With only one European prospect still playing, and the NHL playoffs looming, I’m saying goodbye for this year to the European report. If we get any news about any of these players we’ll post it, but the weekly list has come to an end for another season. See you next September when they start playing again. Maybe we’ll have exciting new prospects to track.
Carl Grundström
Frölunda played game four of their quarterfinal playoff match last Sunday, and they gave up two goals in the opening period to Malmö. They just don’t start games very well, and they struggle to have enough scoring talent off of the power play.
Victor Olofsson, the Sabres prospect, scored one goal, but despite he and Carl Grundström really working the final period, that’s all they could get. Grundström’s line was leaned on very heavily, but he was snakebit — hitting the post and missing an empty net when the puck bounced over his stick on the pass. Malmö won it 3-1, tying the series at two games all.
Game five was Tuesday, and my impression was that Grundström worked hard, but he better not be your go-to scorer in the playoffs. He’s supposed to be gritty secondary scoring. Frölunda laid an egg and lost it 4-0 with a couple of late-game empty-net goals making it look a little worse than it was. Still, they had been just barely keeping even up to this game, and they were now down three games to two.
Game six was Thursday, and it followed the now-familiar pattern. Malmö scored two goals in the first, and then followed up with another very early in the second. That’s too deep a hole to get out of.
Olofsson got one back in the dying seconds of the second period, but unfortunately Malmö have their own Olofsson (no relation) and Johan scored to make it 4-1 in the third. Frölunda got another, but had only eight minutes to deal with a two-goal deficit. 4-2 was the final.
Frölunda lose this year in their first playoff round, and they need to look harder for some scoring talent since they are about to lose Grundström, Rasmus Dahlin, and perhaps Olofsson too.
Carl Grundström finishes what may be his last ever season in the SHL with two goals and no assists in six playoff games and 17 goals and seven assists in 35 regular season games. We should expect him to show up in Toronto anytime now.
Yegor Korshkov
Done for the season, pending a potential National Team appearance.
Pierre Engvall and Jesper Lindgren
On the Marlies
Nikolai Chebykin
Chebykin is beginning the VHL semi-final today. If you’re really interested in how he fares, I’ll try to remember to post that somewhere when his season ends. I won’t be surprised if he wins the championship.
Vladimir Bobylyov and Vladislav Kara
Done for the season.
Persons of Interest
Igor Ozhiganov: Not playing in the semifinal for CSKA.
