February Prospects Report — Playoff time, Svechnikov en fuego
By Cameron Kuom
4 years agoThe hockey calendar has officially reached playoff territory. The Red Wings won’t be partaking in the postseason but the same can’t be said for members of the farm system. The regular season in Russia and Western Canada has already wrapped up, with college hockey and Finland not far behind. Meanwhile in Grand Rapids, the Griffins are in the midst of a heated playoff race with just over a month left to go. March is often when the urgency cranks up a notch. Where every point in the standings is life or death.
February really sets the stage for an epic March, with this most recent one in particular being very good to the Red Wings’ prospects. Jared McIsaac, Evgeny Svechnikov, Joe Veleno, Victor Brattstrom and Keith Petruzzelli all enjoyed their best month of the season.
Playoff time
Playing in the postseason is vital to any young player’s development. The atmosphere cannot be recreated in any other setting, so capitalizing on the opportunity needs to be a priority. Playoff hockey is why guys like Moritz Seider and Joe Veleno might not be recalled to Detroit for nine game tryouts, despite the former, in particular, proving he is ready for the challenge.
We’ll get to the Griffins chances of playing deep into April later on, but as for the guys already done with the regular season: Cooper Moore, Kirill Tyutyayev, Carter Gylander and Petruzzelli fit the bill.
Moore and the Chilliwack Chiefs are currently tied 2-2 in their first round series with the Surrey Eagles. Moore has registered a goal and three points to start the playoffs and ended the regular season with 33 points in 55 games.
Staying in Western Canadian junior-A, Sherwood Park and the now reigning AJHL goaltender of the year Carter Gylander await their second round opponent. After finishing as the AJHL’s No. 1 seed, Sherwood Park earned a first round bye and will resume play no later than March 13.
Tyutyayev over in Russia is a more interesting study. Playing in the VHL, Tyutyayev and Gornyak, the team he was loaned to, were eliminated in the first round after five games. The 7th round pick from 2019 picked up a pair of assists in game four for his only points of the series. Moving forward, he could possibly return to Avto in the MHL with the regular season nearing conclusion. Avto’s parent club in the KHL may be a long-shot, but not impossible.
Lastly, the least interesting for now, is Petruzzelli and the Quinnipiac Bobcats. Quinnipiac entered the week on a bye as the No. 14 team in the nation. Because of that they’ll likely qualify for the ECAC quarterfinals from March 13-15. Petruzzelli capped off the regular season with a 29-save shutout to raise his save percentage to an impressive .920 on his junior year.
Also worth mentioning:
- The Griffins are in a dog fight right now. Teams who finish in the top-4 of their division qualify for the postseason and GR is currently No. 3 in the Central Division. Four teams are battling it out for two spots: Grand Rapids (61 points), San Antonio (60), Chicago (59) and Rockford (59).
- Farjestad is currently sitting as the third best team in the SHL. They will comfortably make the playoffs, which is good news for the development of Albert Johansson.
- Speaking of Swedish hockey, as of this writing Skelleftea and Farjestad are positioned to qualify for the Champions Hockey League next season. That’s big news for both Jonatan Berggren and Johansson, both of whom are expected to stay across the pond in 2020-21.
- Alexander Kadeykin and Salavat of the KHL are currently tied 1-1 in their opening round matchup with Avangard. Kadeykin finished the regular season with 11 goals and 29 points.
Svechnikov en fuego
Svechnikov started the month of February off white hot. The former first rounder sparked a five game point streak with five goals and eight points in that span. Sprinkle in another assist later on and Svechnikov stepped up his game at the perfect time. Every point is a big one to the Griffins as they compete with three other teams for two playoff spots.
The power play is really where Svechnikov found his stride, logging his first three goals while on the man advantage. On the season, Geno has 11 goals and 24 points.
His game-by-game breakdown from February can be seen below:
Svechnikov’s on ice performance wasn’t the only thing making headlines. Less than two weeks ago reports from Russia suggested he was considering to play in the KHL next season. Those reports were quickly shot down, with Svechnikov coming out to confirm his commitment to the Red Wings organization.
Segwaying off of that, it will be interesting to see what happens with Svechnikov moving forward. Not only does his entry-level contract expire this summer but he’ll also no longer be waiver exempt in 2020-21. Meaning, he’ll have to make the Red Wings or be waived to play in Grand Rapids. Having the pedigree of a first round pick, chances are some team out there takes a flyer on him.
