Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase, Game 1: What to watch for

ST. PAUL -- Now three days into the first-ever Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase at TRIA Rink, the week's festivities will pick up on Friday evening when the Wild hosts the Chicago Blackhawks for the first of two games featuring the clubs' prospects.
Puck drop Friday is set for 7 p.m., while the second game of the weekend will begin at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
For the Wild, that list is highlighted by a pair of NHL roster hopefuls in recent first-round draft picks Matt Boldy and Marco Rossi.

In addition to those high-end forwards, Calen Addison, who made his NHL debut last season, as well as 2021 first-round selection Carson Lambos and 2020 second-round pick Ryan O'Rourke are among defensemen expected to play for the Wild.
Chicago will feature forward Lucas Reichel, perhaps the club's top ranked prospect entering the season. Reichel was the 17th overall selection in the 2020 NHL Draft and scored 27 points in 38 games in Germany last season.
Forward Evan Barrett and defenseman Alec Regula are among the other highly-regarded prospects in Chicago's lineup this weekend.
The teams will be coached by the staffs of each club's AHL affiliates.
The opportunity to attend the two scrimmages was extended exclusively to Wild Season Ticket Members. TRIA Rink will open 30 minutes before the start of each game and fans are requested to wear a face covering inside the facility.
Both games this weekend will be streamed live on the Wild's
YouTube channel
.
Here are three things to watch for in Friday's scrimmage:

1. A delayed debut

Drafted by the Wild with the ninth overall pick last October, Rossi missed the entirety of last season because of complications from contracting COVID-19.
But he's been healthy for a couple of months now, slowly ramping up his on-ice activity with a series of freakish workouts in the weeks before arriving in Minnesota.
He's absolutely been as advertised through two days of practice so far, as well as in captain's practices before that, and the soon-to-be 20-year-old centerman has already acknowledged that his push to make the NHL roster once training camp commences next week starts right now.
"My goal is to make the NHL," Rossi said. "I know how good I am. I know I can make it. But I have to prove myself to them that I'm ready for it. You have to earn that spot. It's really hard, but at first, I'm focusing on my rookie camp, the two games ahead of us and I'm not thinking too much ahead of [that]."

2. Speaking of NHL roster pushes ...

With the moves the Wild made over the summer, it would appear the table is set for Boldy to make a training camp push along the wing for Minnesota.
But Wild GM Bill Guerin has noted on numerous occasions that nothing will be given to him, and that he'll have to earn that opportunity to start the year with the big club.
Boldy had an outstanding year last year, with Boston College, with the United States at the World Junior Championship, then in a brief cup of coffee with Iowa at the tail end of the campaign.
He even skated with Minnesota during pre-game warmups in Las Vegas during the first round of the playoffs. He didn't make his NHL debut then, but being that close served as a big motivator for him during the offseason.
"That was really good for me, showing up and having a few weeks with those guys, skating with them and getting familiar with them," Boldy said. "It makes showing up here and seeing them now a little bit easier rather than showing up and being a stranger to those guys. To realize how close you are ... it didn't work out then, but you take something from it and it definitely pushes you a lot in the summer."

3. Welcome to the club

Among the guys who will suit up for the Wild will be doing so in the Forest Green and Iron Range Red for the very first time are a number of recent draft picks, headlined by Lambos, the 26th overall selection in July's draft.
Other 2021 draft picks that will play include third-round pick Caedan Bankier and fourth-round selections Kyle Masters and Josh Pillar.
Besides Rossi and O'Rourke, defenseman Daemon Hunt and forward Pavel Novak are 2020 draftees who are in town this week and will play this weekend.
Photo by Erin Loughrey