HW 3 Stars: March’s Top Prospects

The month of March represented the beginning of the stretch run for Laval while several of Montreal’s prospects kicked off their playoffs.  Here are their top performers.

Laval

1st Star: Kaapo Kahkonen – Getting the usual caveat out of the way that we cover Laval’s top performers here and not just the prospects on the team, Kahkonen came up big in a month that Laval’s offence dried up.  The recall of Jacob Fowler made him the undisputed starter and the extra workload wasn’t an issue.  If anything, the veteran arguably had his best month of the season.  When the Habs signed Kahkonen, he was viewed as the perfect buffer goalie, one who could come up in a pinch or do well carrying the workload with the Rocket when needed.  He certainly showed the latter last month.

Stats: 4-2-2 record, 1.81 GAA, .923 SV%, 0 SO

2nd Star: Sean Farrell – Laval’s top veteran offensive performers had quieter months (while Laurent Dauphin was injured) which played a big role in their underachieving.  But Farrell largely managed to keep up his typical level of production in spite of the others’ struggles which was a good sign.  Earlier this season, I had praised his shoot-first approach that was lacking.  Unfortunately, that has gone back in the other direction but he’s a pure playmaker and those players don’t tend to be consistent volume shooters.

Stats: 10 GP, 2 goals, 6 assists, 8 points, -1 rating, 0 PIMS, 15 shots

3rd Star: Florian Xhekaj – It has been a quiet sophomore season for Xhekaj, something that can be said for a few of Laval’s youngsters.  However, he found a way to make a bigger impact last month despite primarily still playing on the fourth line.  He picked up a trio of shorthanded tallies which has to look a little more intriguing to Montreal when their penalty kill has underachieved for most of the season.  On the other hand, two of his goals were empty-netters, including one of the shorties.

Stats: 9 GP, 5 goals, 1 assist, 6 points, +5 rating, 9 PIMS, 14 shots

Honourable Mention: Samuel Blais – While the veteran hasn’t been producing at the top-line level he was upon being sent down, he has settled in nicely as a secondary contributor.  Blais spent a good chunk of March on the checking line, moving up when needed and still wound up second in goals and points for the month.  Assuming a recall to the Canadiens is unlikely for the playoffs (for injury coverage in the next couple of weeks, that’s more likely), he’s going to be a key piece for the Rocket for their postseason run.

Stats: 10 GP, 4 goals, 3 assists, 7 points, -4 rating, 6 PIMS, 18 shots

Other Prospects

1st Star: Bryce Pickford (Medicine Hat, WHL) – There are only so many ways to keep saying just how productive he really was this season.  One of the top-scoring players in the league (not just defencemen, all skaters), Pickford finished the regular season on a high note, averaging a goal per game before getting off to a solid start to his postseason.  He is quickly becoming one of Montreal’s more prominent prospects.

Season Stats: 8 GP, 8 goals, 4 assists, 12 points, +11 rating, 12 PIMS, 41 shots
Playoff Stats: 3 GP, 2 goals, 1 assist, 3 points, +5 rating, 2 PIMS, 9 shots

2nd Star: Yevgeni Volokhin (Khimik, VHL) – The goaltender is in a tough spot development-wise.  He’s clearly too good for the VHL (the AHL equivalent to the KHL) but there isn’t room for him to move up with his team either.  The result is Volokhin being nothing short of dominant again, finishing up the season on an incredible note before starting the playoffs strong.  Montreal has a lot of goalies outside their system at the moment but he could be an intriguing piece in a couple of years.

Season Stats: 5 GP, 4-1-0 record, 1.00 GAA, .968 SV%, 3 SO
Playoff Stats: 4 GP, 3-1-0 record, 2.00 GAA, .929 SV%, 0 SO

3rd Star: Emmett Croteau (Dartmouth, NCAA) – The month didn’t end on a great note considering his team was eliminated in the opening round of the end-of-season tournament.  However, that was the only blemish of the month as he was largely unbeatable beyond that.  Croteau is eligible to withdraw from school and become a free agent so he’ll have to decide if the time is right to do so or stay where he is and remain in Montreal’s system.

Stats: 5 GP, 4-1-0 record, 1.16 GAA, .953 SV%, 1 SO

Honourable Mention: Bogdan Konyushkov (Torpedo, KHL) – One of the remaining NCAA prospects could have landed here but I wanted to highlight Konyushkov’s finish to the season.  He had a strong two-week stretch leading into the playoffs and didn’t miss a beat transitioning to postseason hockey.  He logged a little under 22 minutes per game last month and it’s great to see the uptick after it dipped earlier on in the season.

Season Stats: 5 GP, 0 goals, 5 assists, 5 points, -5 rating, 0 PIMS, 9 shots
Playoff Stats: 5 GP, 0 goals, 2 assists, 2 points, -1 rating, 0 PIMS, 8 shots