It was a successful night for our ECHL assigned prospects.

Semykin had an assist.
Miftakhov stopped 28/30 on debut.
Tufto had a goal and 2 assists on debut.

Solar Bears GOAL by Odeen Tufto, his first of the season! pic.twitter.com/FZl3qpBNAq

— Orlando Solar Bears (@OrlandoHockey) January 15, 2022

Solar Bears updates won't become regular FYI.

We have signed unrestricted free agent forward Bennett MacArthur to a three-year, entry-level contract.📝: https://t.co/0hYEAflppW pic.twitter.com/KQaZSw1bxc

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) March 1, 2022

Getting back into things now. Kinda took a month off, but in that time we picked up a new name to keep an eye on.

It's taken me awhile to realize, but Cole Guttman is good at hockey. Trying to get all my prospect videos in order and I'm thinking he might shoot to the top tier of our prospect system before long.

Hockey East has reached a new six-year media rights agreement to feature the men’s and women’s leagues on @ESPN and ESPN+ beginning this fall through the 2027-28 season. The agreement includes over 300 games annually with all contests available on ESPN+.

— Hockey East (@hockey_east) April 6, 2022

This probably means little-to-none for most besides me on here, but this is going to make it much easier for me to follow:
Alex Gagne
Nick Capone
Eamon Powell
Maxwell Crozier
Robert Flinton (I think he's committed to a Hockey East school for next season)
And whoever we may draft this year

I saw Danill Pylnekov's KHL contract is up.
In 43 KHL games this season he had 5 goals, 6 assisrs, and was +15.
Maybe someone to keep an eye on for potentially signing an ELC.

The Orlando Solar Bears season ended tonight. While he didn't play tonight (idk why), it's possible Odeen Tufto has played his last game on a Lightning affiliate as a signed prospect.

Nick Perbix with his first professional goal for the Crunch last night. Hopefully the first of many.

*ahem* we respectfully submit our #SCTop10 nominee for tonight pic.twitter.com/vkb47kMWF9

— x - Hershey Bears (@TheHersheyBears) April 24, 2022

Don't shoot the messenger, but Perbix cannot let this happen

I'm going to get my CHL prospect update in a little early tonight

QMJHL playoffs still yet to start

WHL:
Jaydon Dureau and #3 Portland swept #6 Prince George in the first round.
Dureau might be injured. Didn't play game 4.
Dureau's stats: 3GP, 0G, 1A

Jack Finley and #1 Winnipeg beat #8 Prince Albert in 5.
Finley's Stats: 5GP, 1A, 3A

Niko Huuhtanen and #1 Everett are on upset alert against #8 Vancouver.
Vancouver leads the series 3-2.
Huuhtanen's stats: 5GP, 5G, 5A

OHL:
Jack Thompson and #4 Soo beat #5 Guelph in 5.
Thompson stats: 5GP, 3G, 6A

Declan McDonnell and #5 Barrie are down 2-3 against #4 Mississauga.
McDonnell's stats: 4GP, 1G, 2A

Roman Schmidt and #7 Kitchener are tied 2-2 against #2 London.
Schmidt's stats: 4GP, 0G, 1A

We have to sign Dureau and McDonnell by June 1st, otherwise they become FAs. Dureau is still in the WHL playoffs while McDonnell has already been eliminated from the OHL playoffs.

I'm wondering what the hold up is on signing. Dureau in particular has a skillet (yes a skillet, not a skillset...) I'd think our prospect pool would crave to have.

He's not a sure thing but you do miss every shot you don't take.

What's the prediction on McDonnell signing?

I want to say we sign him, but I am leaning towards we won't since we haven't already. Crunch and Lightning development staff got a good luck at him last season when everyone 18 and older was eligible for the AHL. McDonnell was the only prospect of ours to stay in the lineup on a nightly basis for the Crunch. Usually on the fourth line, but he still was able to hold his own.

Compare that to Thompson who only played one game and was immediately signed thereafter.

