The Minnesota Wild announced the roster for the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase, and it’s packed with some of the most exciting prospects that fans will want to see. While there are only a limited amount of tickets available to see the action in person at Tria Rink, the Wild will be broadcasting both of their games on their YouTube channel.
The Wild’s prospect team will play the St. Louis Blues prospect team on Friday, September 15 at 7 p.m. They will also play the Chicago Blackhawk prospect team on Sunday, September 17, at 3 p.m. The Blues and Blackhawk teams will play each other on Saturday, September 16, at 6 p.m. All games will be at Tria Rink.
The biggest prospect playing for the Wild in the showcase is Jepser Wallstedt. While he’s played an entire season for the Iowa Wild already, Minnesota fans haven’t been able to see him play very often. Other Iowa Wild players include Louis Boudon, Casey Dornbach, Sammy Walker, Simon Johansson, Ryan O’Rourke, and Daemon Hunt. Minnesota Wild 2023 draftees Riley Heidt and Rasmus Kumpulainen, along with 2022 draftees Hunter Haight, Servac Petrovsky, and David Spacek, will also play during the showcase.
One piece of happy news from the roster release is the inclusion of Pavel Novak, drafted in 2020 by the Wild. Novak was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma during the summer of 2022 but declared cancer-free in October 2022. Novak attended prospect camp in July but could not fully participate because of a lower-body injury. The Prospect Showcase will be the first time Wild fans will get to see him play since his cancer diagnosis.
On a non-Wild note, the biggest buzz about the Prospect Showcase is the inclusion of Connor Bedard by the Blackhawks. The next generational player will play for the first time in front of NHL fans during the Prospect Showcase.
