European prospect review: Martin Reway is back on the ice

In this week's European Prospect Review, the biggest news is that Martin Réway is back on the ice, and the expectation is that he will return for the playoffs. While he isn't back to playing just yet, we still do have some other guys to take a look at.

Joonas Nättinen, JYP

Nättinen was on the wrong end of the Aho and Puljujärvi show, where they scored four out of five goals between them (the game finished 5-2 for Kalpa). To Nättinen's credit, he came out of the bout with a goal, and was even on the plus/minus sheet. He also got an assist in a 4-1 loss to IFK Helsinki.

Lukas Vejdemo, Djurgården Hockey

I watched Vejdemo in the game against Frölunda, and while he did not collect any points in the 2-1 win, he was a strong presence on the ice. He had one good steal, and should have gotten a better finish from it. The good news is that he seems to have learned to use his strong skating technique to his advantage in the SHL.

Magnus Nygren, Färjestad BK

Nygren's howitzer seems to have fallen silent the last few games. While still shooting a lot, his aim seems to be a bit off. He is also marked quite hard on the power play, something clearly visible in Tuesday's game, where Wikstrand got left all alone to score instead.

I would still call this a strong season for him, but he hasn't seen as much success as I had expected. Maybe he is saving it for the playoffs, which are more or less around the corner.

Artturi Lehkonen, Frölunda

Lehkonen missed his first game of the season Tuesday night due to a fever. He did, however, manage to snag the game-winning goal in overtime during Friday's away game against Örebro. As the teams played back-to-back, he also set up the first goal in next day's game at home, stealing the puck and starting the counterattack.

Lehkonen had a nine game point drought, and after having been on a roll, it was a scrappy goal that lifted his spirits. Where he is usually quite the sniper, on this occasion he just banged away at a rebound to put it in.

Martin Reway, Fribourg-Gottéron

As mentioned, Réway is back at practice. While it is expected that he sits out the remaining games before the playoffs, he seems likely to participate once they get going.

Fribourg has been hit with quite a few concussions this season; Mauldin, Loichat, Kamerzin (twice), Pouliot, Schmutz, Pluess, Camperchioli, Vauclair, Schilt, and Réway. The good news is that the medical staff is well versed on how to handle this type of injury, and seem to be doing a great job with it.

While the Montreal Canadiens are not very likely at all to be in the playoffs this year, they will at least have several prospects in Europe to watch.

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