit of a different approach to the tournament. In addition to taking players from their farm system, they will also take a good number of players not on their roster that are considered free agents. Over half of the team will be composed of these FA’s.

It’s an excellent opportunity for them to show off to Dallas and potentially secure a contract in the process.

There are a couple of Dallas Stars prospects that you will definitely want to keep an eye on as they try and become the next Janmark or Johns.

The first up has to be F Devin Shore. The 22-year-old center played three games with Dallas last year in early November before injuring his shoulder. The injury eventually required surgery, thus ending his season early.

He tallied 26 total points in 23 games in the AHL last year before the injury. Shore has a strong reputation and can heavily influence a game with his size and skill. If he has a strong tournament showing, expect to see him in Big D at least a handful of times next season.

Remi Elie and Cole Ully are two other strong candidates in the forward column. Both were members of the Stars’ successful 2013 draft class (Elie in round two, Ully in round five). These two have played stints in the AHL, while sharing time in other leagues such as the ECHL and OHL. Watch for them to put on as best a show as possible in order to claim a full time AHL spot.

Dallas Stars 2015 first round pick Denis Gurianov will also be playing in the tournament. He is expected to play his first AHL season this coming year with the Texas Stars.

Finally, make sure to keep an eye on the crease. Landon Bow and Philippe Desrosiers, two of the three goaltenders competing for a spot on the Texas Stars, will participate in the tournament and share time with Henri Kiviaho. It will be interesting to see how each one performs and how sharp the contrast will be between each.

Next: Tyler Seguin Fighting Injury Bug Once Again

The Dallas Stars are definitely putting up an interesting combination for their team this year at Traverse City. Keep an eye on DallasStars.com for full coverage on the Stars journey into the tournament.