NHL rookie camps to feature ten Saginaw Spirit players
Saginaw, Mich.- The Saginaw Spirit announced today that forwards Hunter Haight, Matyas Sapovaliv, Joey Willis, T-Bone Codd, Nic Sima, Dean Loukus and Luke McNamara, defensemen Braden Haché and Roberto Mancini, and goaltender Andrew Oke will attend NHL rookie camps in the coming week.
Heading west, Haché, Oke, Codd, and Sapovaliv will converge in Las Vegas, Nevada from September 15th-18th in the Rookie Faceoff tournament.
Sapovaliv joins the Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights, who selected him 48th overall in the 2022 NHL Draft. Codd will don an Anaheim Ducks sweater this weekend, while Haché and Oke run with the Arizona Coyotes.
Hunter Haight returns to the Minnesota Wild to participate in the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase from September 15th-17th in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Wild selected Haight just before his now-teammate Sapovaliv with the 47th overall pick in 2022. The Strathroy, Ontario native piled up 51 points (18G, 33A) in 42 games with Saginaw last season.
After being selected 111th overall by the hosts of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, Joey Willis will join the Nashville Predators from September 15th-18th at the Southeast Rookie Showcase. Willis heads to Estero, Florida after a rookie OHL campaign that saw him named to the league’s first All-Rookie Team.
The Detroit Red Wings will participate in the NHL Prospect Tournament in Traverse City, Michigan from September 14th-17th. With them will be a pair of Spirit forwards: Nic Sima along with Calumet, Michigan native Dean Loukus. The duo skated with the Wings earlier this summer at the team’s development camp.
Loukus’s fellow overager Roberto Mancini will once again join the Ottawa Senators, this time at the NHL Prospects Challenge in Buffalo, New York from September 15th-18th.
Rounding out the extensive list is third-year forward Luke McNamara, who joins the New York Rangers in Allentown, Pennsylvania on September 15th and 16th. McNamara makes his second appearance with the Rangers, his first coming at development camp in July.
As the summer draws to a close, the Spirit prepare for their regular season opener in Kitchener on September 29th. Tickets to Saginaw’s home opener on September 30th against Sarnia are on sale now.
For more information, visit saginawspirit.com or follow the team on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
For media inquiries, contact Dillon Clark at [email protected]
