With February in the books, it’s time to take a look around the minor leagues to see what the Caps’ prospects have been up to over the last month:
AHL – Hershey Bears
The Bears have continued their great play, vaulting themselves to top of their division, second in their conference, and fourth in league standings. Their offense has settled in as #12 in the league like it was last month, but their power play has improved going from 26th to 22nd. Their penalty is ranked third and they have the second best defense in the league. Overall, they are a very strong team
Daniel Sprong RW
February: 1GP 1G 2A
If you don’t know much about Sprong you can read about him here. He’s a high dynamic offensive talent that could really turn into something for the Capitals. He instantly becomes a Capitals top-three forward prospect. He did not waste any time in reassuring the Cap brass that they made a good move, because in his first game with the Bears on the last day of the month he put up a goal and two primary assists. He’s a very welcome addition to Hershey.
Alexander Alexeyev LHD
February: 10GP 1G 4A
Season: 54GP 3G 18A
Alexeyev continues to stay pretty darn consistent with his point production. Once Christian Djoos was traded it was looking like there would be a good chance that Alexeyev would replace him on the first power play unit. Unfortunately, it did not happen so Alexeyev still isn’t getting the power play time he deserves, which is a shame because it would really boost his production.
Axel Jonsson Fjallby LW
February: 11 GP 2G 4A
Season: 57GP 12G 11A
Fjallby had a very good February considering he’s mainly getting bottom six, often fourth line time. His 12 goals are tied for sixth on Bears and if the AHL had goals per 60 minute stat I’d bet that he would easily be leading the team. Fjallby is going to make a very good depth NHLr one day with his speed and shot.
Brian Pinho C/W
February: 11GP 5G 0A
Season: 48GP 18G 14A
Pinho didn’t have as strong a February as his January, but five goals in 12 games is always a pretty good stat. He’s continuing to grow as a player and improving every game.
Beck Malenstyn RW
February: 11GP 1G 3A
Season: 43GP 7G 8A
Malenstyn is producing he like he should for a fourth liner. He did get hurt on the last game of the month so hopefully he isn’t out long.
Liam O’Brien LW
February: 11GP 2G 3A
Season: 55GP 10G 19A
O’Brien is continuing his career season with the Bears. He’s basically cemented himself in the top six and hasn’t been a drag. He’s added some legit, albeit not top end, skill to his game that helps his team score.
Martin Fehervary LHD
February: 8GP 0G 0A
Season: 44GP 4G 10A
Fehervary put up a big egg in the February, which is odd. He was never going to be an offesnive defensemen but he usually puts ups something every month. His game is high end speed with defensive smarts, so it isn’t a big concern. Probably just am unlucky stretch.
Garrett Pilon C
February: 11GP 6G 4A
Season: 57GP 18G 18A
Pilon passed his last season’s total (33) during the month of February in almost 20 less games. He’s continuing to develop into a real good player at both ends of the ice, but especially in the offensive zone.
Joe Snively LW
February: 12GP 3G 6A
Season: 43GP 12G 11A
Snively returned from over a month long injury a little slow, only two points in seven games, even started on the fourth line, but he’s really shaken the rust off since, finishing February with six point in three games including a hat trick. Snively can be a little inconsistent but when he’s on he’s deadly.
Shane Gersich LW
February: 11GP 4G 1A
Season: 50GP 10G 6A
Gersich has accepted his role as a bottom six player, which can’t be easy, but good to see. He has been used as both center and wing and heavily relied upon for the penalty kill. He probably didn’t envision himself as a fourth liner, but there’s always a use for speed and smarts through out the lineup.
Lucas Johansen LHD
February: 0GP 0G 0A
Season: 9GP 0G 2A
Johansen is still hurt but is expected to return soon.
Connor Hobbs RHD
February: 0GP 0G 0A
Season: 16GP 1G 1A
Hobbs is finished for the season with a shoulder injury.
Brett Leason RW
February: 9GP 2G 3A
Season: 50GP 3G 11A
As per the usual with Leason, he’s has not been put in the best position to succeed. He did get a couple top six games this month and produced, but then the next game he could be healthy scratched. It’s unclear why they are using him like this but hopefully next season is when he stays in top six and starts to get some power play time.
Bobby Nardella LHD
February: 11GP 2G 9A
Season: 37GP 4G 24A
Nardella is continuing to have a fantastic rookie season. He’s fifth in rookie defensemen scoring but the four guys in front of him have played 14 to 16 more games than him! He has the second best points per game among rookie defensemen. He’s been a pleasant surprise for the Bears and Capitals.
Colby Williams RHD
February: 7GP 0G 0A
Season: 29GP 0G 4A
Williams is Williams. He steady leader but bring little offense to his game.
