In the event you missed whether the Western Hockey League and Ontario Hockey League trade deadlines impact Boston Bruins prospects, you can catch up here.
Slovakia confirmed last week that Peter Cehlarik will in fact represent his native country at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. Big congratulations to Cehlarik. He was instrumental in Slovakia’s “play in” to get to the Olympics and now he gets the opportunity to shine in the real games.
Happy birthday to Riley Duran who turns 20 tomorrow.
Kirk Luedeke of New England Hockey Journal had a sit down (via Zoom) with Providence Bruins Head Coach Ryan Mougenel. Coach gives an honest assessment of his players in Providence and those that have moved up to Boston. It’s just under an hour long and I highly recommend giving it a listen here.
Matias Mantykivi had a dream to one day play in the NHL. On June 22, 2019 that dream became one step closer to becoming a reality when the Bruins selected him with the 185th pick. Mantykivi admits that he watched the draft partially from home in Finland but he was not surprised that the Bruins selected him because “they called me from Boston earlier and asked if them drafting me is okay.”
Mantykivi spent his first two seasons in Liiga with SaiPa. He appeared in 85 games during those two seasons and scored 4 goals and 11 assists. The offseason brought a move to Ilves Tampere where the transition was smooth on and off the ice, but it took some time for Mantykivi to find his offensive game.
In his first 10 games if the season, Mantykivi registered just 2 assists. He followed that up with 9 goals and 12 assists in his next 28 games, a marked improvement statistically. But he’s taken it to another level recently with 6 goals and 5 assists in his last 10 games.
At 5’11” and 165 pounds, Mantykivi doesn’t have ideal size. He’s not a bad skater and could benefit from adding more speed – something I am told he is working on. Positionally, he can play center or left wing – something the Bruins like, multi-positional players. In his own words, Mantykivi prefers to play down the middle where is best attribute, playmaking, is his best asset.
Mantykivi isn’t shy about putting in the necessary work to realize his dream of playing in the NHL. With Ilves, he has excellent coaches that will steer him on the right path and he will put in the work.
Mantykivi’s contract with Ilves expires at the end of the 2022-2023 season at which time he is free to sign an entry level contract with the Bruins. If he continues on his current trajectory, that contract will be on its way.
Providence Bruins Player Stats
Providence Bruins Goalie Stats
Maine Mariners Stats
Coming up this week:
| PLAYER | MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | SUN |
| CEHLARIK | |||||||
| BYCHKOV | |||||||
| ARNESSON | X | At BRY | Vs ORE | ||||
| MANTYKIVI | Vs SPO | Vs IFK | |||||
| JELLVIK | Vs AIK | ||||||
| GASSEAU | Vs DM | Vs DM | |||||
| LANGENBRUNNER | Vs DM | Vs DM | |||||
| KUNTAR | At MNE | ||||||
| BEECHER | At WIS | At WIS | |||||
| LOHREI | At P S | At P S | |||||
| BECKER | At M S | At M S | |||||
| SCHMALTZ | Vs St C | Vs St C | |||||
| DURAN | At Mass | At BU | |||||
| OLSON | Vs W M | Vs W M | |||||
| MCFAUL | Vs St L | At St L | |||||
| GALLAGHER | At Mass | Vs PRO | |||||
| HARRISON | At KGN | At PBO | Vs PBO | ||||
| MAST | X | At WSR | At FNT | Vs KIT | |||
| LYSELL | At KAM | Vs KEL | At KEL | Vs KAM | |||
| SVEDEBACK | At CR | At MAD |
X – Postponed games due to COVID / rescheduling
AROUND THE GLOBE
WHO’S HOT:
Oskar Jellvik is sizzling hot for Djurgardens IF of the J20 Nationell Top-10. While he was kept off the score board on Sunday in Djurgardens 3-2 overtime loss to Lulea, Jellvik has 5 goals and 3 helpers through 5 Top-10 matches helping Djurgardens to top spot in the Top-10.
WHO’S WARM:
Fabian Lysell returned from Sweden and scored a goal and 2 helpers on Friday to end the Giants 5-game losing streak to Victoria. Lysell has 12 goals and 19 assists in 24 games on the season. Saturday’s game against Kelowna was postponed.
Andre Gasseau of the Fargo Force in the USHL has 4 goals and 4 assists in his last 9 games but it wasn’t enough to help the Western Conference’s sixth place team who are 4-4-1 in those 9 games.
Riley Duran is beginning to find his niche with Providence College. In his last 8 games, the freshman has 3 goals and 5 assists, easily his best stretch of the season.
Trevor Kuntar is also in the midst of his best stretch of the season with points in 6 of his last nine games on 2 goals and 4 assists. Kuntar missed Saturday’s game after being tagged with a one-game suspension for a hit to the head the previous night.
Quinn Olsen has 2 goals and 2 assists in his last 4 games and set career highs in assists and points. The Junior for Minnesota-Duluth is tied for second in team scoring, just 1 point behind the leader.
Mason Lohrei ended his longest point draught of the season at 4 games on the weekend as he had 3 helpers in Ohio’s weekend matchup against Michigan State. With 2 goals and 20 assists in 26 games on the season, it’s safe to say Lohrei’s offensive game is ahead of schedule.
I still don’t have a read on the offensive potential of Sarnia Sting defenseman Ryan Mast. He has 3 goals and 2 assists in his last 6 games and has career best in goals, assists and points in 27 fewer games. He missed Sunday’s game against Owen Sound.
WHO’S COLD:
Philip Svedeback returned from injury on Friday in a 4-1 loss to Cedar Rapids stopping 31 of 34 shots. Overall, it was Svedeback’s 4th consecutive loss. It was Svedeback’s first start since December 4, 2021 when he went down with a concussion. It was his second stint on the injured list this season.
Linus Arnesson is pointless in his last 9 games for Djurgardens IF of the SHL. The Bruins rights to Arnesson expire on July 1, 2022 and is under contract with Djurgardens until the end of the 2023-2024 season. The 60th overall pick in 2013 is headed for a SHL career.
It only took 2 games for the Oshawa Generals to put Brett Harrison back on the top line after trade deadline. That lasted just 1 game and was back on the 2nd line Sunday. Harrison is in a slump with just 1 goal and 2 assists in his last 9 games after recording 7 goals and 6 assists in his previous 9 games.
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Dom - Hockey 