In last week’s edition of the Dallas Stars Prospect Update I kicked things off by talking about 2018 Dallas Stars 1st-rounder Ty Dellandrea, who is basically a one-man show for the OHL’s Flint Firebirds.
It’s not exactly the same situation, but Jason Robertson can probably empathize a lot with Dellandrea right about now.
Robertson’s Kingston Frontenacs team was a top contender in the OHL last season, but things can change in a hurry in junior leagues. The club lost some of their top players over the summer and is also currently without Los Angeles Kings 1st-rounder Gabe Vilardi due to injury, and as a result, the now-undermanned Fronts team is off to a rough start, with a record of 2-5.
However, even though his team is struggling, Robertson is still shining bright.
The Stars’ 2017 2nd-rounder has eight goals from Kingston’s seven games thus far. For the sake of comparison, the rest of his team combined only has six goals, which goes to show what kind of team the Fronts are right now.
Even more impressive, Robertson’s eight goals lead the league, as do his 41 shots on net. He’s excelling out on the ice, despite not having much support around him.
Robertson will be turning pro at the end of this season, so if the Fronts continue to struggle in the standings you can expect Robertson to be a hot trade target before this year’s OHL trade deadline.
North American Juniors
OHL
Speaking of Dellandrea, the young center scored his first goal of the season over the weekend for a still-winless Firebirds team. The goal came from a nice individual effort and a bit of cheeky stick work.
#GoStars 2018 1st-rounder Ty Dellandrea had a pretty nice goal over the weekend pic.twitter.com/5FVUOr07T6
— Derek Neumeier (@Derek_N_NHL) October 8, 2018
Kitchener Rangers forward Riley Damiani picked up three points over his past three games. The 2018 5th-round pick continues to center the top line and play in all situations for the Rangers, something that you don’t see very often out of 18-year-olds in the OHL.
🚨GOAL🚨
2-0 | Riley Damiani gets his 3rd of the season! pic.twitter.com/KxkmZzzpF9
— Kitchener Rangers (@OHLRangers) October 7, 2018
Liam Hawel continues to pad his stat sheet, picking up two points in two games last week. He’s also currently riding a six-game point streak, starting at his first game of the season.
WHL
Jermaine Loewen was recently issued a suspension for a hit to the head, although the exact length of the suspension is still being determined. Loewen came in a little too hard on the forecheck and caught an opposing Portland Winterhawks defenseman in a vulnerable position behind his own net. He has three points in six games so far this year for the Kamloops Blazers.
NCAA
Riley Tufte picked up an assist on the University of Minnesota-Duluth’s only goal in their season-opening loss to the University of Minnesota. The huge winger made a nice pass through traffic to set up the powerplay tally.
GOAL! @PetriDish20 scores a PPG to tie it up! 1-1 in the 3rd! #UMDmHkyhttps://t.co/OCWhLZRsHl
— UMD Hockey gifs (@UMDHockeygifs) October 7, 2018
Europe
Sweden
Oskar Back had a big three-point game last week for BIK Karlskoga, collecting two goals and one assist in the win. Worth noting, Back is currently logging an average of 18:44 of ice time per game for his team, which ranks second among their forwards. In other words, the 18-year-old 3rd-rounder is being entrusted with a big role on his club, which is always a good sign for a player that age in a professional league.
Another Stars 3rd-rounder out of Sweden, Fredrik Karlstrom, picked up his first goal of the season last week. He now has a goal and an assist in eight SHL games so far this season.
Stars 2016 3rd-rounder Fredrik Karlstrom scored his first goal of the SHL season recently:
Linköping HC – Mora IK 5-2 https://t.co/rJJ89ODwkF via @SHLse
— Derek Neumeier (@Derek_N_NHL) October 8, 2018
Jacob Peterson scored goals in back-to-back games for Bjorkloven, his first two points of the season.
AHL
Joel L’Esperance joined the Texas Stars late last season on an amateur tryout contract and played so well in the AHL playoffs that he was rewarded with an NHL deal from Dallas general manager Jim Nill. The big, physical center is already starting to show that he earned that contract, scoring two goals in Texas’ first two games and making a huge impact on other shifts as well.
Joel L’Esperance continues to have himself a strong opening night. Here he gives Texas a 2-1 lead pic.twitter.com/LPTmnDLYPY
— Sean Shapiro (@seanshapiro) October 6, 2018
Landon Bow and Colton Point split the team’s two starts thus far, with Bow stopping 24 of 25 shots in an opening-night win and Point allowing four goals on 25 shots in an overtime loss in his professional debut.
Dillon Heatherington and Niklas Hansson are two other Dallas prospects who picked up goals in the two games.
Here’s the nice move by Heatherington. #txstars 1-0 pic.twitter.com/s44jNLQv68
— 100 Degree Hockey (@100degreehockey) October 7, 2018