The Official Prospects Thread

[theohall]

Edmonton will face Red Deer in the 2nd round of the WHL playoffs starting Thursday night.

[theohall]

Remparts open playoffs with a 6-1 win over Chicoutimi. Quebec outshot them 57-11. Quebec's depth players did the damage with their top scorers, Rochette and Bolduc, each held to 1 point.

Bolduc 1G 0A 8SOG +1


Edmonton opened Rd 2 with a 4-0 win over Red Deer.

Neighbours 0G 1A 2SOG +1 3rd Star. I suspect this was due to a strong defensive game since Red Deer only managed 18 SOG. Oil Kings almost doubled them up in SOG with 35.

[theohall]

Remparts took a 2-0 1st round series lead with a 6-3 win over Chicoutimi - back-to-back 6 goal games for Quebec. Once again Quebec had a 58 to 18 shot advantage and dominated the faceoff circle winning 42 of 66.

Bolduc 1G 1A 8SOG +1

Edmonton posted another shutout winning 5-0 over Red Deer to also take a 2-0 lead in their 2nd round series.

Neighbours 0G 1A 2SOG Even

[theohall]

Remparts took 3-0 series lead with a 6-3 road win over Chicoutimi.

Bolduc 2G 0A +2 5SOG

Edmonton leads 3-0 over Red Deer after a 5-4 OT win

Neighbours 1G 0A even 4SOG 3rd Star again

[theohall]

Edmonton completed a sweep in their 2nd round series with a 4-2 win over Red Deer. https://whl.ca/gamecentre/1018516/boxscore

Neighbours 0G 0A -1 1SOG.

Quebec advanced with their 3rd win. Their opponent is still TBD

[theohall]

Quebec will face Rimouski in the QMJHL Quarter-Finals. Remparts won the season series 5-3-0-0.

[theohall]

Remparts won 4-0 over Rimouski. Lead series 1-0.

Bolduc 0G 1A +2 2 SOG

Oil Kings will face Winnipeg ICE in Eastern Conference Final beginning Friday 5/20.

[theohall]

Rimouski took Game 2 4-1 over Quebec.

Bolduc 0G 0A -1 5SOG

[theohall]

Quebec won 4-1 over Rimouski to take a 2-1 lead in the best of 5 series. Game 4 is tonight at Rimouski.

Bolduc 1G 0A +1 3SOG (goal was empty netter)

Neighbours and the Oil Kings start their Conference Finals tonight versus Winnipeg. Winnipeg has home home ice, but with this being a 2-3-2 format, one road win in the first 2 games by the Oil Kings will give them a significant edge. Edmonton was 3-1-0-0 vs the Winnipeg in the regular season.

[theohall]

Quebec closed out their series 3 games to 1 with a 5-2 win over Rimouski. They will face the Shawnigan Cataractes in the best of 7 Semi-Finals beginning Wednesday May 25th.

Bolduc 1G 2A +3 2SOG (Goal was empty net again)


Edmonton Oil Kings won the opener of the Conference Finals with a 5-4 OT road win over Winnipeg. They blew a 4-1 lead in the 3rd period, but pulled out the win 1:07 into OT.

Neighbours 0G 1A -1 3SOG

[glen a richter]

With Vadim Zherenko signing his ELC the goaltending picture gets very interesting. IMO they’re letting Husso walk, slide Hofer up the depth chart either to back up Binner next season or be a 1a/1b with Ellis in the AHL, Zherenko probably gets loaned out to Finland for another season then Hofer comes in to back up Binner in ‘24/‘25. If Zherenko keeps his trajectory he’ll be Binner’s eventual replacement. Dude is good. 7th round steal in the same mold as Henrik Lundqvist was for the Rags. Army got a good one, I’m excited to see his progress over the next 3 seasons.

[theohall]

Having also signed Will Cranley, if Hofer isn't brought up, the Blues would need to find homes for Hofer, Ellis, Cranley, and Zherenko. There is also the possibility of re-signing Lindgren and bringing him up as the backup. So, yes, Zherenko stays in Europe 1 more year. Goalie pipeline looks solid other than Cranley. Curious to see how he performs on a better structured team in terms of SV% and GAA. Cranley did go 18-2 in 19-20, but a sub-.900 SV% isn't promising.

So...

1) Re-sign Lindgren and promote him. Assuming he doesn't get some ridiculous UFA offer.
2) Hofer and Ellis get the net in Springfield.
3) Cranley plays somewhere in the ECHL, since the Blues don't have an ECHL affiliate.
4) Zherenko stays in Finland.

That's my prediction. If the Lindgren signing doesn't happen, it'll be what Glenn said with the possibility of bringing Zherenko over sooner to play in Springfield with Ellis. Cranley will likely be solely a depth goalie who bounces between the AHL as a backup and the ECHL as a starter. Both of the above assume the Blues won't be able to afford Husso. With the current dearth of goalie talent in the NHL, Husso becoming unaffordable is very likely.

If Husso is re-signed, Lindgren won't be and 2) thru 4) above will be the goalie depth situation.

I just don't see the Blues letting Lindgren walk if they can keep him to an affordable deal which would be way less than what Husso will get offered by someone.

[theohall]

Oil Kings lost 5-1 to Winnipeg tonight. Series is tied 1-1.

Neighbours 0G 0A -1 4SOG

[theohall]

Oil Kings took 2-1 series lead with a 4-3 OT win over Winnipeg.

Neighbours 0G 2A +2 0SOG. Assisted on the ultimate tying goal and got the only assist on the GWG. Highlights are in the link above.

[theohall]

Remparts took Game 1 of the QMJHL Semi-Finals with a 3-2 win over Shawnigan

Bolduc 0G 0A +2 2SOG

Oil Kings won 4-2 to take a 3-1 series lead over Winnipeg in the WHL Eastern Conference Final.

Neighbours 0G 0A -1 4SOG


So Wednesday night, Blues won, T-Birds won, and both Bolduc and Neighbours won. Clean sweep for the organization and it's prospects.

[theohall]

Quebec plays tonight, Sunday and Monday. Edmonton plays Friday night and if necessary Sunday. Springfield plays Saturday, Sunday, and if necessary, Monday.

[theohall]

Shawnigan shutout the Remparts 1-0 scoring the only goal of the game 3:51 into OT tying the QMJHL Semifinals at 1-1.

Bolduc 0G 0A 1SOG Even

[theohall]

Oil Kings are up 4-0 after 1 in a series deciding game for them. Winnipeg has to win just to keep playing. Edmonton wins and they are in the WHL Final. Neighbours has 2 goals, so far.

Neighbours scored those 2 goals in 18 seconds. Highlights will be up tomorrow when the final score is updated.

My apologies, the 2 goals were in 8 seconds, not 18.

[theohall]

Oil Kings advanced to the WHL Final with a 7-1 win over Winnipeg. Edmonton will face either the Kamloops Blazers or Seattle Thunderbirds. Kamloops leads the series 3 games to 2.

Neighbours 2G 0A 3SOG +2

Highlights

[glen a richter]

Now that the focus is on next year….

Neighbours, I’d assume, will probably make the team for real and not for a 9 gamer. Bolduc I’d guess will get a 9er, probably. I’m curious to see how Dickinson comes back from his injury.

On the defense front obviously Perunovich will be with the club from day 1 unless he’s hurt again. Kessel, I can see him getting a long look in camp.