Notable Canadian junior performers this week:
Morgan Frost (C), Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
2017 First Round Pick, 27th overall
- 3/17 – 1 assist, 7 shots, 2 PIM, 17 for 26 FOW/
Morgan Frost closes out his three-game suspension and his final OHL regular season with 109 points (37 G, 72 A) in 58 games. The Greyhounds begin the playoffs this Thursday when they square off against Maksim Sushko and the Owen Sound Attack.
Isaac Ratcliffe (LW), Guelph Storm (OHL)
2017 Second Round Pick, 35th overall
In his second to last game, Ratcliffe scores his 49th and 50th goals of the season. He finishes his last regular OHL season with 82 points in 65 games. He eclipsed his season-high last season by 14 points in two less games. He’ll help lead the Storm against the Kitchener Rangers starting Friday.
Matthew Strome (LW), Hamilton Bulldogs (OHL)
2017 Fourth Round Pick, 106th overall
With no points in his last four regular season games, Strome finishes his last OHL season with 79 points (28 G, 51 A) in 68 games. His total points and assists were career-highs. Strome and Hamilton get a tough playoff draw of the Ottawa 67s in the first round, the best team in the OHL.
Maksim Sushko (RW), Owen Sound Attack (OHL)
2017 Fourth Round Pick, 107th overall
Sushko’s disappointing third OHL season comes to a close with 51 points (18 G, 33 A) in 62 games. He fell from being a point-per-game player last year. Odds are that he will join the Phantoms next season, but I don’t think it would be crazy if the Flyers gave him one more year in the OHL to rebound without the pressure of turning pro.
Wyatte Wylie (D), Everett Silvertips (WHL)
2018 Fifth Round Pick, 127th overall
Wylie finishes out a much improved third regular season in the WHL with 47 points (11 G, 36 A) in 67 games. That is a 16-point improvement over last year. He and Everett square off against Tri-City in the first round of the WHL playoffs starting Friday.
Yegor Zamula (D), Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
Undrafted Free Agent
No points in his final games, but Zamula has impressed since being signed by the Flyers during the last offseason. He jumped from seven points in 38 games last season to 56 (10 G, 46 A) in 61 this year. The Hitmen will face the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the first round of the playoffs beginning Friday.
Notable European performers this week
Linus Högberg (D), Växjö Lakers HC (SHL)
2016 Fifth Round Pick, 139th overall
Hogberg keeps improving and is still only 20 years old. He finishes his third full SHL season with 10 points (2 G, 8 A), a career-high, in 52 games. Hogberg averaged 17:10 of ice-time during the season and had a 56.15 CF%. Vaxjo is playing Orebo in the first round of the SHL playoffs.
David Bernhardt (D), Växjö Lakers HC (SHL)
2016 Seventh Round Pick, 199th overall
Bernhardt finishes his regular season with Vaxjo, putting up seven points (3 G, 4 A) in 20 games and a 54.25 CF%. This was after an injury-riddled 16 games with Djurgardens IF in which he only had one assist.
Adam Ginning (D), Linköping HC (SHL)
2018 Second Round Pick, 50th overall
The 19 year old finishes his first full SHL season with five points (1 G, 4 A) in 48 games. He averaged 15:56 of ice-time as a 19 year old. Linkoping unfortunately didn’t make the playoffs, so this will end his hockey season.
Olle Lycksell (RW/C), Linköping HC (SHL)
2017 Sixth Round Pick, 168th overall
Lycksell has had an up and down season, but fortunately it ended on a mostly “up”. He had 12 points (5 G, 7 A) in 51 games for Linkoping.
Marcus Westfält (C), Karlskrona HK (Allsvenskan)
2018 Seventh Round Pick, 205th overall
Westfalt couldn’t quite get the offense going this season at any level of competition. He had just one assist in 19 games with Brynas and two assists in 19 games with Karlskrona. Hopefully things go a bit better in 2019-20 for the 19 year old.
