Prospect Team on the Week

Forwards

In a season when things have largely gone awry for the Belleville Senators, Angus Crookshank potentially winning the team goal-scoring title as a rookie certainly feels like just a little bit of redemption. Considering Crookshank missed all of last season and considering we all would have penciled in Egor Sokolov to take the crown, none of us will complain about such a pleasant plot twist (especially with Sokolov surprisingly leading the BSens in assists this season). After going four games without a point, Crookshank has six in his last five. Despite losing a couple of crucial games this past weekend, several Sens prospects went off offensively (not that I needed to remind you of the ripples cast by Ottawa’s goaltending injuries and woes).

In eleven fewer games, Zack Ostapchuk has already matched his goal total from last season and nearly doubled his assist total. Ostapchuk had an uncharacteristically quiet night offensively against Medicine Hat last week before delivering back-to-back multi-point performances over the weekend as Winnipeg clinched their division and conference with an absurd 52 wins through 62 games. In a world with any semblance of justice, WHL fans could get to enjoy a barnburner of a final between Winnipeg and Seattle (50 wins through 62) who haven’t lost in regulation in their last 16 games.

Continuing the redemption arc established by Crookshank, Roby Järventie has stormed back from injury and started to resemble the offensive force we had all hoped for when the Sens selected him early in the second round of the 2020 draft. He still has his cold streaks, but they’re grown shorter and less frequent as the season has progressed and Järventie has gotten back to full speed. He has always had the tools but we’ve had to wait longer than expected to see everything come together. I still like to believe that the results will justify the process.

Defence

If Tyler Kleven truly does intend to sign his entry level contract in the coming weeks, then he’ll leave UND on a rather high note. North Dakota knocked off Jonny Tychonick and his Omaha squad en route to the NCHC semifinal where they’ll face off against St. Cloud. Despite demonstrating much more focus on defence than offence for much of this season, Kleven scored in back-to-back wins over Omaha, including the eventual game-winner on Saturday. I still have no idea what to expect from Kleven at the professional level but colour me very curious.

I had a lot of Belleville Senators to pick from this week (for a nice change) and a lot of defenders who put up good numbers but Lassi Thomson found himself in a class of his own with three goals, two assists, and seven shots through three games for the BSens. Also coming out of a mini drought (three games without a point) Thomson regained his confidence and he once again looks like the offensive dynamo that keeps Belleville’s machine running from the blue line.

Goalie

While none of Ottawa’s goaltending prospects had an especially poor week, none of them really stole the show either. Mads Søgaard won an NHL contest for your Ottawa Senators so I have to give him the distinction by default, but his overall line (eight goals on 62 shots) technically falls short of Kevin Manolese (5/39) and Leevi Meriläinen (7/63) who lost all of their respective decisions since the last update. Even Kevin Reidler who has looked superhuman in 2023 had an off week (8/49) albeit with a winning record. Did somebody say playoff push?!

Stats