When it comes down to it, Shinkaruk, Horvat, Jensen, Corrado, gaunce, Eriksson and a handful of others are through to main camp no matter what they do. For them this is about staying out of the doghouse and learning what the coaching staff is teaching them about the system so they are ready to hit main camp in stride.
I don't worry about those guys at all at this point as their evaluation will truly be seen later (that isn't to say they should be dogging it, but I expect they will be keeping some gas in the tank). It's the lesser lights like Cassels and guys wanting to earn a contract that are going to be going full tilt.
You have two groups of guys:
-a slightly higher potential group saving a bit of something for a week from now and
-a group leaving it all on the ice to earn a camp spot
When that happens you end up with guys who you think should stand out from the first group not doing so and guys from the second group that are surprising you. So, in short, it's a rookie tourney don't get too high on the surprises and don't get too down on the "disappointments" because in all likelihood the surprises will quickly bow out in main camp and disappointments will start showing their worth.
@lindgren....he can certainly see preseason action. Players don't need to be under nhl contracts. Quite often teams will invite those AHL contract guys to camp for the chance to earn a two-way deal (now or later).