New York Rangers prospects in Europe are getting valuable playing time
The Mestis League in Finland may be the second best professional league in that country, but it’s still ice hockey and New York Rangers defense prospect Tarmo Reunanen is making a case for a shot at an NHL job when training camp opens.
He recently signed with TUTO Hockey, a Mestis team based in Turku, Finland. He’s only played in two games, but has had quite an impact. In his first game he scored the only TUTO goal in a 5-1 loss to KOOVEE.
He did even better in his second game on Friday. He scored the game winning goal and assisted on the game tying goal in TUTO’s 2-1 win over K-Vantaa. He led all defensemen, playing 24:27 and helped TUTO to their second win of the season. He has been an offensive force for TUTO with 17 shots on goal and plus/minus of +3 in the two games.
A fourth round draft pick in 2016, the Rangers signed Reunanen to his Entry Level Contract last year to keep him from becoming a free agent. He played the last two years with Lukko in Liiga, the top Finnish league. The 22 year old left-shot defenseman had five goals and 19 points in 51 games last season while playing 19 minutes per game.
The TUTO website reported the loan of Reunanen and acknowledged that the Rangers have the right to recall him, something that Lukko would not agree to.
If Reunanen keeps this up, he may be a viable option as a third pair defenseman or at least to start the season in Hartford so he can get some North American experience.
Leevi Aaltonen, left winger – 5th round, 2019 Draft
Leevi Aaltonen played in two games for KalPa, both 5-1 wins. Aaltonen notched an assist on the fourth KalPa goal in their win over HPK on Saturday. It was Aaltonen’s first point of the season in five games. He improved his plus/minus to even for the season by going +2 in the win over HPK.
Aaltonen played a season high 9:58 minutes and he has been seeing his ice time increase game to game. KalPa improved their record to 4-0-1 for the season and are in third place in Liiga.
Another Rangers prospect, Lauri Pajuniemi ,would have missed his fourth straight game with a leg injury, but the match between his TPS team and Karpat was cancelled due to a positive coronoavius test on the Karpat team. The game will be rescheduled.
Ygor Rykov, left defense – Acquired by trade from New Jersey in 2018.
Another Rangers defense prospect is making a case for a shot at the NHL roster. It was a big game for CSKA against their archrivals, SKA St Petersburg. CSKA came into the game Friday in first place in the Western Conference, one point ahead of SKA. They came away with a 3-1 win, expanding their lead and tying Avtomobilist for the best record in the KHL.
One of the key players in the win was Rangers defense prospect Yegor Rykov who assisted on two of the three CSKA goals. His assists were on two power play goals by Konstantin Okulov. The first was a second period go ahead goal, giving CSKA a 2-1 lead. Okulov scored again in the third period, also on the power play and it clinched the victory.
Rykov finished the game playing 18 shifts for 14:05 ice time and he had one shot on goal. The two assists give him five assists in 15 games and it was his first multiple point game of the season.
Sunday, CSKA won again, beating Dynamo Moscow 2-1. Rykov didn’t score in this game in 12:31 minutes of ice time, though he had two shots on goal. He also blocked two shots as well.
Vitali Kravtsov missed his sixth straight game on Sunday, out with a lower body injury.
Hugo Ollas, goaltender – 7th round, 2020 Draft
Not much was known about Hugo Ollas, selected by the Rangers with their last pick in the Draft this month except for the fact that he is 6’7″ tall. He is playing for the Linköping HC junior team and is off to a great start.
He led Linköping HC to a 3-2 win over Växjö Lakers HC, stopping 23 of 21 shots. Both of the Lakers goals were power play goals.
Ollas got the day off for Sunday’s game versus IK Oskarshamn, a 3-0 win for his team.
Linköping HC is in first place in the Nationell Södra J20 league with an 12-1-2 record. In games Ollas has started in goal, the team is 7-1-1.
Karl Henriksson, center – 2nd round, 2019 Draft
In professional league play, Karl Henriksson and Frölundawere held scoreless in a 3-0 loss on the road against Färjestad. Henriksson played 14:51 and was on the ice for one opposition goal, ending with a plus/minus of -1. He had one shot, but didn’t get it one net.
Henriksson has two assists on the season and the loss dropped Frölunda’s record to 5-1-0-2.
Calle Själin, left defense – 5th round, 2017 Draft
Adam Edström, center – 6th round, 2019 Draft
Two Ranger had the opportunity face each other when Leksands took on Rögle at home on Saturday. Though neither prospect made the scoresheet, Calle Själin ended up on the winningside when Leksand won in overtime 3-2.
Själin, a defense prospect, was a +1 on the game and took two shots. He played 15:46 minutes.
Center Adam Edström of Rögle played only three minutes, the second straight game with limited ice time. He did register one blocked shot.
Nils Lundkvist, right defense – 1st round, 2018 Draft
Luleå won, 4-2 over Malmö on the road. Defenseman Nils Lundkvist played 19:04, taking three shots with one on goal. It improved Luleå’s record to 4-2-2-0 as they are yet to lose a game in regulation.
Jakob Ragnarsson, left defense – 3rd round, 2018 Draft
Defenseman Jakob Ragnarsson was in Allsvenskan League action for Timrå as they defeated HC Vita Hästen by the score of 5-2. He played 17 shifts for 10:52 minutes, finishing with one shot on goal.
Sunday, Timrå defeated Kristianstad 4-2 with Ragnarsson in the lineup, taking two minor penalties for tripping and boarding. He finished +1 on the game. He has yet to score a point in six games for Timrå who improved their record to 4-0-0-2.
Olof Lindbom, goaltender – 2nd round, 2018 Draft
Goalie Olof Lindbom didn’t dress as the backup for Mora on Friday after suffering an injury in his last game. Here’s what happened.
Vad händer? 👀 Lindbom åker på en smäll och kan inte fortsätta - Ward hoppar in och räddar straff direkt! #twittpuck #hockeyallsvenskan @Mora_IK pic.twitter.com/keYHCPvsil
— TV4 Hockey (@TV4_Hockey) October 14, 2020
Rasmus Kahilainen of Södertälje crashed into Mora when he was tripped on a breakaway. There’s still no word on the severity of the injury. Lindbom has been injury prone. He played only 16 games last season after ankle surgery and various ailmented limited him to eight games the season before. It’s a troubling trend for the player who was an unexpected second round pick in 2018.