We have room to sign more prospects to ELCs for next season, so we'll have to see how this plays out.

Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Alexei Melnichuk has signed a two-year contract with HC Sochi (KHL). Was acquired from #SJSharks on deadline day. #GoBolts

— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) May 12, 2022

Triumph for the Bolts and Crunch today, but Thompson's and Schmidt's OHL seasons ended tonight as their teams were eliminated in the 2nd round of the OHL playoffs.
All Bolts prospects OHL seasons are over now.

Just bookmarked Jack Thompson's final OHL goal highlight before he presumably goes pro full-time next season. Kind of emotional right now

Yes I'm still up. I don't wind down easily after big playoff games that we win

Seasons winding down everywhere.

Crunch's season ended tonight.
Jaydon Dureau's season ended tonight in the second round of WHL playoffs.

The only prospects left standing are Jack Finley who's awaiting the start of the WHL third round and Bennett Macarthur who looks set to be eliminated out of QMJHL playoffs unless his team wins 3 straight.

Cam MacDonald's Saint John Sea Dogs are hosting the memorial cup, so we'll see him again this season even though his team was already knocked out of the Q's playoffs.

We’ve signed forward Jaydon Dureau to a three-year, entry-level contract.📝: https://t.co/ubaZFHq2At pic.twitter.com/me6QIAXvh4

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) May 21, 2022

I'm happy

This leaves Walker, Guttman, and McDonnell as our unsigned forwards.

Just to update, Finley is now our only prospect left standing. Currently tied 1-1 in the WHL semis.

Question to whom it may concern:

Any preference on when I post my end of season prospect assessment?

Finley is our only prospect left standing this season, and he won't be moving from the Future NHLer column.
MacDonald will play again in the Memorial Cup, but I doubt I will move him up or down based off his performance.
The only thing that could change in the near term is McDonnell is officially off our reserve list if we don't sign him by June 1st.

Well, Finley and the Winnipeg ICE are now on the brink of elimination in the WHL semifinals down 1-3 in their series.

Interesting stat on how much they rely on Finley for faceoffs:
He took 30 of the 63 faceoffs during the game tonight (won 16 of 30)

He's almost always over 50%, and sometimes well over. That's been part of the reason why he moved into the future NHLer column in my prospect assessment earlier this season.

Still finishing sorting my videos this year (currently up to mid-April).
One prospect that I have found very intriguing at times, but I and others don't mention much, is Cam MacDonald.
Good net front presence and decent with puck on his stick.

Finley is our only other U20 center prospect, so I am beginning to think MacDonald could pick up an ELC after next season, especially if he improves upon 34 points in 67 games.
MacDonald was also impressive centering the shutdown/physical line of Element-MacDonald-McDonnell in the prospect tournament back before the season.

Oh and this is our self proclaimed Tom Wilson of our prospect pool (even though Al Murray and JBB shot that down immediately lol)

#61 drives net, collects rebound and then finds teammate waiting across the ice

Bezeau hit the back of the net 14 SECONDS later and put us up 2-0! 🚨#CityofChampions pic.twitter.com/sXAvQZ4iOX

— x - Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) March 25, 2022

Wins faceoff and then works way to front of net to screen goalie.

DesRoches' shot makes it though a crowd in front of the net and makes it 1-0! 🚨#CityofChampions pic.twitter.com/Yl1foUmGpE

— x - Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) April 17, 2022

Ansons gets in close and gets the Sea Dogs the lead! 🚨#CityofChampions pic.twitter.com/LgVEFsooQQ

— x - Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) April 23, 2022

One last MacDonald clip.

Well, Finley and Winnipeg are out of the WHL playoffs.
Edmonton Oil Kings, coached by former Lightning assistant Brad Lauer, really shut down the #1 seed.

I should add Lauer is my top choice to coach the Crunch if Groulx gets an NHL position.

McDonnell's signing rights expire in 23 hours and 35 minutes. He'll be our first unsigned forward since Christopher Paquette if he goes unsigned.