A Philadelphia Flyers fifth-round pick stays hot in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, an Edmonton Oilers top prospect is putting up big numbers in Sweden, and the Ontario Hockey League continues to loan players to Europe.
Desnoyers Scores 4 AGAIN
Two weeks ago Flyers prospect Elliot Desnoyers had a night to remember, scoring four goals in a 10-2 victory over the Cape Breton Eagles. He was back at it again with another four-goal performance this weekend, this time in a 5-4 victory over the Charlottetown Islanders.
He has already equaled his goal total from the 2019-20 season and is one away from equaling his career-high of 12. Desnoyers’ previous career highs are 12 goals, 24 assists and 35 points and he’s well on his way to passing those totals. During the 2019-20 season, he amassed 11 goals and 24 assists for 35 points in 61 games played for the Moncton Wildcats. Desnoyers was traded to Halifax in June as a follow-up to the Benoit-Olivier Groulx and Jared McIssac trade.
Drafted 135th overall in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft by the Flyers, Desnoyers is off to a blistering start to the 2020-21 season with 11 goals and nine assists for 20 points in 12 games played. He leads the team in scoring and ranks third in the league. He followed up his recent four-goal performance with one goal and two assists against the Saint John Sea Dogs the following night, including this beautiful shorthanded effort:
The Flyers have to feel like they found a diamond in the rough by selecting Desnoyers in the fifth round. While most eyes will be on his 2021 draft-eligible teammate Zachary L’Heureux, there is no doubt who the Mooseheads’ most valuable player has been thus far.
Bouchard Showing Off in Sweden
In September, the Oilers loaned top prospect Evan Bouchard to Sodertalje SK of the Swedish HockeyAllsvenskan until the beginning of the 2020-21 NHL season. In Sweden, he has quickly become one of Sodertalje’s top players. He sits second in team scoring with four goals and seven assists for 11 points in 16 games played. He’s also the second-highest scoring defenseman in the HockeyAllsvenskan trailing only Rasmus Bengtsson. When you are scoring goals like the one below, things are clearly going well.
Drafted 10th overall in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Bouchard spent the 2019-20 season in the American Hockey League with the Bakersfield Condors and recorded 7 goals and 36 points in 54 games played. The Oakville native is a product of the infamous London Knights’ system in the OHL.
The Oilers will be hoping that Bouchard can lock up a spot as an NHL regular next season. To date, he has only played in seven career NHL games, all during the 2018-19 season. He registered his first NHL goal on Oct. 25, 2018, against the Washington Capitals. Bouchard along with fellow Oilers prospect Philip Broberg are two central pieces to the organization’s future defense corp.
OHL Loans Continue
The loans from the OHL to Europe continue as players seek playing time until the OHL season begins in February. Daniil Chayka has been in Russia for several weeks as the first OHL player to be loaned. He has since been joined by London Knights defenseman Logan Mailloux and Sudbury Wolves winger Chase Stillman. Following them are Oshawa Generals forward Oliver Suni and Barrie Colts defensemen Connor Punnett and Matthew Sredl.
Suni will be joining Lukko U20 in the Finnish U20 SM-sarja until OHL training camps begin. Surprisingly undrafted this in October, Suni spent the 2019-20 season in the OHL with the Generals, amassing 12 goals and 20 assists for 32 points in 43 games played. A native of Finland, he previously played for Kärpät before leaving for the OHL. He has drafted 44th overall in the 2019 CHL Import Draft. He also competed for Finland in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in which he recorded three assists in three games played.
The Colts have loaned two defensemen to Sweden including 2021 draft-eligible defenseman Connor Punnett who has been loaned to Karlskrona HK U20, while sophomore defenseman Matthew Sredl has been loaned to SK Lejon of HockeyEttan in Skellefteå, Sweden. Sredl joins fellow OHL players Matt Maggio and Logan Mailloux. Both will return the Colts for the start of OHL training camps.