Another week, another prospect report. (Well, it’s been more than a week, but you get where we’re going with this, and we’re doing our best).
Anyway! It was a bit of a quiet week for the Flyers prospects here. Not much in the news department, we’ve just got a couple of updates. Wade Allison may be back as soon as Saturday, but it’s not decided just yet whether he’ll be going down to the Phantoms to get rolling again or staying with the Flyers. Also, playoffs are just about upon us (for some prospects at least). The KHL playoffs started on Monday, and the NCAA postseason kicks off with the in-conference tournaments this weekend. So lots is happening! Or at least, about to be happening. We’ll recap more of that next week, but in the meantime, let’s touch on this week’s standouts.
Three stars
Tanner Laczynski
Laczynski made his season debut two weeks ago, and he’s really hit the ground running here. His first weekend was good, but he did seem to be losing a bit of steam as it wore on (understandable, of course, as he’s still working on getting back up to game speed), but this week felt like a step forward for him. He’s stepped back into a top-6 role, and he’s already chipping in a nice bit of offense. Between these last three games, he’s chipped in three assists and nine shots on goal, serving as one of the Phantoms’ better offensive drivers, even as the team as a whole has struggled a bit to score (totaling just four goals in those three games). He still has a ways to go to get all the way back to old form, but he’s putting in some very good work already.
Connor McClennon
Another big offensive week from Connor McClennon? We’re shocked, absolutely shocked. Wow.
Okay, jokes aside, McClennon is having himself a very good season, and he’s continuing to impress in that he’s able to just keep this thing rolling. It’s not just a flash in the pan here and there, he’s found a really nice consistency here. In his last five games played, he chipped in three goals and five assists, and totaled 18 (yes, 18) shots on goal between those five games. He’s been a really dynamic offensive driver for his team out in Winnipeg, and he’s really not showing any signs of slowing down, and it’s been a real treat to see.
Elliot Desnoyers
And we’ll stick in the CHL for a bit longer, but we’re popping over to Halifax now to check in with Elliot Desnoyers. He’s been on quite an offensive tear this season, and he’s still rolling at a nice clip. In Halifax’s four games last week, Desnoyers chipped in a goal and four assists, while also contributing 21 shots on goal in total. This brings him up to a quite solid total 34 points in 52 games, which is somehow only good for 14th in scoring across the whole of the league (the Q is wild, man), but it is still a total that lands him second on his team in scoring. He’s been consistent this season, and it’s nice to see the scoring still coming for him to reward his overall hardworking style of play.
Honorable mentions
Emil Andrae
And it’s a very Swedish honorable mentions section this week! After a bit of a weird season bouncing between levels last season, Andrae is back in the Allsvenskan full time, and it’s treating him quite well. He tacked on three assists in his last three games to his season total of 32 points in 36 games, which is certainly not too shabby. Andrae is now sitting at fourth in overall scoring on his team, and sixth in scoring among defensemen across the whole of the league (we should also note that while the five players above him have between one and seven more points than him, they’ve all also played 6-11 more games). Which is all to say that his scoring rate this season has been very good, and the offensive side is clicking well for him, without coming at the expense of his defensive and transition game. His game is still developing, to be sure, but he’s still been a very effective defender at this level.
Olle Lycksell
Lycksell was a little snakebitten this week, as he put up just one goal in his last three games, but it all sure wasn’t for lack of trying. He registered nine shots between those three games, so he’s certainly still getting a good number of chances, and he’s bound to start getting some more breaks soon. But he’s still scoring at a nice clip this season—with 10 goals and 17 assists in 39 games, he’s fifth on his team in goals and fourth in total points. That might not be a total that positively jumps off the page, but he’s playing in a tough league in the SHL, and he’s really putting everything together in his game in a big way. The choice to loan him back over there after he signed his ELC during the offseason was a bit of a curious one at the time, but it seems to have been the right one.
