The European leagues have started up again after the international break for different three- and four-nations tournaments. Oliver Kapanen played for Finland and Vinzenz Rohrer played for Austria in the different senior tournaments that were on. This week all prospects participated in their respective leagues again:
Oliver Kapanen
20y, KalPa, Liiga, Finland
Kapanen was playing on the first line on Finland’s national team in Beijer Hockey Games in Sweden. He finished the tournament with an assist, but the important thing is that he was on the team as a natural step in his development.
In his return to KalPa, Kapanen scored a goal from his position right at the doorstep.
With KalPa pushing for a playoff spot, a couple of deadline moves were made on Thursday night. The contract with Miikka Pitkänen was terminated (he signed with Södertälje in HockeyAllsvenskan) and KalPa signed Logan Hutsko from Modo (SHL).
Adam Engström
20y, Rögle BK, SHL, Sweden
Engström had two assists this week, the first a behind-the-back pass to open up the ice in order to create more space. The play in itself shows some of the high hockey IQ that Engström has, but it also shows a bit of that high-risk, high-reward play that he can choose, especially this year as he seems to have started to play a bit more “hero puck” as Rögle’s season has spiralled out of control.
Engström had a terrible situation where he went to kick the puck away in the neutral zone instead of playing it or covering the player behind him. The puck passed under his skate and off to a streaking Jonathan Lekkerimäki, who scored, in another risky play that wasn’t successful.
The second assist of the week came against league leader Färjestad.
Engström didn’t play more than six minutes over the game, and looked fresh on Friday’s practice.
“Adam has oscillated in his performance lately. He needs to be more consistent in his actions and his play without the puck,” said Rögle’s assistant coach Max Bohlin to Eyes on the Prize in regards to Engström’s limited ice time in Saturday’s game.
Engström has 18 points (3G,15A) over 42 games so far. Rögle has scored the least amount of goals in the SHL and Engström has been directly involved in 19% (18/94) of Rögle’s goals so far, this without a lot of power play time as well as being the defensive part of the pairing with Viljanen.
Filip Eriksson
19y, Växjö Lakers, SHL / Nybro Vikings, HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden
Eriksson continues his impressive season in Nybro, with 17 points (6G, 11A) in 15 games. It helps that he is being used on the power play, but he is playing around 20 minutes a game and plays on both special-teams units.
It is especially impressive that he does it on a Nybro a team that was promoted last season, and is in the middle of the table. Eriksson doesn’t benefit from being on one of the top teams where he can pad his stats by scoring points against weaker opposition. He has produced against top teams and bottom teams with equal pace, something that should be considered when evaluating Eriksson’s progress.
David Reinbacher
19y, EHC Kloten, NL, Switzerland
Kloten is in a free fall, and one has to second guess the manager who brought in another coach who plays a man-to-man system, as that didn’t work for Kloten at the beginning of the season. Right now, I wouldn’t bet on Kloten winning the best-of-seven relegation series against Ajoie, a team that is on the up and has had the opportunity to prepare for that playoff for a long time as they started the season poorly, and a team that plays in a small arena with a rapturous crowd behind them.
If Kloten were to lose that series, they they would have to play against the top team of the Swiss League (second division), and I am not sure I’d bet on Kloten winning that series either, even if it is over seven games as well.
The good thing is, again, that there are important matches coming up, and Reinbacher is the best player that Kloten has on the ice. He is back to himself now that the injuries seem to have passed, and while he doesn’t activate as much in the offensive zone, it is partly because he is one of the few playing a defensively responsible game.
Vinzenz Rohrer
19y, ZSC Lions, NL, Switzerland
Rohrer is playing in the same role he has the whole season, and playing it well. Zürich leads the league and should be ready for a deep playoff run.
Petteri Nurmi
21y, HPK, Liiga, Finland
There were two games for Nurmi, and he played his usual defensively strong game while playing over 24 minutes in both.
With HPK out of the playoffs I was surprised that he wasn’t moved at the deadline. However, if he doesn’t go over to North America next season, I understand why HPK would want him to see the season out with them as relegation will come back into Liiga starting next season.
Bogdan Konyushkov
21y, Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod, KHL, Russia
As the KHL is winding down the regular season and looking towards the playoffs, Torpedo has rested Konyuskov much in the same way as many of the “big” teams do in order for the the players to heal up and rest. He has been out for three games, and it will be interesting to see if he makes a return in Saint Petersburg or if Torpedo waits for the last homestand to have him return to the lineup.
Yevgeni Volokhin
18y, Mamonty Yugry, MHL, Russia
No games for Volokhin last week. His season stats are very strong in the Junior league, especially as you have to consider that he isn’t playing for a big club like SKA, CSKA, or Lokomotiv.
Alexander Gordin
22y, Ryazan-VDV, VHL, Russia
One goal and two assists for Gordin this week.
Dmitri Kostenko
21y, VHL, Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia
Kostenko had two assists last week.
