NHL rookie camps beckon
Five members of the North Bay Battalion are scheduled to head Tuesday to National Hockey League rookie camps and tournaments, including centre Ethan Procyszyn, a third-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft by the Anaheim Ducks.
Others on the way to NHL prospect gatherings are right winger Anthony Romani, centre Dalyn Wakely, goaltender Mike McIvor and defenceman Wyatt Kennedy.
Procyszyn is to take part in the Anaheim rookie camp starting Thursday at Irvine, Calif., before the seven-team Rookie Faceoff tournament opening Friday at nearby El Segundo.
McIvor, a free-agent invitee, also is headed to the Anaheim camp.
Right winger Romani, a sixth-round selection in June, heads to the Young Stars Classic at Penticton, B.C., where Vancouver Canucks hopefuls and three other clubs are to start play Friday. The Vancouver rookie camp runs Sept. 19-22.
Wakely, a prospective Ontario Hockey League overager who was selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the sixth round in June, also should play at Penticton. He has concentrated on NHL preparations and wasn’t available for either of the Battalion’s exhibition games on the weekend.
Free agent defenceman Kennedy is to attend the Chicago Blackhawks rookie camp in their home city Wednesday and Thursday before competing in the Tom Kurvers Prospect Challenge at Maryland Heights, Mo., a St. Louis suburb, on Friday and Saturday.
Kennedy will be joined on the Blackhawks roster by former Battalion rearguard Tnias Mathurin, another free-agent invitee, who was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in 2022 but went unsigned. The Battalion traded the overager to the Windsor Spitfires on Aug. 8.
North Bay, which has one win and one loss in preseason play, is idle until it visits the Ottawa 67’s on Sept. 20 in the third of four exhibition games.