Notes
- Filip Zadina will not be returning to the AHL, according to Jeff Blashill. But not by team choice: due to Zadina being on IR with a broken foot, the club was unable to make him AHL-eligible by sending him down prior to the trade deadline.
- Moritz Seider has been held out with injury since Feb. 23 and his absence has been felt. Grand Rapids dropped three consecutive games following the lost of Seider.
- Gustav Lindstrom was also missing in action from the GR blue-line. Playing in Detroit, Lindstrom has made a strong first impression with his play.
- Gustav Berglund, Albin Grewe, Albert Johansson, Elmer Soderblom and Antti Tuomisto all competed at a five nations tournament at the beginning of February. The Swedes were intriguing to watch with four Red Wings prospects playing together. Berglund was especially impressive, relative to expectations.
- Otto Kivenmaki suffered a hit to the head on Feb. 29. The head contact did not look good and Kivenmaki will presumably miss the remainder of the season. His mother posted a statement on the matter:
- Malte Setkov returned to the SHL after being loaned to the Allsvenskan for the majority of the season. Since the return to Malmo, Setkov scored his first career SHL goal (and point) in a career 2-point game.
February Statistics
All the statistics below are from games played in February. This section only includes regular season and playoff stats, so no tournament numbers are included. To keep track of each prospect’s season on a game-by-game basis, make sure to check out the Red Wings Prospect Master Schedule spreadsheet:
Skaters – Regular Season
| PLAYER | LEAGUE | GP | G | A | P |
| JOHN ADAMS | NCAA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SETH BARTON | NCAA | 8 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| JONATAN BERGGREN | SHL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| GUSTAV BERGLUND | SUPERELIT | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| DENNIS CHOLOWSKI | AHL | 8 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| ALBIN GREWE | SUPERELIT | 7 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| JOE HICKETTS | AHL | 12 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| TARO HIROSE | AHL | 9 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| PATRICK HOLWAY | NCAA | 8 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| ALBERT JOHANSSON | SHL | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| ALEXANDER KADEYKIN | KHL | 8 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| OTTO KIVENMAKI | LIIGA | 11 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| KASPER KOTKANSALO | NCAA | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| GUSTAV LINDSTROM | AHL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ROBERT MASTROSIMONE | NCAA | 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| JARED MCISAAC | QMJHL | 13 | 1 | 7 | 8 |
| COOPER MOORE | BCHL | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| RYAN O’REILLY | USHL | 10 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| CHASE PEARSON | AHL | 12 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| ETHAN PHILLIPS | NCAA | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MICHAEL RASMUSSEN | AHL | 12 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| MORITZ SEIDER | AHL | 9 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Malte Setkov | SHL | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| MALTE SETKOV | ALLSVENSKAN | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| GIVANI SMITH | AHL | 9 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| ELMER SODERBLOM | SUPERELIT | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| EVGENY SVECHNIKOV | AHL | 11 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| ANTTI TUOMISTO | JR. A SM-LIIGA | 7 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| DOMINIC TURGEON | AHL | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| KIRILL TYUTYAYEV | VHL | 9 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| JOSEPH VELENO | AHL | 12 | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| FILIP ZADINA | AHL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Goaltenders – Regular Season
| PLAYER | LEAGUE | GP | GAA | S% | RECORD |
| VICTOR BRATTSTROM | ALLSVENSKAN | 8 | 1.12 | .948 | 8-0-0 |
| JESPER ELIASSON | ALLSVENSKAN | 5 | 4.36 | .858 | 1-3-1 |
| KADEN FULCHER | ECHL | 0 | — | — | 0-0-0 |
| CARTER GYLANDER | AJHL | 10 | 2.19 | .917 | 8-2-0 |
| FILIP LARSSON | ECHL | 6 | 2.85 | .911 | 3-3-0 |
| KEITH PETRUZZELLI | NCAA | 9 | 1.57 | .937 | 6-2-1 |
| JOREN VAN POTTELBERGHE | NLA | 6 | 3.32 | .933 | 4-1-1 |
Skaters – Playoffs
| PLAYER | LEAGUE | GP | G | A | P |
| Cooper Moore | BCHL | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Kirill Tyutyayev | VHL | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
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