As most players settle into their seasons, those that have found consistency stand out in this week’s Prospect Portfolio. The goalie prospects dominated the landscape, particularly for the Avs professional prospects.
Prospect of the Week:
Adam Werner – G (Colorado Eagles) round 5, pick 131, 2016
| Games Played | Wins | Losses | OTW | OTL | Save % | GAA |
| 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 92.2 | 2.48 |
Pro Standouts:
Conor Timmins – D (Colorado Eagles) round 2, pick 32, 2017
| Games Played | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM | +/- |
| 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -1 |
One of the few Avs prospects getting consistent ice, Timmins has done a good job taking advantage of it picking up two points despite the Eagles struggling to score up and down the lineup. If solid play continues for him, you can expect to see Timmins in an Avs jersey again as soon as an opportunity presents itself.
Josh Dickinson – C (Utah Grizzlies) round 7, pick 191, 2016
| Games Played | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM | +/- |
| 5 | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 3 |
Dickinson recorded hat-tricks in consecutive games this week and currently leads the entire ECHL in goals. While the numbers are fun to look at, the quality of competition in the ECHL is not up to par and I question if any developmental gains are happening here.
KHL:
Nikolai Kovalenko – RW (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl) round 6, pick 171, 2018
| Games Played | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM | +/- |
| 16 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -1 |
Steady as ever for Kovalenko this week. The lack of offensive consistency is starting to become a bit of a concern but what he lacks in production he regularly makes up in physicality. He’s averaging a shot per game so he’s getting involved offensively, the points just aren’t there yet.
Daniil Zhuravlyov – D (Ak Bars Kazan) round 5, pick 146, 2018
| Games Played | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM | +/- |
| 15 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
Following along in the same style of Kovalenko, Zhuravlyov saw a random scratching this week. This just seems to be part of the plan for young Russians in the KHL. As his production has waned so have his minutes and he seems to be settling into a third-pairing role.
Liiga (Finland):
Justus Annunen – G (Oulun Kärpät) round 3, pick 64, 2018
| Games Played | Wins | Losses | OTW | OTL | Save % | GAA |
| 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 96.43 | 0.85 |
Annnunen is on the cusp of doing something incredible. He posted his fourth consecutive shutout and needs just three more minutes without a goal to break the Liiga record. He continues to get quality games from the players in front of him but still for a 19-year-old goalie that is incredible.
He also played in a Champions Hockey League game which doesn’t count on his Liiga stats. He gave up four goals but still managed to pull out a shootout win.
NCAA:
Notre Dame (Nate Clurman, Nicky Leivermann, Cam Morrison)
Notre Dame had the week off leaving the three Avs prospects on the squad without an update.
Drew Helleson – D (Boston College) round 2, pick 47, 2019
| Games Played | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM | +/- |
| 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
BC found it’s footing offensive footing a bit over the weekend. Helleson managed to get in on the scoring with a seeing-eye floated wrister from the blue line. He seems like an ideal fit for the grindy NCAA style of play and therefore has looked a bit out of place so far in some of BC’s high scoring games.
Alex Newhook – C (Boston College) round 1, pick 16, 2019
| Games Played | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM | +/- |
| 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -3 |
Newhook got the goal monkey off his back slamming, home a rebound in BC’s second game of the weekend. His role on the team still seems unclear as BC has tried to use him at wing more so than center so far. If he hasn’t found something more by mid-November it will be pretty easy to focus on a two-year path for him.
Sampo Ranta – LW (Minnesota) round 3, pick 78, 2018
| Games Played | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM | +/- |
| 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
A goal every other game so far is good but not great for Ranta. The good news is he has remained fairly involved offensively with 13 shots on goal so far. He is also getting some utilization as a net-front body which could be a nice tool in his bag if he can’t put other parts of his game together. His goal this week was a jumping deflection which you can see here:
Denis Smirnov – LW (Penn State) round 6, pick 156, 2017
| Games Played | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM | +/- |
| 4 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
Smirnov seems to have two speeds: all or nothing. When the offensive talent shines through it is impressive but it comes off the back of complete blowouts and the lack of consistency is a pretty big red flag for a college senior.
Tyler Weiss – LW (Nebraska Omaha) round 4, pick 109, 2018
| Games Played | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM | +/- |
| 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 0 |
Weiss managed to play in both games over the weekend so that is a positive step but his offensive involvement was relatively limited. He’s never going to be a big shooter but for a guy as small as he is, he has to be able to get on the stat sheet positively almost every night. He doesn’t have the luxury of patience like some others do.
QMJHL:
Alex Beaucage – RW (Rouyn-Noranda Huskies) round 3, pick 78, 2019
| Games Played | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM | +/- |
| 13 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 16 | 2 |
After a bit of up and down, Beaucage seems to be settling in nicely and clicking with his teammates picking a goal and two assists in two games this week. With that comfort level, he continues to flash some impressive playmaking ability. He gets a lot of time and space to create in the Q and time will tell if he can translate that to pro.
Extraliga (Czechia):
Petr Kvaca – G (HC Oceláři Třinec) round 4, pick 114, 2017
| Games Played | Wins | Losses | OTW | OTL | Save % | GAA |
| 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 90.91 | 2.66 |
Kvaca got into one game and ended up taking the loss but it was an overall decent performance on his end. With numbers that don’t jump off the page, it’s hard to pin down what to really take out of his performances in a league that is relatively weak compared to many others.
USHL:
Shamil Shmakov – G (Cedar Rapids RoughRiders) round 7, pick 202, 2018
| Games Played | Wins | Losses | OTW | OTL | Save % | GAA |
| 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 93.8 | 1.76 |
Shmakov got to see a couple of starts this week which saw his numbers normalize a bit as he split the week going 1 – 1. While his current numbers still look pretty impressive, they need to given that he is a 20-year-old in the USHL.
WHL:
Luka Burzan – RW (Brandon Wheat Kings) round 6, pick 171, 2019
| Games Played | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM | +/- |
| 11 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 2 | -2 |
It’s been a bit of struggle recently for Burzan as his pointless streak extended to six games. The Brandon team around him is still fairly low-scoring but it is starting to see some goals come from depth. Burzan has missed an opportunity to emerge as a star for Brandon in the early part of the season and needs to find his feet soon. As a 19-year-old he is fighting for a contract at the end of this season.
Bowen Byram – D (Vancouver Giants) round 1, pick 4, 2019
| Games Played | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM | +/- |
| 12 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 27 | 1 |
Trent Miner – G (Vancouver Giants) round 7, pick 202, 2019
| Games Played | Wins | Losses | OTW | OTL | Save % | GAA |
| 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 87.9 | 3.35 |
It took a shootout to do it but Miner finally got himself back into the win column. It was also the only win of the week for Vancouver. Tendeck coming back to earth may open p a bit more opportunity for him as the thick of the season gets going.
Sasha Mutala – RW (Tri-City Americans) round 5, pick 140, 2019
| Games Played | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM | +/- |
| 9 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 10 | 0 |
Mutala snapped his six-game point streak this week but still leads the Americans in essentially every statistical category. The team appears to be somewhat offensively limited and Mutala finds himself in a very similar situation to Burzan in that regard. The difference being that Mutala has grabbed the bull by the horns and is now the go-to guy.