Felix Sandström (G), HV71 (SHL)
2015 Third Round Pick, 70th overall
- 3/12 – 3 GA, 24 saves/
Despite the injuries and slow start, Sandstrom finished the season strong with a .911 SV% in just 19 games. That ranked him 17th among SHL goalies. HV71 made the playoffs and are squaring off against Rogle in the first round. It will be interesting to see if this will be Sandstrom’s final games in Europe and if he joins the Phantoms next season.
Samuel Ersson (G), Västerås IK (Allsvenskan)
2018 Fifth Round Pick, 143rd overall
Ersson carrying his strong regular season play to the playoffs for Vasteras. In three playoffs games this week he has a .938 SV%. He finished the regular season with .933% in 36 games.
Ivan Fedotov (G), HC Toros (VHL)
2015 Seventh Round Pick, 188th overall
Fedotov finished the regular season with a save percentage of .929 in 26 games this season and has a .800 SV% in one playoff game thus far.
Kirill Ustimenko (G), MHK Dynamo St. Petersburg (MHL)
2017 Third Round Pick, 80th overall
- 3/13 – 2 GA, 33 saves/
Ustimenko has been great for MHK Dynamo through their playoff run, putting up a .953 SV% in three games. He finished the regular season with .927 in 46 games. Let’s hope a strong playoff performance finally convinces his team to move him up to the VHL (or maybe even convince him to come to North America).
Notable collegiate performers this week
Wade Allison (RW), Western Michigan University
2016 Second Round Pick, 52nd overall
Allison and WMU split the first two games against Colorado College in the best of three series. They’ll play the deciding game today. Allison now has 15 points (8 G, 7 A) in 22 games this season.
Joel Farabee (LW), Boston University
2018 First Round Pick, 14th overall
Talk about coming up big in your first Hockey East tournament play! Farabee’s goal in Sunday’s deciding match was the eventual game-winner. The freshman has 36 points (17 G, 19 A) in 37 games. He and BU will play Northeastern on Friday in the Hockey East Championship. Here is a goal from Friday and Saturday.
Tanner Laczynski (C/W), Ohio State University
2016 Sixth Round Pick, 169th overall
- 3/17 – 1 shot/
Laczynski had a goal taken away on Sunday because of an offside. OSU lost to PSU in an upset. Laczynski and OSU will have to wait to see if their name is selected for the 16-team NCAA Tournament next Sunday (they most likely will). If they don’t, Laczynski ends his junior season with 30 points (10G, 20A) in 26 games. It is very possible he forgoes his senior year and signs an entry-level deal with the Flyers.
Gavin Hain (C/W), University of North Dakota
2018 Sixth Round Pick, 174th overall
North Dakota fell to Denver in both games this weekend, dropping them out of the NCHC tournament. Gavin Hain likely finishes his freshman year with 9 points (6 G, 3 A) in 31 games. He definitely improved as the season moved along.
Jay O’Brien (C), Providence College
2018 First Round Pick, 19th overall
O’Brien didn’t play in the three-game series with Boston College (in which Providence lost 2 of 3). Providence likely has their name called on Sunday, but if they for some reason don’t, O’Brien will close out his injury-plagued freshman year with five points (2 G, 3 A) in 25 games.
Noah Cates (LW), University of Minnesota-Duluth
2017 Fifth Round Pick, 137th overall
Cates and Minn-Duluth put down Omaha in the best-of-three series. Cates is now up to 22 points (9 G, 13 A) in his freshman year (34 games). They are still awaiting their semi-finals opponent.
Jack St. Ivany (D), Yale University
2018 Fourth Round Pick, 112th overall
While Yale lost in the ECAC Quarterfinals to Clarkson, St. Ivany had five points (3 G, 2 A) in his last three games. He finished with 14 points (6 G, 8 A) in 30 games to close out his freshman year.
Matej Tomek (G), University of Nebraska-Omaha
2015 Third Round Pick, 90th overall
As noted above, Omaha lost their final two games of the season to Minn-Duluth. Neither game featured Tomek, so our beloved Slovakian goaltender finishes the year with a .845 SV% in five games. It may be time for Tomek to consider finding work in Europe where he actually gets starts.
