PROSPECTS TOURNAMENT ROSTER: Five storylines to watch

The kids are back in school, summer is fading and hockey season is right around the corner.
The Blue Jackets will open training camp with medical evaluations and fitness testing Sept. 13, but the action will start on the ice in the preceding week, with the annual NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, Mich.
The
official roster was released Thursday
, as the Jackets prepare to send a team to the Traverse City tournament for the 18th time. After advancing to the championship game last year against the Chicago Blackhawks, led by center Pierre-Luc Dubois, this year's group will try to win the tournament for the fifth time in franchise history.

They'll also look to boost their NHL hopes, like Dubois, who made his NHL debut last season by setting franchise records for the Blue Jackets in rookie goals (20), points (48) and games played (82).
Here are five Blue Jackets storylines to follow during this year's prospects tournament, plus a few additional notes:
No 'Abracadabara'
Vitaly Abramov, arguably the Jackets' top prospect, is not on the tournament roster.
The 5-foot-9, 171-pound Russian forward, who's racked up 301 points (129 goals, 172 assists) over three seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), is being held out for precautionary reasons. Abramov, who had offseason wrist surgery, is continuing to make progress and remains on track to participate in the team's training camp and preseason.
Abramov hoped to make the NHL roster last year. Instead, he was sent back to the "Q" for additional development time. After being traded from the Gatineau Olympiques to the Victoriaville Tigres, he moving to center and excelled - making him an intriguing option for Columbus, which is looking to pad its depth down the middle of the ice.
Abramov posted his second consecutive 104-point season, with 45 goals and 54 assists in 56 games, and added 16 points (nine goals, seven assists) in the playoffs.
Last year, Abramov got off to a great start in Traverse City with two goals and three assists in the Jackets' first game, a 7-2 win against the Dallas Stars. It would've been interesting to see him play there again, possibly at center, but the main goal is to ensure he's ready for the start of training camp.
'Foud' show continues
Liam Foudy's whirlwind summer will make a stop in Traverse City, prior to attending his first NHL training camp.
Since being selected 18th overall by the Blue Jackets in June, Foudy has participated in his first NHL development camp, competed for Canada in the 2018 World Junior Summer Showcase in Kamloops, B.C. and moved back to London, Ont. - where he'll likely play his third season of junior in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).
His next assignment will be playing for the Blue Jackets in his first NHL prospects tournament. The speedy, two-way center could center one of the Jackets' top two lines, which will be decided by the Cleveland Monsters' coaching staff - led by head coach John Madden - and development coaches Chris Clark and Gregory Campbell.
Foudy, who doesn't turn 19 until Feb. 4, was impressive during a 3-on-3 tournament to conclude development camp. He also impressed at the summer showcase, working his way up from a wing spot on the fourth line for a spit squad to a wing position on the top line for Canada's combined-roster team.
This will be the first time the Blue Jackets will get a peek at Foudy playing in a regular format with other Columbus prospects. It should be a good prelude to camp.
Another 'J.D.'
This year's tournament entry will give John Davidson, the Blue Jackets' president of hockey operations, a chance to watch his Swedish namesake, forward Jonathan Davidsson, in a regular-game format.
If Davidsson performs the way he did in the Swedish Hockey League last season, and then in the Jackets' development camp this summer, there's a good chance Davidson will like what he sees.
Davidsson, like Foudy, is a great skater with high-end speed. He displayed his skating all through development camp, including the 3-on-3 tournament - where he used his speed and skill to set up goals for power forward Eric Robinson.
Davidsson, selected by Columbus in the sixth round (No. 170) of the 2017 draft, had 31 points on 10 goals and 21 assists in 52 games for Djurgardens last season in the SHL - adding eight points (four goals, four assists) in 11 playoff games.
Along with Abramov, Robinson and a couple others, Davidsson is among a group of prospects who have a legitimate chance to make the NHL roster. He won't make the team based off what he does in Traverse City but playing well could help.
Centers of attention
The Blue Jackets are looking to develop their depth down the middle of the ice, so there will be some eyes locked on their centers in this tournament.
Foudy could land a top-six spot, and he'll be watched closely, but there's a chance for other centers to impress too - including Sam Vigneault and Kevin Stenlund.
Vigneault, who hoped to make a run at an NHL spot last year, struggled to gain a foothold after fracturing a finger in the preseason. The 6-foot-5, 203-pound center, who signed with Columbus in 2017 as a college free agent (Clarkson University), spent his first full season of professional hockey in the AHL - finishing with nine goals, 13 assists and 22 points for the Monsters.
Stenlund began last season with HV71 in the SHL before finishing the season in Cleveland. The 6-4, 209-pound center had 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists) in 43 games for HV71 and added two assists in seven games for the Monsters.
The Blue Jackets aren't afraid to sign small forwards and defenseman, like a growing number of NHL teams, but big-bodied centers who can keep pace in the NHL are still in high demand. Vigneault and Stenlund fit the bill in terms of size, but now must showcase their skill and smarts.
Opportunity Knocks
The Blue Jackets' tournament team will include five of the organization's draft picks, five players signed to entry-level contracts as undrafted free agents and 13 players competing as free-agent invitees.
Among the free agents are five forwards, six of seven defensemen and goalie Joseph Raaymakers. The lone defenseman not competing as an invitee is Ryan Collins, whom the Blue Jackets selected in the second round (No. 47) of the 2014 draft.
All but two invitees played junior in the Canadian Hockey League last season (QMJHL, OHL and Western Hockey League), with the lone exceptions being defensemen Michael Prapavessis and Garret Cockerill.
Prapavessis had 19 assists in 37 games for RPI in the East Coast Athletic Conference last season, before finishing the year in the ECHL with two assists in 11 games for the Cincinnati Cyclones. Cockerill had 15 points (one goal, 14 assists) in 14 games for Northeastern in Hockey East,. Played eight games for the ECHL's Kalamazoo K-Wings (one goal, five assists) and logged 40 AHL games with the Monsters - finishing with 14 points on three goals and 11 assists).
Among free-agent forwards is Billy Moskal, an 18-year old center who wasn't drafted in June. Moskal, a teammate of Foudy's in London, had 26 points on seven goals and 19 assists in 66 games for the Knights last season.
Forward Yegor Sokolov (6-4, 223) will also compete for Columbus as an undrafted invitee, after the 18-year old Russian went undrafted in June. Sokolov had 42 points (21 goals, 21 assists) last season for Cape Breton of the QMJHL.
Other notes …
Maxime Fortier, who's going through off-ice workouts at the OhioHealth Ice Haus, will make his debut for the Blue Jackets. Fortier, who signed with Columbus in November, stayed off the ice at development camp as a precaution - recovering from leg injuries sustained with the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL last year. … Goalie Matiss Kivlenieks is one of two goalies on the roster. Kivlenieks played in Traverse City last season, prior to his first professional season with Cleveland. … Forward Kole Sherwood, who's from New Albany, will return to the rink where his 2017-18 season hit a speed bump. Sherwood sustained a high-ankle sprain in the championship game of the 2017 tournament and the injury bothered him into mid-December. Sherwood, an Ohio AAA Blue Jackets alum, turned his season around with the OHL's Kitchener Rangers. He's out of junior eligibility and will now begin his pro career. … Trey Fix-Wolansky, a 5-foot-7 forward, joins Foudy as the only two members of the Blue Jackets' 2018 draft class on the roster. Fix-Wolansky, who also attended development camp, had 32 goals, 59 assists and 89 points for the Edmonton Oil Kings of the WHL last season. The 19-year old, who's from Edmonton, was selected in the seventh round of this year's draft (No. 204).