Sunday, October 6, 2013

Flyers Prospects Weekend Recap: Oct. 4th-6th

The Flyers may have had a depressing start to the season but their prospects had another great weekend.

The Adirondack Phantoms opened their season this weekend with a game against the Hershey Bears Saturday night.

Brandon Alderson had a great game. He picked up an assist on the opening goal of the season scored by Phantoms captain Ben Holmstrom and then scored the game tying goal in the third period. Alderson is a bit of a surprise, a kind of the under the radar signing over the off-season, but I was really impressed with his play at prospect camp, in the rookie game, and with the Phantoms tonight.

Jason Akeson, coming off a strong pre-season with both the Flyers and Phantoms, picked up two assists including one on the over time game winner. If the Flyers continue to struggle with scoring we could see the Akeson join the Flyers sooner rather than later.

Tye McGinn tipped in a Nick Cousins shot for the Phantoms second goal. Cousins got bumped up to the first line with McGinn and Akeson after Newbury was recalled by the Flyers. Michael Raffl, Mark Alt, Matt Konan, and Petr Straka all picked up assists, Straka getting the primary on Brandon Manning's over time game winner.

The Phantoms had a strong performance on the penalty kill; shutting the Bears out on all 5 of their power play opportunities. This is great considering the Flyers are using the Phantoms to develop their prospects into stronger defensive players. Struggling somewhat was the Phantoms power play. Though they did convert on one of their four PP chances they gave up two short handed goals. That's something they can tighten up in the Future.

Scott Laughton was sent back to junior Thursday and is off to an explosive start. Laughton picked up two goals and two assists in his first game back, then picked up two assists in his game Friday night with the Oshawa Generals. He continued Sunday picking up a goal and two assists. For those keeping track at home Laughton has 9 points (3 G, 6 A) in three games. I know a lot of people consider Laughton as a depth forward, but this season in the OHL could change that. 1.70-1.80 PPG is the magic number (or more appropriately magic range) for Laughton. That is what top tier prospects Mark Scheifele and Ryan Strome averaged in their second OHL season after being drafted. Both of them are considered top line prospects. If Laughton could put up a similar average he could find himself on a track to stardom.

Now, don't think the Flyers should recall Laughton to help address their offensive woes. He was sent back to junior to develop. He had a great weekend but you can't develop over a weekend. This isn't like when Brayden Schenn was sent down to the AHL for a handful of games at the start of the 11-12 season, that was more of a wake up call/punishment. The Flyers want Laughton to develop at the junior level and development takes time.

Taylor Leier and Tyrell Goulbourne faced off against each other with their respective WHL clubs for a pair of games over the weekend. Leier picked up 2 goals (including one short handed Saturday night) and an assist over the weekend. Leier has 9 points (4 G, 5 A) in 7 games this season. while Goulbourne picked up 2 assists Friday night. Goulbourne also picked up 2 assists Wednesday night giving him 4 points (all assists) on the season. Goulbourne who was drafted partly (if not entirely) for his pugilism has yet to drop the gloves this season. Kelowna actually didn't have any fights until this weekend. Goulbourne had 36 fights over the last two seasons in the WHL, and so far this season only has a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. I would really like to know how the Flyers feel about his lack of fisticuffs.

Anthony Stolarz had a rougher weekend compared to his red hot start this season with the London Knights. After giving up 4 goals on 33 shots Friday nights Stolarz bounced back with a 26 save performance Saturday night. Stolarz won both games over the weekend and is undefeated with a .934 Save% and a 2.20 GAA. I speculated over the summer that there may be a bit of a battle between Stolarz and his back up in London Jake Patterson due to Stolarz's struggles and Patterson's success at the end of last season. This weekend showed me Stolarz is firmly planted as the Knights starter. Even if he struggles one night the coaches have the confidence to send him out the very next night to get the job done.

Samuel Morin sat out both of Rimouski's games of the weekend with an injury but he is expected to play in their next game.

Robert Hagg, after picking up his 3rd point of the season (all assists) during the week, found himself back on the first defensive pairing in MODO's game Saturday and skated just over 15 and a half minutes.

Valeri Vasiliev again finished 4th amongst defensemen on his team, Spartak Moscow, in TOI and shifts in their game Saturday. On the season he has 1 point and is a +1 (tied for team lead) and, excluding his first game when he left early, is averaging over 15 minutes of ice time a game.

Jakub Kovar stopped 27 of 30 shots in his game Sunday against HC Donbass (featuring former Flyers Michael Leighton, Ruslan Fedotenko, and Oskars Bartulis). He took the 3-0 loss. Kovar on the season has a .913 Save % and a 2.53 GAA, but if you take out his one rough game he has .927 Save% and a 2.06 GAA. Kovar's team Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg remains at the bottom of the KHL, but Kovar has been in net for every win.

