Boston Bruins Monday Morning Prospect Update Week Ending: November 13, 2022

If you were sitting at a table with anyone covering the Ontario Hockey League prior to the season beginning and told them that Jackson Edward would have 3 goals and 6 assists through his first 16 games, you probably would be sitting across someone who just rolled their eyes at you.

It’s not that Edward had never displayed any offensive prowess. He has a dynamic season with the York Simcoe Express Under-16 squad. Many felt the lost season due to the pandemic would delay his development. And last season, playing against the same conference teams over and over did the same.

Edward has already surpassed his totals from a year ago and is on pace for 40 points this season. But the season didn’t start out all sunshine and rainbows for Edward and the Knights. One could make the legitimate argument that the Knights as a group have the best top-6 defencemen in the OHL. And that has allowed everyone to slot where they belong. But they had to wait for everyone to get healthy and here we are.

I’ve often said a “Dale Hunter Coached player is an NHL prepared player.” That’s what Hunter does is prepare players for the NHL. Edward is already defensively sound, getting some quality shut down minutes, killing penalties and is out there in the last minute protecting a lead. There is still work to be done. Sometimes he roams too far and sometimes he strays from his coverage.

On the other side of the puck, it starts in his own zone. He is quick to retrieve pucks, but it is his ability to draw in the forechecker then evade the forecheck and get going the other way either with a pass or his feet that is impressive. His ability to join the rush is impressive, especially now that he has the confidence to do so. Once in the O-zone, he can control play, walks the blueline, sneaks in undetected on the weak side and gets his shot through. And Hunter has shown the confidence in Edward by rewarding him with plenty of powerplay time.

And then there is Edward’s rambunctious style of play. I believe he could play 600 NHL games, never put up a point and he would still be a fan favorite at TD Garden.

When the Bruins selected Edward in the 7^th round – 200^th overall – I liked the pick because I like long term projects with potential when you are picking in the 5^th, 6^th or 7^th rounds and Edward’s fits that description. He’s got a couple of more seasons of Junior ahead of him and then a couple in the American Hockey League before the NHL becomes a possibility. But I like his progression.

Here’s a look at the Providence Bruins leaders:

Coming up this week:

PLAYER	MON 14	TUE 15	WED 16	THU 17	FRI 18	SAT 19	SUN 20
CEHLARIK		*vs R B			Vs EHC	At LAU
BYCHKOV	At SEV			At KUN			Vs SPA
MANTYKIVI						At V S
LOCMELIS					Vs BRY	Vs BRY	Vs ALM
MYRENBERG					At KRT		Vs AIK
JELLVIK/GASSEAU/KUNTAR		At UML
LOHREI					vs NDM	Vs NDM
LANGENBRUNNER		At UNH
SPICER/OLSON					At WM	At WM
SCHMALTZ					Vs MIA	Vs MIA
DURAN/SVEDEBACK					Vs VER	Vs VER
GALLAGHER					Vs NOE	At NOE
MCFAUL					Vs ASU	Vs ASU
POITRAS					Vs NIA	Vs KIT
HARRISON				At PBO	Vs O S		Vs SAR
MAST					Vs WSR	At BAR	At OSH
EDWARD					Vs FLN	At FLN	At SOO
BRUNET			Vs C B		Vs QUE	At A B
DYCK		Vs BDN			At M J	Vs M J

*Champions Hockey League Playoff Game.

For Canadian Hockey League live stream visit here. For NCAA liv stream and TV schedule visit: November 15, November 18, and November 19.  

AROUND THE GLOBE

WHO’S HOT:

Trevor Kuntar is riding a 4-game point streak with 2 goals and 3 helpers. The Junior is tied for the team lead with Boston College with 8 points in 9 games. He is averaging 4 shots per game and firing at 11.1% and 3 of his 4 goals have come with the man advantage.

Matthew Poitras is riding a 4-game point streak on a goal and 3 helpers. Yes, it was interrupted by his suspension. Last week I wrote about the issues in Guelph that included not being able to get a save when one was needed. On Sunday morning the Storm signed a goaltender straight out of Junior B and started him that afternoon. Same result – a loss in a shootout, but it looks like saves are coming. Just the boost in confidence will help Poitras.

Brett Harrison has 4 goals and 2 assists in his last 6 games (non-consecutive). Helpers are hard to come by for Harrison this season, but he could hit the 40-goal mark on the campaign easily surpassing the 27 he scored a year ago. At the rate the Generals are going, it’s looking more and more like Harrison will be traded before trade deadline.

WHO’S WARM:

Reid Dyck may not have an impressive win-lost record and his other stats may not look so great either. But he’s overcome early season struggles of the team and his own and his numbers are starting to climb. He has only won 1 of his last 3 starts but he’s doing his part with a .916 save-percentage in those 3 games including stopping 32 of 34 shots Saturday in a 2-1 loss.

Quinn Olson is having a lukewarm season at best after scoring his first goal of the season on Saturday – but it was the game-winning goal. The senior is on pace for finish below his 6 goals and 19 assists in 42 games a season ago. Minnesota-Duluth isn’t a high scoring team, but I was hoping for more from Olson as the Bruins will have to make a decision on him at the end of this season.

Philip Svedeback hasn’t lost in 6 games however, three of those games ended in a tie. His personal numbers are taking a hit – have dropped to a sub .900 save-percentage. That’s not what it’s about for the freshman goaltender this season, it’s about wins and losses and all he keeps doing is giving Providence a chance every night. It’s all about the eye test for Svedeback.

Oskar Jellvik is a player I talked about a lot last season and if you told me the freshman would have 6 points in 8 games for Boston College to start the year, I gladly would have taken that. However, they are all assists, and I thought for sure he would have his first NCAA goal by now. He did have a great chance on the weekend but was absolutely robbed.

Jackson Edward continues to impress and surprise with the London Knights. He has 1 goal and 2 assists in his last 5 games and 3 goals and 5 assists in his last 10 games.

WHO’S COLD:

Roman Bychkov is pointless in 10 games. There’s a long way to go before he reaches the 26-game pointless streak from a season ago with Amur in the KHL.

Ryan Mast missed 3 consecutive games with an illness which I am told is not COVID related.

Cole Spicer is a freshman with Minnesota-Duluth – a team that doesn’t score a lot of goals, and that’s not going to help Spicer. However, he is on a 9-game pointless streak – second longest on this list – but he’s also not getting the quality minutes. Not that we’re making excuses. What I do like is the attention to detail he is starting to show in other parts of his game.

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