It's time for the first domino to fall.
After creating a groundswell of buzz throughout the summer with one big move after another, the Florida Panthers will finally begin traversing their month-long road to the regular season when the team's top prospects hit the ice for rookie camp this week at the Panthers IceDen.
A chance for young roster hopefuls to make a good impression on the organization's coaches and top brass before training camp begins later in the month, the two-day rookie camp will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, with both on-ice sessions scheduled for a 9:30 a.m. start.
While a full rookie camp preview will be released later today on FloridaPanthers.com, there are definitely a few players you should be keeping an eye on this week. Henrik Borgstrom highlights the group after posting eight goals and 10 assists in 50 games as a rookie last season, while first-year pros Owen Tippett and Aleksi Heponiemi hope to make a similar jump in 2019-20.
There will also be six prospects attending from Florida's 2019 draft class, including second-round pick Vladislav Kolyachonok and third-round picks Jon Ludvig and Cole Schwindt. As it has been in the past, NCAA-bound players cannot attend this camp, so you won't see goalie Spencer Knight, who is heading to Boston College after being selected 10th overall by the Cats.
In total, there will be 15 forwards, eight defensemen and two goaltenders in attendance.
To view the full 2019-20 rookie camp roster, click HERE.
However, like I said previously, rookie camp is only the first domino.
On Friday, the rest of the Panthers will join in on the fun when the team kicks off training camp.
As always, both camps are free and open to the public, so we look forward to seeing you there!