Terrance Amorosa returned from injury over the weekend and picked up an assist in his first game back. He was a -1 in the Sioux City Musketeers second game of the weekend.

Fredric Larsson picked up his first point in his game Saturday with the Youngstown Phantoms.

David Drake was a -1 Friday night and recorded a shot Saturday night. Other than that he didn't factor in the score sheet for the Des Moines Buccaneers. Drake has yet to record a point.

Merrick Madsen  had an average weekend with the Minot Minotauros in the NAHL. After sitting on the bench for Minot's game Friday night Madsen gave up 3 goals on 32 shots in a 3-2 loss Saturday night. Since moving down to the NAHL Madsen is 1-1 with a .904 Save% and a 2.53 GAA.

Earlier in the week Darren Dreger reported that the Anaheim Ducks are looking for a defenseman and that they were talking to a few NHL teams, including the Flyers. Dreger also reported that the Ducks would be willing to move one of their young forwards to make a deal. Who could the Flyers get if they deal a defenseman to Anaheim? Well that depends on who they send. If they were to deal Andrej Meszaros, as a lot of people have speculated, there are a number of forwards that the Flyers could get in return. I don't think the Duck would be willing to send one of their top five forward prospects (Jakob Silfverberg, Emerson Etem, Rickard Rakell, Peter Holland, and Nicolas Kerdiles) in a deal for Mesz. Also I think that Stefan Noesen, Antoine Laganiere, and Charles Sarault who have all been recently acquired via trade and free agency are also off limits. The Flyers may be interested in young NHL regulars like Nick Bonino and Matt Beleskey but they are both important parts to that Anaheim team so I don't know if they are going to be willing to part with them.

I know, I said I list a few names that the Ducks might deal and then only listed guys who I don't think they would trade. Well here is who I think they could deal. My list starts with Devante Smith-Pelly and Patrick Maroon. Smith-Pelly made the Ducks as a 19 year old in 2011-12, he played 49 games but found a reduced role with the team in the lockout shortened season. He had an alright season in the AHL last year and perhaps could benefit from a change of scenery. Maroon was actually drafted by the Flyers in 2007 and he's been a solid AHLer since turning pro. He was almost point per game in 2011-12 in the AHL. He isn't afraid to drop the gloves and is generally a pretty feisty player. He played 13 games with the Ducks last year and started the season with the team this year. These two guys are probably the only NHL ready players who the Ducks would be willing to move. Prospect wise I think the best forwards the Flyers could get are William Karlsson, Nick Sorensen, Chris Wagner, Kevin Roy, or Max Friberg. Karlsson, drafted 53rd Overall in 2011, is under contract with the Ducks but he was loaned back to his team in the SHL for this season. He was one of the top scorers in Sweden's second league in 2011-12; putting up 45 points (12 G, 33 A) in 46 games as a 18/19 year old. He adjusted well to the SHL last season and is off to another solid start. He is considered a speedy, skilled, top six player. Sorensen was drafted 45th overall in this last draft may also be an option for the Flyers. He was just over point per game for the Quebec Ramparts of the QMJHL last year and has 3 points (all assists) in 2 games so far this season. Some have speculated Sorensen is destined for a depth role, but I think he is comparable to Matt Read. He will also likely be a teammate of Robert Hagg on the Swedish World Junior team. Wagner was a 5th round pick in 2010 and he had a monster sophomore season at Colgate University scoring 51 points in 38 games in 2011-12. He had a bit of a rough adjustment to the AHL but he's a tough defensive player with some offensive pop. Kevin Roy was drafted as a 19 year old in 2012 after leading the USHL in points. He started his NCAA career with a bang scoring 34 points (17 G, 17 A) in 29 games with Northeastern University. Finally, Max Friberg caught everybody's attention following a stellar World Junior performance in 2012. He was the top scorer on his team (2nd leading scorer in the tournament), won the Gold Medal, and was named to the tournament All-Star team along with top prospects Evgeny Kuznetsov and Mikael Granlund. He had a rough transition to the SHL after averaging 1.17 PPG in Sweden's third league as an 18 year old. He has made the jump to North America this season and has so far picked up a goal in 2 AHL games.

Probably the best thing we could get from the Ducks is goaltending prospect Frederik Andersen. The Danish goalie was the best goalie in Sweden during 2011-12 and was arguably the best starter in the AHL last season. He's 23 years old, but with the Ducks bringing over Viktor Fasth last year, top goaltending prospect John Gibson waiting in the wings, and solid prospect Igor Bobkov in the organization Andersen may be expendable.

I think Andersen is probably the best thing we could get from the Ducks. If they are only trying to move a forward for a defenseman I think Karlsson or Sorensen would be the best options. But I think the Flyers are more likely to go after Patrick Maroon. He is already an NHLer and he fits the Flyers style. That's why they drafted him years ago, and they have a history of bring back players who were once in their organization.

No comments:

Post a Comment