Prospects update: Russian and Swedish players in action

A number of New York Rangers prospects are out with injuries and one more joined the list

Two of the brightest stars in the New York Rangers prospect pool are out with injuries.  Vitali Kravtsov missed Traktor’s 4-0 road win over Severstal.  Out with a lower body injury, there is no word as to when he will be back.

Lauri Pajuniemi is still out, missing his third staight.  TPS could have used him as they dropped a 4-3 decision to HPK in Liiga action in Finland.

Olof Lindbom,  goaltender – 2nd round, 2018 Draft

The third Ranger prospect to go down with an injury was goalie Olof Lindbom.  He was pulled 13 minutes into Mora’s game Wednesday with Södertälje after a nasty collision.  Lindbom had allowed two goals on five shots. .  Mora went on to beat Södertälje in a shootout for a road win.  There was no word on the severity of Lindbom’s injury.

Lindbom had gotten off to a good start for Mora in the Swedish Allsvenskan League.  He had won both of his starts, allowing four goals in the two games.

Jakob Ragnarsson, left defense – 3rd round, 2018 Draft

In other Allsvenskan league action on Wednesday, Jakob Ragnarsson played 11:38 in in Timrå’s 3-1 loss at Tingsryd.   Ragnarsson finished minus one on the game and had three blocked shots.  Ragnarsson is scoreless on the season and the loss even Timrå’s record to 2-0-0-2.

Karl Henriksson, center – 2nd round, 2019 Draft

Frölunda defeated Växjö, one of a full slate of Swedish Hockey League (SHL) games.   Karl Henriksson played 15:42 minutes and finished with a plus/minus of -1.  He had one shot on goal.

With the win, Frölunda improved to a 5-1-0-1 record and moved into first place, leapfrogging over Rögle and Luleå.   Henriksson is not lighting up the scoreboard, but he is playing regularly and for meaningful minutes.

Calle Själin, left defense – 5th round, 2017 Draft

Leksand took a 5-2 loss on the road against Oskarshamn on Thursday, but Ranger defense prospect  Calle Själin had an active game.  He notched his second assist of the year, with a helper on the second period goal that tied the score at 2-2.  He had three shots on goal, second most on the team and he blocked one shot.  He finished with an even plus/minus.

Leksand dropped to a record of 2-0-1-4, in 10th place in the SHL.  Själin played 15:49 and has registered his most ice time of the year in his last two starts.

Nils Lundkvist, right defense – 1st round, 2018 Draft

Top defense prospect Nils Lundkvist played 21:21 in Luleå’s 2-1 shootout win over Örebro on the road. Lundkvist was on the ice for the only Örebro goal so he finished minus one on the game. He had one shot on goal.

Adam Edström, center – 6th round, 2019 Draft

In his second game back from a suspension, Adam Edström played only 1:16 in Rögle’s 2-1 loss to Brynäs on the road.  There’s no word as to why he played so few minutes.  He did have on hit in his brief ice time.

In other Swedish action, goalie Hugo Ollas was not in net on Wednesday for Linköping HC intheir 3-2 loss to Örebro HK in the Junior Nationell Södra League.

Ygor Rykov, left defense – Acquired by trade from New Jersey in 2018

With Kravtsov injured, the only KHL player in the Rangers system is defender Yegor Rykov.  He played 13:51 in CSKA’s loss to Jokerit in Helsinki, Finland.   He was on ice for 16 shifts and his plus/minus was -1.

It will be a busy weekend for Ranger prospects and we’ll have a full update after the games.