The first international break comes up this week. While some players are with their national teams, the rest of the prospects will get a chance for recovery and practice.
David Reinbacher
19y, EHC Kloten, NL, Switzerland
Reinbacher made his return to the NL in the derby against the Zurich Lions, a game Kloten won 4-2. While he wasn’t credited in any of the scoring elements, he played 21:39 throughout the game, with four seconds on special teams. It was a statement return to say the least, and a return Montreal Canadiens fans should be happy with. That much playing time after having sat out three weeks is encouraging.
The defenceman played 19:41 against Lugano in the weekend’s second game, and he was -1 in the ratings. It was a goal Reinbacher was at fault for as he was overconfident in the neutral zone, took his eye of the puck, and caused more of a two-against-one.
While the mistake isn’t important in the long run, it is a mistake I wouldn’t think Reinbacher would do in his second game back and while the team was down by a goal.
The important thing in the end is that Reinbacher was back and got to play heavy minutes on the first pairing. He isn’t getting a lot of time on the special teams yet, but that should change over the coming weeks.
I have not been able to obtain an Austrian roster for the U20 tournament this upcoming week, hence I don’t know if he will be part of the Austrian team that will prepare for the Division I World Juniors.
Vinzenz Rohrer
19y, ZSC Lions, NL, Switzerland
In the game against Kloten, Rohrer played 11:50, with no special-teams duties, and no entries onto the scoresheet. He was then reseted in the game against Lausanne, most likely in preparation for the upcoming Deutschland Cup, where Rorher will represent Austria in the games against Denmark and Germany.
Oliver Kapanen
20y, KalPa, Liiga, Finland
Kapanen scored a nice goal while there was a delayed penalty against Ässät. It seems that he gets closer to the net and can work his quick hands to score from within the home-plate area.
He averaged 16:30 of ice time over three games, with the goal above his only point of the week.
Kapanen is not part of the Finnish National Team for the Karjala Tournament this week, and I think the international break comes at a good time for the centre as he struggled early on in the season. He will now get a full week of practice and recovery in before getting into the next segment of the season.
Adam Engström
19y, Rögle BK, SHL, Sweden
Rögle had a tough week. They were two goals up twice in Thursday’s game and still lost on penalties, where Engström missed his penalty shot (going as the second player) after having played 22:49. The team then went up to Luleå, with new signing Lucas Ekeståhl-Jonsson, and Engström played a strong game, but got his ice time cut to 16:13. losing out on power-play time especially. He still had a strong defensive performance, and it might have been a one-off in regard to ice time, but it will be something to keep an eye on.
We had a longer take on Engström’s development in the latest Prospect Minded podcast where Rögle’s defensive coach gave his insights to the development so far, and what impact the signing of Ekeståhl-Jonsson could mean for Engström.
Filip Eriksson
18y, Växjö Lakers, SHL, Sweden
Eriksson has been selected for the dress rehearsal tournament in Czechia this week. Due to players returning from injuries, his time on the SHL has been cut, playing only two minutes in Saturday’s 9-1 win over Oskarshamn. After this international break it might be better for Eriksson to play in the U20 league and get some heavy usage at five-on-five and on special teams, if only to give him the best chance to prepare for the WJC selection.
Bogdan Konyushkov
20y, Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, KHL, Russia
Torpedo is starting to lose its position in the Western Division, falling in the rankings even though they have played more games than the rest of the teams except for Kunlun.
Again, Konyushkov’s TOI is falling a bit, averaging 20:30 this week with one assist and a +1 rating. He received credit for an assist on the OT winner against Kunlun, but he wasn’t on the ice as it was scored.
Having watched a bit of him I have to say he reminds me a lot of Mattias Norlinder in the style of play, and where he needs to develop.
Yevgeni Volokhin
18y, Mamonty Yugry, MHL, Russia
No games for Volikhin this week.
Petteri Nurmi
21y, HPK, Liiga, Finland
Nurmi got his third assist of the season in Saturday’s game against Lukko, and he is back to averaging around 19 to 20 minutes a game. HPK is still second-to-last in the standings, and the international break could probably not come at a better time for the team in order to do a reset.
Alexander Gordin
22y, Ryazan-VDV, VHL, Russia
No points for Gordin this week, and his ice time fell through the four games, ending up at 5:24 in the last game of the week.
Dmitri Kostenko
21y, Khimik Voskresensk, VHL, Russia
Still averaging good minutes in the VHL, but no production and an up-and-down performance in plus/minus.
