Mailbag: Sleeper player(s) to watch during Prospects Challenge

To be featured in a future mailbag, submit questions on X @briandefelice_, @ThePuckUps, or email at info@puckups.com

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Thanks for the question, Ed!

After two days of practice sessions at Warrior Ice Arena on Wednesday and Thursday - Bruins rookies will now gear up to take the ice for game action at the Harborcenter in Buffalo, NY.

Boston's first game is Friday at 3:30 p.m. against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and their second game is Sunday at 12:00 p.m. against the New Jersey Devils.

For the black and gold, all eyes are going to be on forwards Fraser Minten, and Dans Locmelis - both of whom are expected to push for jobs in Boston this October.

As for a sleeper player to watch during the prospects challenge, I'll give you two.

Forwards Riley Duran, and Cooper Simpson.

Duran, and Simpson enter the prospects challenge in different stages of their development.

Following three seasons playing in the NCAA for Providence College, Duran has since turned pro playing 71 AHL games for the Providence Bruins, and 2 NHL games for the Boston Bruins.

Similar to Minten, and Locmelis, Duran will also enter training camp next week hoping to win a job.

Duran's skill set, at this stage, will more than likely have him battling for a 4th line role against players like Michael Eyssimont, John Beecher, and John Farinacci while Minten, and Locmelis will be competing for vacant middle-six roles against Matt Poitras, Marat Khusnutdinov, Matej Blumel, Alex Steeves, Fabian Lysell, Georgii Merkulov.

Simpson, meanwhile, is still playing in the USHL for the Youngstown Phantoms.

Beyond his current tenure in the USHL, Simpson is then committed to playing for the University of North Dakota of the NCAA.

Having watched Boston's 2025 third-round pick up close, and in person during both development, and rookie camp - Simpson's crafty hands, lethal shot, and overall play-making ability is apparent.

He's young, and still years away from competing for a job in Boston, but measuring him against the competition in the prospects challenge should have fans curiosity.

Fortunately, watching Simpson and Duran should be able to happen simultaneously during the prospects challenge since they're expected to be playing together on a line centered by Locmelis.

One thing is for sure.

Whether you're keying in on watching Fraser Minten, Dans Locmelis, Riley Duran, Cooper Simpson, or someone else during the prospects challenge - it's good to finally have some live hockey back to view, enjoy, and analyze.

Hockey season is upon us, cheers to that!

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Thank you all for reading.

This time next week, training camp will be under way!