January Prospect Check-in

We're back with another prospect update, offering some positive glimpses of the future and some points of debate. Let's dive right in!

December's check-in is right here.

Stockton Heat

As much as I will hate typing this next pun, it's nothing but the truth.  The Heat have been the hottest team in the AHL, rising out of dead last in the Pacific division to fourth place. They've gone 7-2-0-1 in their past ten, and are looking unstoppable. Most of this is thanks to offseason acquisition Derek Grant, who has been tearing up the stat sheet. He also won the fastest skater in the AHL All Star game, so you know, he's not all that bad.

As always, make sure to check out Ed's constantly great coverage of the team here.

Brief read-up on NHLe is available here. Rob Vollman's translation factors are here. For the AHL, the factor is 0.48.

AHL	GP	G	A	P	NHLe	Month-to-Month
Kenny Agostino	36	12	15	27	29.52	4.74
Bill Arnold	29	6	10	16	21.72	-2.5
Austin Carroll	31	4	3	7	8.89	-0.95
Turner Elson	35	5	14	19	21.37	-1.34
Derek Grant	28	21	15	36	50.61	11.25
Freddie Hamilton	37	10	13	23	24.47	0.58
Garnet Hathaway	26	5	6	11	16.65	-3.03
Morgan Klimchuk	28	3	4	7	9.84	3.71
Brett Kulak	32	2	7	9	11.07	0.8
Oliver Kylington	33	4	5	9	10.73	-4.03
Kenney Morrison	16	0	3	3	7.38	1.7
Jakub Nakladal	35	2	12	14	15.74	-5.45
Emile Poirier	34	7	12	19	22	3.11
Drew Shore	31	4	15	19	24.12	-2.72
Patrick Sieloff	26	1	3	4	6.06	-1.81
Hunter Smith	31	1	3	4	5.08	-0.05
Bryce Van Brabant	33	7	5	12	14.31	2.09
Tyler Wotherspoon	34	0	3	3	3.47	1.07

Promising:

• Well I already mentioned him, but Derek Grant is certainly due for a call-up sometime soon. With the way the season is going, it can't hurt.
• After having early difficulties, Morgan Klimchuk and Emile Poirier have started to find twine with more and more frequency.

Concerning

• Jakub Nakladal is also receiving cries for a call-up along with Grant, though his might be a bit undeserved. While defensive play can't be gauged by a point-centric statistic, his contribution at the NHL level may not be any more different than any of those in the bottom three. Then again, couldn't hurt. (He was recalled before this was published. Oops)
  

CHL

OHL translation factor is 0.33, while QMJHL and WHL factors are both 0.27

CHL	GP	G	A	P	NHLe	Month-to-Month
Rasmus Andersson	45	7	38	45	27.06	2.54
Riley Bruce	37	1	9	10	7.31	-4.27
Pavel Karnaukhov	32	8	16	24	16.61	0
Keegan Kanzig	31	10	4	14	10	2.3
Andrew Mangiapane	39	30	31	61	42.32	-0.2

Promising:

• Rasmus Andersson is now the highest scoring defenceman in the OHL. This is very good.
• Pavel Karnaukhov is a model of consistiency
• And hey, even Keegan Kanzig is starting to find the net. He was sent down from the AHL, but if he's ever going to be an NHL player, he needs ice time and development. Playing in the Dub, regardless if he's nearly 21, helps.
• Andrew Mangiapane slightly dropped in month-to-month NHLe, but very slightly, and he's still scoring like crazy.
  

Concerning:

• Riley Bruce is currently serving a ten game suspension for boarding. Less surprising than Mangiapane's suspension, but still very bad.

NCAA

NCAA translation factors are here. DeBlouw plays in the Big Ten, Harrison in the ECAC, and Jankowski, Gilmour, and Hickey in the Hockey East

NCAA	GP	G	A	P	NHLe	Month-to-Month
Matt DeBlouw	18	3	5	8	12.76	-1.63
Tim Harrison	26	6	3	9	6.53	1.29
Mark Jankowski	26	12	15	27	31.51	1.17
John Gilmour	25	6	12	18	21.84	0.42
Brandon Hickey	24	5	2	7	8.85	-4.42

• We've more or less found out what kind of player Mark Jankowski is, and it certainly isn't "best player in ten years" or maybe even "first round pick." There's not a whole lot to like about a player who, as a senior, has yet to be the dominant force we wanted/expected him to be. He certainly looks like he can be useful, but as I've said in previous editions of the Prospect Check-in, he may be more valuable away from the team.
• If you want more in-depth scouting, check out Ryan Lambert's article at Flamesnation about his play.
  
• From the same article, Hickey is looking excellent as a sophomore, but hasn't yet found that scoring edge.

Europe:

Europe	League	GP	G	A	P	NHLe	Month-to-Month
Adam Ollas Mattsson	SHL	22	1	3	4	8.5	0
Rushan Rafikov	KHL	32	0	2	2	4.25	-1.19
	VHL	4	0	1	1	N/A	N/A
	MHL	3	0	0	0	0	0

• Ollas Mattsson is still sidelined with the lower-body injury he suffered in the WJC. No timetable for his return, but it might be until the end of the season.
• Rushan Rafikov is still Rushan Rafikov.

Goaltenders:

Goalies	League	Record	GP	SV%	GAA
Jon Gilles	AHL	2-3-1	7	0.92	2.31
Joni Ortio	AHL	9-8-0	28	0.896	3.29
Kevin Poulin	AHL	6-1-2	10	0.925	2.24
Mason McDonald	QMJHL	12-12-3	27	0.897	3.4
Nick Schneider	WHL	12-19-1	33	0.893	3.6

• Mason McDonald picked up the QMJHL's First Star of the Week for the previous week. His stats don't look like it, but it's the Q, so those numbers are pretty normal.
• I'm still curious about Kevin Poulin. Looking at the Flames' desperate goaltending situation, especially with regards to next year, they do need all the help they can get. Poulin has arrived out of nowhere to claim the starting spot for the Heat. Could he do the same for the Flames?

Question of the month:

The Flames have looked flat in recent games, mostly due to a lack of scoring. Recall Markus Granlund has simmered down to pure ineffectiveness, almost unnoticeable on the ice. For a team that is so reliant on depth scoring, why not bring in some depth that can score? How about that Derek Grant kid?

Prospect of the Month:

I don't like giving this to the same prospect in consecutive months, but Derek Grant has more than earned it. This guy was free?