Five members of the Aberdeen Wings organization will represent the Central and South Divisions at the 2023 Top Prospects Tournament, Feb. 6-7 at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania.
The head coach of the Central team is Steve Howard from the Austin Bruins, while Wings head coach Scott Langer is on the bench as the assistant coach.
Nick Justice
Justice, a 6’2″ defenseman from Livonia, MI, is in his first season with the Wings. In seventeen games played, he has two goals and two assists, including one power play goal. Previously this season, he played in ten games for the El Paso Rhinos, where he scored three goals. He also had a goal and nine assists in 54 games during the 2021-22 season with the Rhinos.
Landon Parker
In his first year in Aberdeen, the 6’0″ forward is second in team scoring with nine goals and 13 assists. The assistant captain carries a +2 over 30 games played. He spent the previous season with the Wenatchee Wild in the BCHL, where he recorded nine goals and eleven assists in 45 games.
Alexander Gullichsen
Gullichsen is fourth in team scoring with eleven goals and ten assists on the season, plus two game-winning goals and a +3 rating in 33 games played. The 6’3″ Finnish forward was named Central Division Star of the Week for Dec. 12-18, 2022. In his two previous seasons, he played with Lukko U18 and U20 teams in Finland.
Michael Casey
One of the new faces on the Wings roster, Casey played his first game wearing a Wings sweater on Thursday, Jan. 19. The 6’0″ forward played the first half of the 2022-23 season with the Corpus Christi Ice Rays, where he had eight goals and 14 assists in 34 games played. Casey was selected to the Top Prospects tournament ahead of his trade to Aberdeen, so he will represent Team South during his games.
2023 NAHL Top Prospects Tournament Schedule (all times eastern)
Monday, February 6th
1:00pm: South vs. Midwest
4:00pm: East vs. Central
Tuesday, February 7th
11:00am: Central vs. South
2:00pm: Midwest vs. East
The number of players each NAHL team is sending to the tournament, in which four teams from the four NAHL divisions: Central, East, Midwest and South, will each play in two game games, was based on each team’s winning percentage within their group as of January 8, 2023. Only those NAHL players without an NCAA commitment are eligible to participate in the 2023 NAHL Top Prospects Tournament, except for those who have been identified by NHL Central Scouting as prospects for the 2023 NHL Draft. Each team is comprised of 22 players (13 forwards, 7 defensemen, 2 goalies) for a total of 88 players.