NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers defencemen Niilopekka Muhonen makes a play with a puck during a scrimmage on Aug. 31, the second day of training camp at Co-op Place. Muhonen is one of 14 Tigers' heading to NHL rookie camps next week.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Medicine Hat Tigers will send 14 players to National Hockey League rookie camps.
All six Tigers selected in the 2024 NHL Entry draft, six invitees and two alumni will represent the WHL club and showcase their skills with 12 different NHL teams.
The six drafted players include forwards Cayden Lindstrom (Columbus Blue Jackets), Andrew Basha (Calgary Flames), Ryder Ritchie (Minnesota Wild) and Hunter St. Martin (Florida Panthers) and defencemen Veeti Väisänen (Utah Hockey Club) and Niilopekka Muhonen (Dallas Stars).
The six players invited to NHL rookie camps are forwards Shane Smith (Vegas Golden Knights), Brayden Boehm (Edmonton Oilers), Oasiz Wiesblatt (Washington Capitals) and defencemen Bryce Pickford (Colorado Avalanche), Josh Van Mulligen (Detroit Red Wings) and Nate Corbet (Edmonton Oilers).
Smith and Wiesblatt both attended development camps in the spring with the Golden Knights and Capitals respectively.
Alumni defencemen Rhett Parsons and Bogdans Hodass will also be attending NHL rookie camps, with Parsons heading to Toronto with the Maple Leafs and Hodass joining Ritchie in Minnesota.
Players will leave Medicine Hat after the weekend for their respective camps.
Head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins says it’s an impressive reflection of the Tigers’ franchise and the hard work of the players.
“We probably could be putting 15 guys at pro camp, which is amazing,” Desjardins said. “It’s great to have the 12 guys returning, hopefully returning. For their sake, some of them probably don’t want to return, but that’s fine, too, I’d love for them to get a shot at the NHL and play.
“But for us, it says a lot about our scouting staff and who they picked and our coaches Josh (Maser) and Joe (Frazer) who have done a great job developing guys.”
