Notable Canadian junior performers this week:
Morgan Frost (C), Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
2017 1st Round Pick, 27th overall
- 2/6 – 1 assist, 5 shots, 14 for 20 FOW
- 2/9 – 1 goal, 3 assists, 6 shots, 11 for 24 FOW
- 2/10 – 1 goal, 2 assists, 3 shots, 2 PIM, 13 for 21 FOW/
This just in, Morgan Frost is still pretty good at the ice sport. His 88 points (34 G, 54 A) in 46 games gives him the best points-per-game percentage (1.91) in the OHL. Frost is only five total points behind the league-lead, though he’s played in nine less games.
Isaac Ratcliffe (LW), Guelph Storm (OHL)
2017 2nd Round Pick, 35th overall
With 59 points (36 G, 23 A) in 50 games, Ratcliffe is just nine points away from tying his career-high from last season. He also has 15 games remaining to top his career-high in goals from last season (41) as well. Ratcliffe’s three-point effort on Sunday broke a four-game pointless drought.
Matthew Strome (LW), Hamilton Bulldogs (OHL)
2017 4th Round Pick, 106th overall
- 2/7 – 2 goals, 1 assist, 2 shots, 2 for 4 FOW
- 2/8 – 1 goal, 3 assists, 6 shots, 1 for 4 FOW
- 2/9 – 1 goal, 5 shots, 2 PIM, 5 for 11 FOW/
Strome has very quietly turned his disappointing season around with a monster second half. Since New Year’s Eve, Strome has 13 goals and 17 assists in 18 games. His 69 points (26 G, 43 A) puts him 14th overall in the OHL in scoring.
Maksim Sushko (RW), Owen Sound Attack (OHL)
2017 4th Round Pick, 107th overall
Sushko is a streaky player, but he’s also dealt with some injury issues this season (he missed basically all of December). Since January 19th, Sushko has put together eight goals and five assists in 10 games. Hopefully this is the start of trying to salvage the rest of this season. Sushko is at 40 points (15 G, 25 A) in 49 games after putting up 60 in 60 last season.
Wyatte Wylie (D), Everett Silvertips (WHL)
2018 5th Round Pick, 127th overall
39 points (8 G, 31 A) in 53 games is pretty good for a defenseman! In fact, that’s 12th best in the league among d-men. 13 of those points are of the primary variety at 5v5, which is 15th best among d-men in the WHL.
Egor Zamula (D), Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
Undrafted Free Agent
Zamula remains out of the lineup for the Hitmen due to an “upper body injury”. He left a February 1st game due to a dirty hit and has been out since. Zamula has 41 points (9 G, 32 A) in 48 games.
Notable European performers this week
Linus Högberg (D), Växjö Lakers HC (SHL)
2016 5th Round Pick, 139th overall
No games for the SHL this week. Högberg has put together a nice season so far, even if the point totals (2 goals, 3 assists in 39 games) doesn’t reflect it. He’s averaging 16:50 TOI as a 20 year old and has an impressive 57.45 CF% (which is 6th among SHL defensemen).
David Bernhardt (D), Växjö Lakers HC (SHL)
2016 7th Round Pick, 199th overall
Last time we spoke, Bernhardt was playing for Djurgårdens and not actually playing because he was hurt. He’s since been traded to Växjö, healthy and playing well. He has two assists in eight games so far with his new squad.
Adam Ginning (D), Linköping HC (SHL)
2018 2nd Round Pick, 50th overall
Ginning remains at five points (1 G, 4 A) in 35 games this season for Linköping. The defensive-minded d-man is averaging 15:23 TOI this season.
Olle Lycksell (RW/C), Linköping HC (SHL)
2017 6th Round Pick, 168th overall
Lycksell hasn’t lit the SHL on fire just yet. He has nine points (2 G, 7 A) in 39 games this season, averaging 11:53 TOI.
Marcus Westfält (C), Karlskrona HK (Allsvenskan)
2018 7th Round Pick, 205th overall
Westfält struggled with Brynäs IF this season, collecting just one assists in 19 games and was often relegated to the 13th forward. He’s since been sent down and has only collected one assist in 11 games for Karlskrona. In better news, Westfält has been playing for the Swedish U-19 team and has put together one goal and two assists in three games.