Vitek Vanecek G
Season: 29GP .912sv% (907)
Vanecek had a strong February, raising his save percentage by 5 points.He can go on hot and cold streaks, but when he’s on he’s hard to beat.
Riley Sutter C/RW
February: 6GP 0G 1A
Season: 22GP 1G 3A
Sutter has been either playing on the fourth line or healthy scratched. There are so many forwards it’s hard to crack the lineup consistently.
Kody Clark RW
February: 7GP 0G 2A
Season: 28GP 3G 6A
Much like Sutter, Clark has been in and out of the lineup. It’s hard to really stay consistent that way.
ECHL – South Carolina Stingrays
Krisofers Bindulis LHD
February: 13GP 5G 9A
Season: 45GP 6G 16A
I usually skip over Bindulis real quick but he had a monster February with 14 points in 13 games. Still don’t think there’s much of a future with the Caps or Bears, but he’s making it somewhat interesting.
Europe
Damien Riat RW (NLA)
February: 8GP 5G 0A
Season: 36GP 11G 11A
Riat was having a good not spectacular season and then he got hurt, which is never good. But once he came back he came back on a tear, scoring nine times in the last 19 games. He’s added three assists on top of that. The playoffs should be starting soon for his team. It will be interesting to see if he makes the jump to North America once his season ends and maybe join the Bears on their playoff run.
Sebastion Walfridsson LHD (Allsvenskan)
February: 9GP 0G 2A
Season: 50GP 2G 6A
As usual, Walfridsson is a pure defensive defensemen so don’t expect big points from him but he’s at least doing s little something.
Kristian Roykas Marthinsen LW (Division 1)
January: 6GP 1G 1A
Season: 40GP 7G 5A
It’s hard to tell anything about the Division 1 league or how many minutes or what line Kristian is playing on. He probably should have stayed in North America.
Tobias Geisser LHD (NLA)
January: 9GP 0G 1A
Season: 25GP 0G 2A
Geisser was loaned from the AHL to the NLA, which is probably better for his development since he gets more time in Switzerland.
CHL – OHL, WHL
Connor McMichael C (OHL)
February: 11GP 5G 9A
Season: 47GP 42G 52A
McMichael by far had his worst month of the season, though 14 points in 11 games is still pretty good. After only going pointless twice through his first 36 games through the end of January, Connor went pointless four times in 11 February games. Somehow after all that he still leads his team by 22 points.
Still, through all of that McmIchael is fifth in the OHL in points when playing four to 12 less games than the four players in front him. At his pace, if he played four more games he’d be third in points and if played 12 more games he’d be leading the league by 11 points. So it was a rough month for McMichael but he’s still a top tier talent. Hard to be consistently elite.
Alexei Protas C (WHL)
February: 10GP 6G 8A
Season: 53GP 28G 44A
Protas had a very mediocre January but picked it back up in February, though the last two games of the month he recorded no points, which certainly hurt his numbers. He still isn’t playing has dominant as he did the first three months of the season but he’s still a great talent. And he still leads his team by seven points and is 10th in WHL scoring. Hopefully he can get back to his old ways to finish out the season.
Eric Florchuk C (WHL)
February: 12GP 5G 13A
Season: 54GP 21G 34A
Sometimes players just play better on other teams. Since Florchuk has been traded to Vancouver from Saskatoon, he has 10 goals and 21 assists in 21 games. He averaged 0.72 points with Saskatoon and 1.47 with Vancouver. It’s odd because he was getting top six time with both teams and only two points seperate them in the standings. Why Eric is thriving with his new team is a mystery. Though maybe it has to do with him settled at 2C, when in Saskatoon he was put on both wings and center. Whatever it is, it’s working.
Alex Kannok-Leipert RHD (WHL)
February: 12GP 0G 6A
Season: 58GP 3G 19A
Alex is continuing to have a good offensive year, at least for a defensive defenseman. He’ll never put up the big points, but it’s good to see him adding to his game as he gets older. He just passed his career high in points!
Hugo Has RHD (OHL)
February: 7GP 0G 1A
Season: 17GP 0G 5A
Hugo is still getting used to the North American type of play. He’s been used in the top four a handful quote a bit, which is good to see. It means his coach is trusting him.
NCAA
Benton Maass RHD
February: 7GP 2G 0A
Season: 32GP 3G 7A
Maass is slowly improving his offensive game as the season goes along. He hasn’t hit that good Freshman numbers yet but he’s climbing.
Mitchell Gibson G
Season: 21GP .917sv%
21 .917sv
Gibson’s number took another hit through February but that was mainly due to the seven goal beat down that happened at the hands of Boston University. The report out of the game was Gibson was hung out to dry. He’s still fourth in Freshman save percentage.