The Detroit Red Wings revealed their Prospect Games roster on Thursday, and one of their free agent invites is Justice Christensen, the captain of the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders. The 5’9,” 185-pound right-shooting defenseman is 20 years old, and he posted 22 goals and 24 assists for 46 points in 64 games played for Prince Albert this past season.
Prince Albert Now’s Nick Nielsen spoke with Christensen and the Raiders’ two other prospect tournament invitees today:
Captain Justice Christensen is heading to camp with the Detroit Red Wings, the newly acquired Max Heise is heading to San Jose Sharks camp, and Lukas Dragicevic is heading to camp with the Seattle Kraken.
Starting off with Christensen, the 20-year-old defenceman was not drafted by the Red Wings, but has earned his spot after leading all WHL defencemen in goals and earning a scholarship with the University of Nebraska-Omaha for next season. He first heard from the Red Wings in early July when he captained Canada’s U20 World Ball Hockey Team to a gold medal in Slovakia.
“It’s been about a month and a half-ish. I got the call when I was in Slovakia, actually, so that was a crazy week for me. But yeah, I’m super pumped to get there.”
Raiders Assistant Coach Connor Yawney is the son of Red Wings assistant coach Trent Yawney, but Christensen says the two of them have not spoken much about the opportunity to head to Detroit. For Christensen, he believes it’s important to keep some distance between the Raiders and the Red Wings to make sure he has his focus in the right place.
“I was in touch with Connor over the summer and yeah, we just talked a little bit about it, but yeah, just kind of keeping the two separate a little bit. Like I want to do my job when I’m here, but then obviously when I get the opportunity there to prove myself. Not a whole lot’s been said, but it’s definitely exciting.”
Continued; I’ll be posting an article on the Wings’ Prospect Games invites soon.
