It’s been a couple weeks since we took a gander at the team’s developing youngsters. We’re just a month into the season, but already we’re starting to see some development arrows, both good and bad.

The St John’s IceCaps are off to a tough start, but there are some bright spots. Where have we heard that before?

Eric O’Dell has gotten back to scoring. He started with 4 goals in two games, went quiet, and has recovered to be a goal and 4 assists in his last 5 games. He and Brenden Kichton are certainly the leading lights on the club, as 26 year old Kael Mouillierat is second in scoring with 8 points, and NHL hopeful Andrew Gordon is tied with for 3rd with 6. 

Meanwhile, the rest of the Jets’ AHL prospects are struggling. Adam Lowry has missed 5 games with injury. Zach Redmond is yet to play a game for the same reason. 

Klingberg is making a case to be dropped off this table all together in a make or break year for him. He looked good in limited NHL preseason action, but 2 points is hardly inspiring. Julian Melchiori is in a similar boat. Neither are projected to be NHL scorers, but you have to put up some numbers in the lower leagues to make the jump. 

JC Lipon is the most concerning to me. Not only is he -5 with only 4 points, but 4 PIMs seems out of character for a player who has a reputation for being fearless and a bit of a pest. 

Nic Petan (!) continues to dominate with 30 points in 15 games. He’s on pace to beat his 120 points from his draft year. Outrageous.

Lukas Sutter is at the other end of things. Last we looked, Sutter had played just 4 of his team’s 11 contests. He’s been dressed for each game since, but has not scored a point and has gone -4 in those three games. 

Josh Morrissey’s point-per-game is a big part of Prince Albert rising in the standings. Meanwhile, Ryan Olsen has 8 points in his last 5 games for the BC Division leading Rockets.  

Undrafted Axel Blomqvist is coming on with points in 4 straight games for a terrible Lethbridge team.

Comrie has improved his numbers over last year so far, and currently sits tied for 3rd in WHL save %. 

Jimmy Lodge was injured between the 5th and 19th of October. Despite missing 4 games, 7 points is not a great start for the Jets’ third rounder.

Scott Kosmachuk had a strong showing at the Young Stars tournament, forcing his way up the depth chart, and then surprised some people in the Jets’ pre-season with a goal and 4 shots in his only appearance. 

When we last checked on him, he had a respectable 12 points in 9 games. Since? 8 goals, 7 assists, +12 in 6 games. Unsurprisingly, he won the CHL Player of the Week for Oct 14-20.

The totals include a 4 goal, 1 assist, 1st Star performance against the ’67’s:

Just one guy out of Quebec, and he’s a personal favourite. He fell down the draft rankings last year after his offence fell off in the transition from the Czech league to Rimouski. Unfortunately, it hasn’t returned just yet. A 3% shooting rate seems likely to come up, and we saw some offensive flare at the Young Stars tournament. He’s averaging over 2.5 shots per game, and is +7, so it’s hard to imagine he’s not generating some offence – even if it’s not of the red light variety.

It’s a good news, bad news situation for the Jets’ college skaters.

Andrew Copp is having a terrific year. Samuels-Thomas has two 3-point games, including a 1 goal, 2 assist effort in a 3 goal game against rivals UMass Lowell. He also managed 6 shots in 3 different games this year. He’s generating, and he boasts NHL size already at 6’4".

All of Harstad, Serville, and Stoykewych are better known for their defensive work than their puck movement, but with one point between them, they’re well below the Mendoza line. 

Hellebuyck is still the goalie of the future for the Jets – a big, calm netminder who had an incredible year as a Freshman in 2012/13. UMass Lowell was picked in pre-season rankings as a top-flight team, but the wins haven’t come. Still, expectations are higher and Hellebuyck’s personal performance is clearly living up to the hype so far.

Jason Kasdorf hasn’t played in a contest since our last update, and RPI’s winning streak isn’t likely to force a new decision. He has one shutout and one 6 goal affair.

Speaking of bad games, Jamie Phillips had 7 hung on him in his second outing for Michigan Tech. They’re not doing well, obviously, and Phillips backstopped their tie game and 20 minutes of their only win. It’s picking through wreckage, perhaps, but some positives for Phillips, nonetheless.

Two weeks ago we covered the ins and outs of the Swedish system. Karlstrom is in the top Junior league in Sweden, and is currently second is scoring by defencemen in that league. In general it’s a very high scoring league, and not very many Swedes make it in the NHL without playing in the SHL at Karlstrom’s age (19). 

Tucker Poolman is not scoring much considering his team. Six points puts him 3rd on the Lancers in scoring by defencemen. He’s also tied for 8th in +/-. Jake Randolph is the statistical leader of the team. He’s an under-sized, undrafted 19 year old with 23 points in their 11 games. 

Bit of a mixed back for both young men so far.

The stars of October are fairly clear. Brenden Kichton, Josh Morrissey, Nic Petan, Eric O’Dell, Jordan Samuels-Thomas, and, of course, Scott Kosmachuk are a cut above the other skaters at this stage in the season. Eric Comrie and Connor Hellebuyck are head and shoulders above the other goalies.

In critical years, Lukas Sutter and Carl Klingberg have collected so many negative arrows that we can start to say their professional careers are in jeopardy. 

Adam Lowry and Zach Redmond are set to return the IceCaps lineup soon, which should provide a boost to the team. As well, the two men are as close to NHL action as anyone in system, and will speak volumes about the Jets’ development program.