Boston Bruins Monday Morning Prospect Update Week Ending: January 8, 2023

Last week saw two key prospects traded in the Canadian Hockey League as trade deadline approaches quickly through the Canadian Major Junior ranks.

If you’re a follower here, then you know I have been talking for a couple of weeks about the pending trade of Brett Harrison, the Bruins third round pick – 85^th overall – from the 2021 National Hockey League Draft. One of the teams I mentioned as having interest was the Windsor Spitfires, coached by former Bruins Marc Savard.

Last Tuesday the Spitfires worked out a huge deal with the Oshawa Generals for Harrison’s services. Windsor sent 6 draft picks to Oshawa (2^nd round pick in 2023, a 2^nd and 3^rd round pick in 2024, a 3^rd round pick in 2025, and a 3^rd and 5^th round pick in 2026) for Harrison.

At the time of the trade, Harrison led the Generals in goals and was 2^nd in points despite playing in a half dozen fewer games.

In his first game with the Spits, Harrison made an impact with a goal and an assist on Wednesday. On Friday he had an assist to extend his point streak to 13 games. On Sunday that streak came to an end but it didn’t come without chances.

Over in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Rimouski Oceanic traded the Bruins 5^th round pick – 132^nd overall – Frederic Brunet to the Victoriaville Tigres in exchange for a 2^nd round pick in 2024 and a 1st round pick in 2025. Any time you’re trading a first-round pick, it goes to show just how much value a team has in a player.

While I have never claimed to have the connections in the QMJHL as I do in the OHL, I had heard whispers that Brunet was going to be on the move. The Tigres came calling with the belief that Brunet can put the Western Conference leaders over the top.

At the time of the trade Brunet was leading the Oceanic in scoring as a defenceman. He was 4^th in the QMJHL in scoring among defencemen.

Brunet made his debut with the Tigre on Friday and had an assist to extend his point streak to 6 games on 2 goals and 9 assists. On Sunday his streak also came to an end. Time to start a new one!

Ryan Mast won’t be going anywhere as trade deadline arrives tomorrow at noon. But his Sarnia Sting have probably loaded up for a run more than anyone. After adding Sasha Pastujov (Anaheim Ducks – round 3 in 2021) in November, they just added Christian Kyrou (Dallas Stars – round 2 in 2022), Luca Del Bel Belluz (Columbus Blue Jackets – round 2 in 2022) and Ethan Del Mastro (Chicago Blackhawks – round 4 in 2021). The acquisition of Kyrou means Mast will lose his powerplay time but with Del Mastro, the two will make one of, if not the best shut down pairs in the OHL.

Like Mast, Jackson Edward won’t be going anywhere and the London Knights have also made some deals while also being in the hunt for Shane Wright. They’ve added Ryan Winterton (Seattle Kraken – round 3 in 2021) and Ryan Humphrey who is draft eligible and was at Bruins Development Camp in the summer.

Three of the four teams in the OHL with Bruins prospects have loaded up and still may not be finished. All three are also in the Western Conference so it’s likely they will be beating themselves up to get to the OHL finals and a chance at the Memorial Cup. It’s going to be a fun ride.

As for Matthew Poitras, there is still no decision about his future. His Guelph Storm team has sold off some big pieces and teams are still asking about Poitras services. But the Storm have also gone on a bit of a run lately. The Storm are probably the biggest disappointment of the season so far in the OHL.

Over in the WHL, Reid Dyck won’t be going anywhere either. The Swift Current Broncos could have him for the next two seasons when they should be a much better team and Dyck will be a big part of that for them.

Here’s a look at the Providence Bruins leaders:

Coming up this week:

PLAYER	MON 9	TUE 10	WED 11	THU 12	FRI 13	SAT 14	SUN 15
BYCHKOV			At TKR		At SEV		At DYN
MANTYKIVI						Vs JYP
LOCMELIS						Vs FRO	Vs B K
MYRENBERG			Vs DJU		At VAS
JELLVIK/GASSEAU/KUNTAR						At S H
LOHREI					At MIC	At MIC
LANGENBRUNNER					At CSN	At StL
SPICER/OLSON					A OMA	At OMA
SCHMALTZ					Vs W M	Vs W M
DURAN/SVEDEBACK					At MER	At MER
GALLAGHER			At MAS			At COR
MCFAUL					At HAR	At DAR
POITRAS			At HAM		At LDN	At O S
HARRISON				Vs SAG		At SAG	At LDN
MAST				At PBO	At KGN		At OTT
EDWARD					Vs GUE		Vs WSR
BRUNET						Vs VDR	At B B
DYCK					At CGY	Vs P G

AROUND THE GLOBE

WHO’S HOT:

Brett Harrison had his 13-game point streak come to an end Sunday. He had 8 goals and 14 assists during the streak. What is truly amazing about this streak is that 11 of those games came with the Oshawa Generals who were going nowhere fast. He also knew that a trade was coming and he didn’t just wait for it to happen. He continued to try and carry his team. I could never question his heart and determination again.

Dans Locmelis is riding a J20 Nationell 3-game point streak and did not play in Lulea’s opening game of the Top-10 on Friday after the holiday break and his time at the World Junior Championships. Locmelis scored 3 goals in 6 games for Latvia at the WJC and was their best offensive player.

Frederic Brunet has points in 6 of his last 7 games with 2 goals and 9 assists. Since December 1 he has points in 10 of 13 with 3 goals and 10 assists.

WHO’S WARM:

Reid Dyck has won 4 in a row and 6 of his last 8 after winning just once in his first 9 games. The stats are nothing to write home about, but he’s getting W’s for his team by making the saves he needs to make. He has helped Swift Current climb back into the eighth and final playoff spot in the WHL’s Eastern Conference.

Andre Gasseau is kind of heating up. The Freshman has 2 goals and 4 assists in his last 8 games for Boston College and is now at half a point per game on the season. Of his 3 goals on the season, 1 has come 5vs5, another on the powerplay and another while short handed.

Matthew Poitras has points in 9 of his last 12 games on 3 goals and 13 assists. He easily leads the Guelph Storm in scoring and is the engine that drives their offence. The Storm are enjoying a resurgence going 5-3-2 in their last 10 led by Poitras.  

Mason Lohrei is still looking for his first goal of the season, but he has 8 assists in 6 of his last 8 games and while he is putting up points, he’s also helping Ohio State defensively and in transition. He looks much closer to 100% after his knee surgery.

Ty Gallagher had a strong season as a Freshman for Boston University last season. With just one helper in his first his first 8 games this season, he has 8 in his last 11 games and he’s doing it with little to no powerplay time.  

WHO’S COLD:

Matias Mantykivi is pointless in 6 games for Ilves Tampere in the Finnish Liiga. While his numbers aren’t like they were a year ago, Ives is the highest scoring team in Liiga and 3^rd best defensive team and have a chance to finish in top spot in the standings.

Ryan Mast is slowly working himself back into game shape. He was out with a broken jaw that had to be wired so he was on a liquid diet for a few weeks and needs to gain his strength and some weight back.

Mason Langenbrunner has reached a 14-game pointless streak.

Riley Duran is out week-to-week with an injury.

Follow me on Twitter @dominictiano