A trio of Sharks prospects received player of the week honors in their respective hockey leagues. Will Smith was recognized as the college’s Hockey East Rookie of the Week. Meanwhile, Luca Cagnoni and Quentin Musty, who play in the Western Hockey League (WHL) and Ontario Hockey League (OHL), respectively, received Player of the Week honors in their leagues. Also in the OHL, prospect Kasper Halttunen is on an absolute tear and has an 18-game point streak.
The Sharks’ prospect pool is shaping up, so let’s take a look at what’s happening to the players as they settle into the second half of the season.
Mason Beaupit (G) – Langley Rivermen BCHL
Mason Beaupit has finally found a place to play. The season started out rough for the young goaltender. He was with the Wenatchee Wild of the WHL but was then sent to the Muskegon Lumberjacks in the USHL. The Lumberjacks were loaded down with goaltenders, so the team cleared the way for Beaupit to sign with the Langley Rivermen of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL).
Beaupit has played 16 games with the Rivermen this season and has a 3-11-2 record. His save percentage is .886 and his goals against average is 3.52. While those are not stellar numbers, given the level of competition that Beaupit is facing, it’s good to temper expectations. He’s just 21 years old and has time to continue to develop his game. Though his ceiling may be lower than the Sharks had hoped.
Luca Cagnoni (D) – Portland Winterhawks WHL
Congratulations to Luca Cagnoni, who just received WHL’s Player of the Week honors.
One of a kind on the blue line ✨
— Portland Winterhawks (@pdxwinterhawks) January 22, 2024
Luca Cagnoni is your WHL Player of the Week! pic.twitter.com/QmN1EZfzdb
The young defenseman had experienced a drop off in production in December and early January but has picked things up in the past week or so. Cagnoni has 10 points in his last 5 games and has 54 points in 40 games this season. He’s one of the top players in the league with a plus-30 plus/minus. The only defenseman in the WHL with more points than Cagnoni this season is Nashville Predators’ prospect Graham Sward.
Jake Furlong (D) – Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL
Prospect Jake Furlong is shaping into a better prospect for the Sharks than initially thought. He drew notice while playing with Team Canada at this year’s World Junior Championship in Sweden. The young defenseman was an outside shot to make the team but he made it and was leaned on by the Team Canada coaching staff throughout the WJC. Furlong had perhaps Canada’s biggest goal of the tournament in the quarterfinal game against Czechia. While Canada ultimately lost the game, Furlong performed well on the international stage.
Furlong is back with his CHL team, the Halifax Mooseheads, in the QMJHL. He has 24 points in 36 games and scored a goal in the team’s Jan. 21 win over the Cape Breton Eagles.
Felix Gagnon (C) – Baie-Comeau, Drakkar in QMJHL
Halfway through the season and Felix Gagnon continues on his more than a point per game pace with his QMJHL team. The forward now has 44 points in 43 games and is shooting at 17.6%. That might sound high, but we’re talking about a lower league, where star players tend to have a higher shooting percentage. Plus, it’s off the pace from his shooting percentage last season, when he finished with a 20.4% shooting percentage.
The 19-year-old had three assists on Jan. 19 in the team’s 8-0 win over the Val-d’Or Drillers.
Kasper Halttunen (F) – London Knights OHL
Kasper Halttunen has 38 points in 32 games for the London Knights. That’s on top of the six points in seven games that he scored for Team Finland at the WJC. Halttunen was one of the better players for Finland in the tournament. Unfortunately for Halttunen, his team lost to Czechia in the bronze medal game.
However, the forward returned to Ontario, where he resumed an impressive scoring streak in the OHL that now dates back to Nov. 5, 2023. Halttunen has scored at least one point in every game since then – that’s 18 games to date. In his most recent game against the Kitchener Rangers, Halttunen had four points.
David Klee (F) – Muskegon Lumberjacks USHL
David Klee isn’t one of the more talked about prospects for the Sharks, but he’s doing well for himself with the Muskegon Lumberjacks in the USHL. The 18-year-old forward has 23 points in 35 games this season. Drafted 196th overall in the 2023 draft, Klee will have time to develop his skills when he plays for the University of North Dakota next season.
Quentin Musty (F) – Sudbury Wolves OHL
It was a disappointment for Quentin Musty, who was left off the list of invitees to Team USA’s WJC camp but understandable given the number of strong second year candidates. Musty continues to excel with the Sudbury Wolves and has 56 points in 31 games. Musty is second on the team in points behind David Goyette and is third on the team with 21 goals. He’s also tied for the team lead in game winning goals.
The forward earned the OHL Player of the Week honors because he scored ten points in three games. His best showing was on Jan. 18, when he scored two goals and added four assists in the Wolves’ 7-3 win over the Barrie Colts. He only had one point in the team’s loss to the Erie Otters the next night, but on Sunday, he had three points in the team’s 6-3 win over the Colts.
The Wolves currently sit in second in the OHL’s Eastern Conference.
Brandon Svoboda (F) – Youngstown Phantoms USHL
Brandon Svoboda took a break from his time in the USHL in December to play for Team USA in the World Junior A Challenge. It’s an annual under-20 international tournament. Svoboda and his team earned a bronze medal in the tournament, beating Sweden. Svoboda had a pair of assists in the 8-5 win.
In total, the 18-year-old had 6 points (3 G, 3 A) in 6 games, including a shorthanded goal against Sweden in the round-robin tournament play.
When he returned to the Youngstown Phantoms, Svoboda quickly earned the Phantoms’ Player of the Week honors for a two-goal week.
Player of the Week – Brandon Svoboda with two goals! #YoungstownPhantoms | #ForgingForward pic.twitter.com/7j5hreCBIT
— Youngstown Phantoms (@YtownPhantoms) January 1, 2024
According to Elite Prospects (I couldn’t find an updated roster on the Youngstown Phantoms’ site), Svoboda has 10 points in 23 games for the team.
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