Another week, another prospect report. Stick with us as we dig into a productive little weekend for the Phantoms, wrap up the semifinals of the NCAA conference tournaments, and more!
The News of the Week
While this past weekend saw one newly signed prospect making his AHL debut, with Noah Powell jumping right into the fire with the Phantoms for their three-in-three, another debut won’t be far away. The Flyers announced this afternoon that they’ve signed center Cole Knuble to his entry level deal. The contract kicks in next season, and he’ll be spending the remainder of this season on a tryout contract with the Phantoms.
Also, Jett Luchanko’s missed a few weeks now with injury, and it’s looking like that absence will be stretching on a while longer — officially, he’s week-to-week with a lower body injury, but he should be back in time for the OHL playoffs.
Three Stars
Aleksei Kolosov
This weekend was a big one for Aleksei Kolosov. He was given starts in two of the Phantoms’ three games on the weekend, and he was thrown some real challenges right from the jump. His first outing on the road in Syracuse was a tough one, as that high-powered offense was throwing everything at him, but Kolosov had his very best stuff, and kept them contained just about completely — he was beaten once, but he made a career high 39 saves on the way to the win.
He didn’t get the results on Sunday, as the Phantoms were stuck with a loss in that one, but Kolosov’s play was still quite solid, as he made saves on 20 of the 22 shots he faced. He’s stepping up well as a dependable starter for the Phantoms, and that’s getting even more valuable down this stretch run.
Jack Nesbitt
It’s turning into quite the productive second half for Nesbitt, as he’s continuing to put up really excellent results for Windsor down the stretch. In their pair of games played over the weekend, he put up a tidy four points (a goal and three assists) across a couple of quite lopsided wins (first 6-3 over Sarnia, and then 8-2 over London). His play just seems to be getting better and better as the intensity of the season goes on, and if he’s able to keep that up, that’s going to make things very interesting as they get rolling in the upcoming OHL playoffs.
David Jiricek
In his first full weekend with the Phantoms, Jiricek was really able to get his game going, putting up three assists over his three games played. And while this isn’t the flashiest of stat lines, it’s been impressive on the whole to see how quickly he’s been able to settle in with his new team. It hasn’t been perfect, as he’s had a couple of shaky plays with the puck, but he’s been stabilizing quickly, and really looking comfortable within the team’s system, and, most critically, stepping up as a dynamic force running their top power play unit from the point. There’s a lot of potential yet untapped, and it will be exciting to see how he’s able to build on that over these next few weeks.
Honorable Mentions
Elsewhere in that Phantoms mix, while they’ve been getting quite a bit of production from their veteran skaters, the prospects have still been getting involved well. Phil Tomasino had another productive weekend, picking up a goal (against his former team in the Penguins, no less) and two assists to make it a tidy point per game weekend for him. This weekend also saw Brett Harrison pick up his first goal as a Phantom, and Jacob Gaucher and Oliver Bonk each contributed a goal (plus an additional assist for Bonk) as well. It was a big weekend, all in all, for defensemen getting on the board, as they rounded out the production with Max Guenette’s pair of assists, and Helge’s Grans’s single one.
When we spoke last week, we made mention of Jack Berglund’s offensive game beginning to pick up over in the SHL, and he’s kept the ball rolling well through last weekend. It wasn’t an overly busy weekend for him, with just one game on the schedule, but he put up two goals in that win, making the most of the increased usage he was tossed, up three minutes from his last time out. And then down at to U20 level, Max Westergard is still piling up the points. He had two games played over the weekend, and he put up a goal and two assists, extending his points streak to three games, and making for a very solid 12 points in his last 10 games.
Back over in the CHL, Matthew Gard and Spencer Gill both got themselves on the board, picking up a goal each on the weekend, while Nathan Quinn’s kept rolling, and put up a more modest — relatively speaking — goal and an assist over his last two games played.
And finally, the conference tournaments are winding down, and it wasn’t a great weekend for the Flyers’ representatives. BU was eliminated from the Hockey East tournament in a 5-3 loss to UConn, bringing their season to an end. Jack Murtagh scored in that game, which was nice to see, but Owen McLaughlin was held off the board. McLaughlin, though, will be another name to watch, as he’s wrapped up his senior season and could be looking at a contract signing on the horizon.
And then over in the Big 10 Tournament, Michigan State was eliminated in the semifinal, losing in overtime to Ohio State (though Shane Vansaghi and Porter Martone scored both of the Spartan goals in that game, so credit to them for rising to that occasion). Given the success they found during the regular season though, winning their conference, their place in the main NCAA tournament feels more assured. They’ll get a bit of an extended break before this weekend’s selection show, and we find out which of the regionals they’ll be heading off to.
