The ice sheet is down at Gila River Arena, and Coyotes' training camp isn't far behind.
Rookie camp is set to begin on Saturday, Sept. 17, as the Coyotes brain trust continues the process of analyzing a deep and talented group of prospects and sorting out which ones have a place on the 23-man roster.
A total of 29 rookies have been invited to the camp: Three goaltenders, nine defensemen and 17 forwards. The roster includes first-round draft choices Jakob Chychrun (2016), Dylan Strome (2015), Nick Merkley (2015) and Brendan Perlini (2014), plus promising prospects Christian Dvorak, Lawson Crouse, Conor Garland, Christian Fischer and Adin Hill.
Craig Morgan of todaysslapshot.com speculates that there could be as many as six roster spots open and examines which of the prospects are in the mix for the remaining spots.
Fiveforhowling.com ranks Dvorak as the Coyotes' top prospect in its "21 under 21" series, followed by Strome, Clayton Keller, Hill, Chychrun, Merkley, Fischer and Perlini.
All rookie camp practices are open to the public at no charge.
The schedule is as follows:
Saturday, Sept. 17: 1-2:30 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 18: 10-11:30 a.m.
Monday, Sept. 19: 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 20: pre-game skate, 9:30-10:30 a.m.; game vs. Los Angeles Kings, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 21: practice (non-game players), 10-11 a.m.; game vs. Los Angeles Kings, 2 p.m.
