Prospects from the Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning will be participating
This weekend in South Florida the top young prospects from four NHL teams, including the host Florida Panthers, will take part in the 2023 Southeast Hockey Showcase.
The event will be taking place at Hertz Arena in Estero, home of the ECHL’s Florida Everblades.
Along with the Panthers, teams participating in the showcase will be the Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes and Nashville Predators.
Each team will play the three others over the course of four days, starting on Friday when Nashville faces Tampa Bay at 4 p.m. following by the Panthers and Hurricanes playing at 7 p.m.
On Saturday, Carolina plays Tampa Bay at 3 p.m. and then the Panthers and Predtors skate in the nightcap at 6 p.m.
Sunday is a practice day with no games, but then on Monday the showcase wraps up with Nashville and Carolina in the 10 a.m. brunch battle. Cross-state rivals Florida and Tampa Bay close out the shindig with a 1 p.m. matinee.
To help get you ready for the hockey weekend extravaganza, THN Florida is collaborating with the team sites for Nashville, Tampa and Carolina to bring you three players to watch from each squad.
First up are the three Predators prospects to watch, courtesy of Ann Kimmel from THN Nashville.
Yaroslav Askarov- One of the top goaltending prospects in the NHL, 20-year-old Askarov played last season with the Milwaukee Admirals splitting starts with Devin Cooley but quickly taking over the starting job. In his 48 regular season games, the Russian goalie earned a .911 save percentage and started 12 postseason games in net helping the Admirals get to the Western Conference Finals.
Askarov’s exuberant antics — like laying the net down after a shutout or bench pressing the crossbar after a shootout win— shouldn’t be mistaken for a laid back style of play. The NHL’s highest drafted Russian goaltender is aggressive in net and takes risks that pay off more often than not.
Luke Evangelista- 21-year-old Evangelista just barely qualifies as a rookie having played 24 NHL games last season. Intended to be a weekend call up, Evangelista’s playmaking abilities and nearly seamless transition to the NHL pace kept him in Nashville through the end of the season.
Evangelista scored seven goals in his 24 NHL games before heading to Milwaukee and scoring four goals and 15 points in 16 AHL postseason games. He will be competing to make the Predators’ roster out of camp and could potentially earn a top six spot with a strong performance at the showcase and in training camp.
Joakim Kemell- Nashville drafted the Finnish winger 17th overall in the 2022 draft, and he is one of the top prospects in the Predators system. After finishing his 2022-23 season in Finland, the 19-year-old joined the Milwaukee Admirals at the end of the regular season. In his 28 regular and postseason AHL games, Kemell scored 14 goals and 23 points. Kemell is a young player who could compete for a roster spot on a resetting Predators team or be an early call up if an opportunity opens up in Nashville during the season.
