There was a full slate of games featuring New York Rangers prospects
One day after there was some news about Vitali Kravtsov, he was in action in Russia as Traktor defeated Ak Bars at home, 2-1 in front of 2,987 spectators. The news, as reported by Larry Brooks, was that the New York Rangers will be letting Kravtsov play the entire season in Russia, before bringing him back to North America.
If Traktor keeps this up, his KHL season will be longer as Traktor looks destined to make the playoffs. With the win over conference leading Ak Bars, they moved within two points of first place. The regular season is scheduled to end on February 27, but the playoffs could extend well into April.
Kravtsov played 18 shifts for 13:54 ice time. He had one shot on goal, but didn’t score.
In other KHL action, Yegor Rykov and CSKA were in action against Salavat Yulaev in Moscow and came away 5-3 victors. Rykov notched his 7th assist of the season on CSKA’s fifth goal, a power play goal by Brendan Leipsic who played last season for the Washington Capitals. If you recall, Leipsic was waived by the Caps after vulgar and derogatory messages he sent on social media were revealed.
Rykov played 15:22 on 21 shifts and was a minus two for the game.
Liiga (Finland)
Only one prospect was in action in Finland. Leevi Aaltonen played only 5:54 in KalPa’s 3-2 win over Lukko. His plus/minus was -1 for the game and he was scoreless. The KalPa Sword are in third place in Liiga with a 7-3-0 record. and 21 points. The win drew them within six points of first place, held by Lukko and Ilves with 27 points.
In other news from Finland, it was announced earlier this week that defenseman Tarmo Reuanen’s loan to TUTO Hockey in the Mestis League was finished. Reuanen will now play for HPK in Liiga, the top league in Finland. In seven games with TUTO Hockey, he had two goals and eight assists and had 33 shots on goal. He was averaging well over 23 minutes per game and Dani Aavinen, CEO of TUTO Hockey acknowledged that Reuanen was too good for Mestis.
On the TUTO website Aavinen said “When he (Reuanen) got the chance to move to the Liiga side to pick up tougher challenges, we didn’t want to be in the way of this, so we’re happy for him and hope the good play this fall will wing him into the conquest of North America. We are very grateful to have been able to enjoy Tarmo’s services during these seven matches. He showed our team what is required for the brightest peak.”
Thanks for Google translate for the English version.
Reunanen was fourth round pick in 2016 who signed his Entry Level Contract with the Rangers last season. He’s no stranger to Liiga as he has played two and a half seasons with Lukko over the last three years. If he does well with HPK he will be making a case for a future in the NHL. He was definitely too skilled for Mestis, the second best league in Finland, and the 22 year old could be a dark horse candidate to make the Rangers when training camp starts.
SHL (Sweden)
There were three games featuring Ranger prospects in the SHL while Nils Lundkvist and Lulea’s game was postponed due to the pandemic.
Leksand’s Calle Själin got his first goal of the season, scoring the team’s second goal in a 4-2 win over Oskarshamn. It was the defenseman’s first goal of his SHL career. He finished with a +2 plus/minus rating, two shots on goal and played 14:20.
In 14 games, Själin now has a goal and two assists. The 21 year old left-shot defenseman has been playing the right side in this, his first full season in the SHL. The Rangers drafted him in the fifth round of the 2017 NHL draft (#145 overall).
The win gives Leksand 17 points, but they are still mired in ninth place in the SHL with only three regulation wins.
Karl Henriksson and Frölunda beat Färjestad 4-3 to keep pace ahead of second place Rögle. Henriksson was a minus two on the game in 9:32 minutes of ice time. He had one shot attempt and was credited with one hit. He took a two minute hooking penalty in the third period, but Frölunda was able to kill it off.
The win gives Frölunda 32 points and they have lost only three games in regulation this season.
First place Rögle defeated Brynas easily by a 4-1 score. Adam Edström was scoreless, but had four hits and three shots on goal in 13:07 of ice time. It’s a tight race for first place in the SHL and Rögle and Frölunda have been keeping pace with each other.
It’s a busy weekend for Ranger prospects in Europe with Reuanen possibly making his debut for HPK.