Felix Sandström (G), HV71 (SHL)
2015 3rd Round Pick, 70th overall
Things have been slowly getting better for Sandström as he’s gotten his save percentage up to .911 through 14 games. If he had qualified with enough minutes, that would be 24th in the league.
Samuel Ersson (G), Västerås IK (Allsvenskan)
2018 5th Round Pick, 143rd overall
The 19 year old remains ever impressive in his first season in Allsvenskan. Ersson owns a .938 SV% in 27 games. That is tops in the league.
Ivan Fedotov (G), HC Toros (VHL)
2015 7th Round Pick, 188th overall
Fedotov has had a renaissance season in net after a disastrous 2017-18. He has a .928 SV% with Toros this season in 24 games and in a three-game stint with Salavat (KHL mind you) he has a .933 SV%.
Kirill Ustimenko (G), MHK Dynamo St. Petersburg (MHL)
2017 3rd Round Pick, 80th overall
No games for Ustimenko this week, but his season has grown stronger as the months go on. in 40 games this season Ustimenko has a .927 SV%. However, in a low-scoring league that is only 27th best in a league he dominated last season.
Notable collegiate performers this week
Wade Allison (RW), Western Michigan University
2016 2nd Round Pick, 52nd overall
Allison’s season has been less than ideal. We knew coming back from a torn ACL would be a process, but he’s also dealt with a recent arm injury that has kept him out parts of January and I’m assuming again for the two games this weekend. So far, when playing, Allison has six points (3 G, 3 A) in 12 games.
Joel Farabee (LW), Boston University
2018 1st Round Pick, 14th overall
I think Farabee has gotten the hang of this college hockey thing, huh? With another two-point weekend, Farabee now has 25 points (10 G, 15 A) in 26 games in his freshman season. He has 18 points in his last 13 games. Even when he’s not scoring points, he’s doing his part.
Tanner Laczynski (C/W), Ohio State University
2016 6th Round Pick, 169th overall
No games for Laczynski this weekend as his missed his 2nd and 3rd straight games with an upper body injury. When on the ice, Laczynski has been fabulous, churning out what could have been another run at a potential Hobey Baker Finalist. He has 25 points (8 G, 17 A) in 21 games as a college junior.
Gavin Hain (C/W), University of North Dakota
2018 6th Round Pick, 174th overall
No games for North Dakota this weekend. Hain has struggled a bit his freshman season and has just four points (3 G, 1 A) in 21 games.
Jay O’Brien (C), Providence College
2018 1st Round Pick, 19th overall
- 2/9 – 2 shots/
O’Brien missed Friday’s game for an undisclosed reason, but was back in on Saturday. The freshman has struggled with both consistency and injuries this season. O’Brien remains at four points (2 G, 2 A) in 18 games.
Brendan Warren (LW), University of Michigan
2015 3rd Round Pick, 81st overall
Warren is a prospect for the Flyers. He’s a college senior with three points in 29 games.
Noah Cates (LW), University of Minnesota-Duluth
2017 5th Round Pick, 137th overall
No games for UMD this weekend. Cates however has been great in his freshman year, collecting 14 points (6 G, 8 A) in 24 games. He’s currently on a five-game point streak where he’s put up one goal and five assists in that span.
Wyatt Kalynuk (D), University of Wisconsin
2017 7th Round Pick, 196th overall
Kalynuk doesn’t appear he will quite eclipse his numbers as a freshman where he put up 25 points in 37 games (he’s at 19 in 28 currently). However, he looks like a menace on the PP and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Flyers push for him to leave school early to join the Phantoms next season.
Jack St. Ivany (D), Yale University
2018 4th Round Pick, 112th overall
The points have certainly slowed down for the freshman. He has just one point (a goal) in his last nine games. St. Ivany has nine points in 20 games on the season (while missing some time due to participating in the World Juniors).
Matej Tomek (G), University of Nebraska-Omaha
2015 3rd Round Pick, 90th overall
Nebraska-Omaha isn’t a good team, so maybe it’s okay that Tomek isn’t getting a whole lot of time between the pipes? He remains at just five games played to the tune of a .845 SV%. Tomek last appeared in a game on 1/25 in which he gave up one goal on 12 shots, his best performance of the season.
