Training camp is upon us, as rookie tournaments are underway and veterans are arriving back in town for informal workouts. In no time, teams will be back on the ice. Yet, many NHL clubs still have work to do, with prominent restricted and unrestricted free agents still without contracts. Minor league affiliates, European teams, and college programs are also still making moves to finalize their plans for the coming season. Keep track of those minor transactions right here:
- The Minnesota Wild have announced their training camp roster, and among it are several players on professional tryouts. Olivier Archambault, Gabriel Gagne, Shawn O’Donnell, Brett Pollock, Josh Atkinson, Matt Register and Keaton Thompson have all been invited, several of which were among the players not issued qualifying offers earlier this summer. For a full list of today’s training camp invite announcements, see our Tryout Tracker.
- The Montreal Canadiens have already begun to trim their camp roster, sending a handful of their rookie camp participants back to their respective junior teams. TVA’s L.A. Lariviere reports that forwards Cole Fonstad, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Cam Hillis, and Allan McShane and defenseman Jacob LeGuerrier have been cut from camp and return to junior. The Habs must be confident in their other prospects attending training camp, as this group of cuts is not without a fair amount of name recognition.
- The AHL’s Chicago Wolves have re-signed forward Tye McGinn to a one-year contract, the team announced. McGinn has also been invited to attend camp woth the Vegas Golden Knights. McGinn was dominant for the Wolves down the stretch and in a deep postseason run last year and is another strong minor league campaign away from getting another shot at the NHL.
- Two former NHL prospects have signed in the ECHL as their entry-level contracts having expired with little to show for their efforts toward becoming NHL players. Chicago Blackhawks 2014 third-round pick Matt Iacopelli has signed with the Kalamazoo Wings after a trade to the Los Angeles Kings last season did nothing to jump start his development. The Western Michigan product played much of last season in the ECHL and will now do so closer to home. After two different trades left him bouncing around the ECHL over the last three years, defenseman Jacob Graves hopes to at least find some security on a contract with the Florida Everblades. Graves has yet to show the big-league upside that he flashed in junior during his pro career.