Canucks Daily: Young Stars Schedule, Unsigned NHL RFA’s

In just four days the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets will take to the ice in Penticton in the form of the Young Stars Classic tournament, a showcase of the up-and-comers in each of the four NHL organizations. It’s an entertaining precursor to the big Canucks training camp that opens in Whistler on September 23rd.

Here’s the weekend schedule:

Winnipeg and Calgary play an afternoon game on Friday followed by Edmonton vs. Vancouver in the evening.

The lone game on Saturday features a mini “Battle of Alberta” at night as the Flames take on the Oilers. The Jets and Canucks play Sunday afternoon at 2 pm. The round robin concludes with two games on Monday with the Oilers and Jets playing late in the morning and the Canucks and Flames rounding things out at 2:30 pm.

VHN will be on hand for the duration. In the meantime …

Let’s Skate!

– Speaking of young stars, the Montreal Canadiens shocked many when they selected Slovakian Juraj Slafkovsky with the 1st-overall pick at the 2022 NHL Draft. He has a golden opportunity this week as his journey with the Canadiens begins.

– Also on this side of the border, Sportsnet has the latest news and rumours about unsigned RFAs, including Jason Robertson and Rasmus Sandin.

The Commonwealth

– Hold on a second, are the Pittsburgh Hockey Now guys whining? ESPN dropped its final preseason fantasy hockey rankings, that apparently include a surprisingly low ranking for Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby. To quote them: You’re kidding, right? The ESPN fantasy hockey rankings are out, and the number of centres above Sidney Crosby is many. He and Tristan Jarry are both well below where I would put them.

– Philly Hockey Now: The Flyers don’t really need any more problems. Sean Couturier, who had back surgery seven months ago, was expected to be ready for training camp. What’s the dealie? The 29-year-old centre will address the media later today and we’ll learn a lot more about the Philadelphia Flyers season.

Happy Monday!