Jamieson Rees, 2019 Hurricanes draft pick, serving as leader during NHL Prospect Showcase
It was hard pointing out anyone who played particularly well Friday for the Carolina Hurricanes in their first game of the 2022 NHL Prospect Showcase.
Many played hard but few played well. The Canes scored first, Noel Gunler with the goal, but allowed six unanswered goals in a 6-1 loss to the Florida Panthers and spent too much time fighting for pucks in their own end.
“I thought we started well and saw some execution in some of the details that we had given them, but you start giving up a lot of odd-man rushes and you make it tough on your goalies,” Canes coach Brock Sheahan said after the game at Invisalign Arena. “But it’s a starting point and I think we’ll be better.”
Sheahan is the new head coach of the Chicago Wolves, the Canes’ AHL affiliate. A few of the players he has on the prospects team soon will be on his first Wolves roster as Chicago seeks to make a run at a second straight Calder Cup championship.
One of those players should be forward Jamieson Rees, who played for the Wolves parts of the past two seasons and has been named the captain of the Canes prospects team.
Rees, 21, is an all-effort type who seemingly was in the middle of everything Friday, good and bad. He checked with a purpose, spent time in the penalty box a couple of times and was involved in a brief scrap at the end of the first period. He battled hard around the Florida net and once was knocked deep into the net.
“Threw a couple of nice hits, took a couple of hits,” said Rees, who was selected by the Canes in the second round of the 2019 NHL Draft. “It’s part of the game.”
Rees has a little of a younger Brock McGinn in him. Like the former Canes forward who was a second-round draft pick by Carolina Rees, at 5-11 and 182 pounds, is about the size of McGinn and plays the same crash-and-bang style of game.
Asked Friday if “disruptor” is a good way to describe him on the ice, he said, “I would say so, yeah.”
Rees was with the Canes team in the showcase last year in Tampa, Florida, playing well enough to get to Carolina’s preseason training camp. He appeared in three preseason exhibition games for the Canes before undergoing knee surgery in October, then being assigned to the Wolves.
Rees played 24 games for the Wolves in 2020-21, then 61 games in the AHL’s 2021-22 regular season, putting up 24 points, before the playoff run to the Calder Cup.
“It helps me in helping the other guys here that I’ve been through it, I know what it takes and I’ve played at the next (AHL) level,” Rees said. “It’s big for everybody. It’s big for guys trying to make the (Canes) team, it’s big for guys who are trying to get contracts. Everyone is here for a purpose.”
Rees wants to make it to the Canes’ big camp again and see where that can take him. Other skaters are trying to get a feel for the Canes’ system.
“I think we’re trying to show them the style of play here,” Sheahan said. “We’re trying to get them the details on how we forecheck and how we hunt and how we trap. And just getting them engaged in how we play, and trying to get them out of their shell a little bit and see a little bit of personality and get to know them.”
After a practice day Saturday, the showcase shifts to PNC Arena for the final two days. The Canes face the Nashville Predators on Sunday at 10 a.m. following the annual Canes 5K Run. Admission to showcase games is free.
2022 NHL Prospect Showcase
(Admission to all games is free)
Friday
Florida Panthers 6, Hurricanes 1
Nashville Predators 5, Tampa Bay Lightning 2
Saturday, Sept. 17
Practice Day
Sunday, Sept. 18
10 a.m. – Hurricanes vs. Nashville Predators (PNC Arena)
1 p.m. – Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Florida Panthers (PNC Arena)
Monday, Sept. 19
10 a.m. – Nashville Predators vs. Florida Panthers (PNC Arena)
1 p.m. – Hurricanes vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (PNC Arena)
This story was originally published September 17, 2022 at 9:35 AM with the headline "Jamieson Rees, 2019 Hurricanes draft pick, serving as leader during NHL Prospect Showcase."
