With three out of four players that hit the ice registering at least a point, and the other playing a defensively sound game for his national team, I have to say it was a good week for the European prospects.
Joonas Nattinen, JYP
Nättinen played two games for Finland against Sweden and scored his first goal, benefiting from a good forecheck form Artturi Lehkonen, and a lucky bounce off Tim Heed. To be fair, Nättinen was probably looking for Ilari Filppula or Artturi Lehkonen, and got the bounce instead.
In any case, overall play from Nättinen was good, and he finished the two games with a goal and a plus-one rating.
Lukas Vejdemo, Djurgården Hockey
Vejdemo must have been impatient to get back to action during the national break. In a furious first period, he scored a goal and screened the goalkeeper for another. This helped Djurgården to turn an early 1-0 deficit to a 2-1 lead after the first period.
The match eventually finished tied at four, and Djurgården got the win via the shootout.
Magnus Nygren, Färjestad BK
Nygren was a little up and down for Sweden. Relied upon to handle tough assignments during both games, he did manage an assist, but also finished as a minus-one with two penalty minutes.
He returned back to Swedish ice and played a solid game for Färjestad against Örebro. He did however miss in the shootout, and Färjestad lost the game.
Artturi Lehkonen, Frölunda HC
Lehkonen was on a line with Nättinen for the internationals, and they played very well together. They had more of a shutdown role, as Patrik Laine and Sebastian Aho made their debuts for the national team.
Lehkonen was solid, and showed the same qualities that has made him indispensable in Frölunda this season. Unfortunately he couldn’t find the scoresheet, so no first point with the national team for Lehkonen.
Martin Reway, Fribourg-Gottéron
There is still no news regarding Réway from Fribourg-Gottéron. He was not part of the Slovakian team this weekend, and is hopefully recovering completely before even thinking about getting back on the ice. Fribourg has been hit by quite a few concussions this season, so they should have their concussion protocol up to date.
