Once again this year, the Devils will be participating in the Prospects Challenge, a round-robin mini tournament featuring young players from the Buffalo Sabres, Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins in addition to the Devils. The Challenge takes place from September 8 to 11 at HarborCenter in Buffalo.
The Devils put out a press release today setting their roster for the tournament and it is a nice lineup. Goaltenders include Ken Appleby, Evan Cormier and Mackenzie Blackwood. The team will send ten defensemen: newly signed NCAA talent Will Butcher, Michael Kapla, Steven Santini, Joshua Jacobs, Yaroslav Dyblenko, Jacob MacDonald, Colton White, Colby Sissons, Jocktan Chainey and Nicolas Guay. Forwards will feature number one overall draft pick Nico Hischier, Nick Lappin, Michael McLeod, Nathan Bastian, Blake Speers, John Quenneville, Brandon Gignac, Brandon Baddock, Ryan Kujawinski, Jan Mandat, Austin Cangelosi, Nikita Popugaev, Jesper Bratt and Marian Studenic.
The press release also included the Devils’ schedule which will see them take on the Sabres on September 8 at 7 PM, the Penguins on Saturday, September 9 at 3:30 PM and the Bruins on Monday, September 11 at 12 noon.
This event is open to the public at HarborCenter in Buffalo and tickets are available at the Sabres’ website. If you are a Devils fan in the area, you might want to check it out to see some of the young talent the Devils will be icing for the coming season and beyond.