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Busy weekend for San Jose Sharks’ top prospects

Posted on by Erika Towne
Boston College advances to the Frozen Four. The Sudbury Wolves, London Knights and Portland Winterhawks all lead their respective series 2-0.

Some of the top draft prospects for the San Jose Sharks are in the playoffs. Will Smith and Boston College have secured a spot in the Frozen Four after two wins over the weekend. In the OHL, Quentin Musty and the Sudbury Wolves have taken a 2-0 series lead over the Mississauga Steelheads in the opening round of the playoffs. Also in the OHL, Kasper Halttunen continues to impress in his first season playing in North America. He and the London Knights have a 2-0 series lead over the Flint Firebirds. And in the WHL, Luca Cagnoni and the Portland Winterhawks have a 2-0 series lead in their opening round series against the Victoria Royals.

There’s bad news to report as well. Prospect Jake Furlong needs to have season-ending shoulder surgery, so he’s not available for his Halifax Mooseheads in the QMJHL playoffs. You can read more details here.

Will Smith struggles against defensive teams

Kicking things off with arguably San Jose’s top prospect, Smith. While Boston College has advanced to the Frozen Four, Smith individually is not faring well in the tournament. It was a tough weekend for the 18-year-old, who struggled mightily in BC’s opening game against Michigan Tech. Knowing it was out-skilled, Michigan Tech clogged up the neutral zone, not allowing the BC players to start the rush into the offensive zone the way they’re used to. It was a slow and stifling defense that Smith really struggled against. He had several poor turnovers in the neutral zone, including one especially egregious one on the power play that led to a short-handed goal.

While all of the Boston College players seemed to have trouble finding their way through the defense, Smith seemed to struggle a little more than most. So much so that his coach called the game by the “Freshman Line” (i.e., Smith, Gabe Perreault and Ryan Leonard) too “cute and light.” Smith’s head coach continued to deploy the line until Perreault was ejected midway through the second period for a headshot.

There was a slight response from Smith as the game progressed, and he played a little better as the game went on, but still, nothing dominant as we have seen in past games. Smith also struggled against Quinnipiac in the second round of the single-elimination tournament.

While Smith had two points (both assists) in the first two games, he clearly wasn’t playing his best hockey. We’ll have to wait and see if Smith makes adjustments to his game as he and Boston College prepare for the Frozen Four. BC takes on Michigan on April 11 at 5:30 p.m. PDT.

Musty still looking for his first playoff goal

In the OHL, Musty and the Wolves have a 2-0 series lead in the best of seven series with the Steelheads. Musty has had a quiet series so far, at least by his standards. The forward has just three assists over the two games, but he’s generating impactful offense.

Musty was credited with the secondary assist on the game-tying goal in the Wolves’ 6-5 overtime win on Saturday. While secondary assists are sometimes less impressive than the primary assist, this one from Musty helped make the goal happen.

The Sudbury Wolves will play game three of the series tonight in front of a home crowd. Game time is 4:05 p.m. PDT.

Halttunen scores first OHL playoff goal

Halttunen earned top honors for his play during game two of the London Knights’ opening round of the playoffs. Last night, the forward scored his first goal in the OHL playoffs to open the scoring in the game.

While Flint scored three unanswered, the Knights rallied back, with Halttunen scoring the game-tying goal on what else but the power play.

The Knights eventually won the game 6-4.

Game three is tomorrow.

Cagnoni shines in opening round for Winterhawks

Finally, there’s young defenseman Cagnoni, who has built upon his impressive 90-point regular season with a great opening round of the playoffs. Cagnoni opened and closed the scoring in the first game against the Victoria Royals on March 29, helping his team to a 4-3 win and claiming the game-winning goal in the process. More importantly, after the game, he earned player of the game honors from his teammates.

In game two the next night, Cagnoni continued to shine. He scored a goal and added an assist in game two. His goal ended up becoming another game-winner.

Cagnoni had three goals and an assist this past weekend; two of the goals turned out to be game winners. Game three is tomorrow in Victoria.

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